Wednesday
July 5, 2000
DRS Technologies Awarded Contract to Equip Cormorant Helicopters Worldwide With
Flight Control Computers
Parsippany, N.J. ( DRS Technologies Inc. Press Release ) -
DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a multi-year contract to provide Flight Control Computers for Canadian Cormorant helicopters and their variants used worldwide. The contract value, if all options are exercised, exceeds $14 million.
The $3.6 million base contract award was received from the Display and Control Systems unit of Smiths Industries Aerospace group, Smiths Industries, plc in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the United Kingdom, to equip Cormorant, Merlin and other variant helicopters built by E.H. Industries with Flight Control Computers. Production of these systems will be accomplished by the company's DRS Flight Safety and Communications unit, based in Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada. Product deliveries are expected to commence in August. E.H. Industries is a joint venture formed by Agusta S.p.A. and GKN Westland Helicopters Ltd.
The award was received as a result of an agreement signed in June 1997 with Team Cormorant, comprised of Italy's Agusta S.p.A. and Great Britain's GKN Westland Helicopters Ltd., two of the world's most significant helicopter manufacturers and developers of the Cormorant. Under the agreement, the company also provides Emergency Avionics Systems (EAS) 3000 for this helicopter and its variants, including the United Kingdom's Royal Navy Merlin and Royal Air Force Support helicopters, Canada's Cormorant Search and Rescue helicopters, Italy's MMI helicopters and Japan's Tokyo Metropolitan Police helicopters.
Mark S. Newman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of DRS Technologies, commented, ``We are pleased to continue our long-term association with Smiths Industries and our support of Team Cormorant programs. Systems produced for this contract represent a new DRS product line that will address international military and commercial aviation market requirements. This award underscores our commitment to Team Cormorant and enhances our position as the global leader in flight safety systems.''
Two DRS Flight Control Computers will be installed on each helicopter, providing redundant computational and aircraft control functions for a duplex automatic flight control system.
The Cormorant family of helicopters is designed for maritime, multi-mission military and commercial applications and is the only state-of-the-art medium-lift helicopter in production today. Highly versatile, it is frequently used in antisubmarine warfare, search and rescue, casualty evacuation and troop transportation missions.
DRS Technologies provides leading edge products and services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Focused on defense electronics, the company develops and manufactures a broad range of mission critical products, from rugged computers and peripherals to systems and components in the areas of communications, data storage, digital imaging, electro-optics, flight safety and space.
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