Thursday
August 17, 2000 :
Harris Corporation Awarded $67 Million Avionics Contract for U.S.
Army's RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter
MELBOURNE, Florida, USA ( Harris Corp Company Press Release ) -
Harris Corporation was recently awarded a $67 million engineering, manufacture, and development (EMD) contract by The Boeing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for avionics equipment supporting the U.S. Army's RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. The new contract runs through February 2005 and is a follow-on to the original contract that Harris won in 1991, bringing the overall value of
the program for Harris to $230 million.
The EMD phase calls for Harris to provide design updates, eliminate parts obsolescence, and deliver various avionics equipment including cockpit displays, display generator module sets, memory storage units, and fiber optic interface modules for 13 of the stealth helicopters.
Several important technical enhancements are also included in this effort. The use of standard fibre channel-compatible interfaces in the place of earlier proprietary equipment is being incorporated into the design to reduce overall costs and promote extensive use of commercial components while providing an open system architecture. Another feature of the new design is the incorporation of commercial, ruggedized LCD's into the aircraft's cockpit displays.
In addition, a Harris-developed Memory Storage Unit (MSU) Video Recorder, functions as an on-board bulk loading and storage device that provides Comanche aircrews with the capability of reading and writing portable, PC card-based, solid-state memory cards. The MSU makes it possible to enter and retrieve selected data to and from aircraft subsystems for all modes of aircraft operation, including the recording and playback of video and audio data.
``We're very pleased to continue providing innovative avionics solutions to the Comanche team, where performance is absolutely critical and core to the success of the 21st Century Army and its soldiers,'' said Bob Henry, president, Harris' Government Communications Systems Division.
The RAH-66 Comanche helicopter is part of the U.S. Army's Force XXI modernization program to upgrade various weapons systems for the battlefield demands of the new century. The Comanche is designed to replace some 3,000 technologically obsolete aircraft. Most of the new aircraft will replace aging helicopters at Army installations in the United States and Far East, with some slated to be based in Europe.
The Boeing Company and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation are the prime contractors for the RAH-66 Comanche program, with Harris' Government Communications Systems Division providing avionics support expertise.
The Government Communications Systems Division of Harris Corporation conducts advanced research studies, develops prototypes, and produces state-of-the-art airborne, spaceborne, and terrestrial communications and information processing systems for military and government agencies, their prime contractors, and the company's commercial businesses, as well as select commercial organizations worldwide.
Harris Corporation is an international communications company focused on providing product, system and service solutions that take its customers to the next level. The company provides a wide range of products and services for wireless, broadcast, network support, and government markets. The
company has sales and service facilities in 90 countries.
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