11 Jun 03. Signature Industries has been selected to provide a programmable Global Positioning System (GPS) Combat Recovery System for its fast jets for the Indian Air Force in response to increasing concerns about pilot safety. It was recently reported that since 1990 India had lost 303 aircraft with 143 fatalities amongst pilots. The selection followed a comprehensive assessment of the products on offer by Signature industries and its competitors. In peacetime the system utilises a satellite based communications system monitoring the 406MHz emergency channel to alert emergency services in the case of an accident.
David Cairnie, Signature’s Managing Director, said “Signature’s famous SARBE products are supplied to military forces throughout the world and this latest contract is the result of Signature’s ongoing commitment to technical investment in order to support our customer’s increasing need for greater sophistication from personnel recovery systems”.
The unit is mission configurable through extensive programming options. In ‘peacetime’ mode it has the ability to utilise the network of geo-stationary satellites which monitor the. This provides very fast notification of beacon activation to rescue agencies worldwide.