INDUSTRY TEAMINGS
22 Jun 07. EADS and DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that they have signed a cooperation agreement that establishes an industrial framework for helicopter avionics production in the United States, coupled with joint sales and marketing initiatives. The agreement signed during the Paris Airshow in Le Bourget pertains to EADS Defence Electronics’ HELLAS obstacle warning system currently being used by the German Federal Police and the Royal Thai Air Force and foreseen for the installment on the NH90 helicopter. The HELLAS system was developed to be used in helicopters and is a laser-based system, which reliably detects obstacles even if the pilot has difficulties seeing them during flights. It scans the area in front of a helicopter with a laser beam, which is not harmful to the human eye, and detects even thin wire at distances of up to 1,000 meters and with high precision.
“HELLAS is the only certified operational system worldwide which is able to protect helicopters against the collision with almost invisible obstacles,” said Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of EADS Defence Electronics. “Together with DRS we will be well positioned to offer U.S. military forces a proven system that could reduce the risk of dangerous flight missions considerably.”
With the latest version of HELLAS, the pilot sees a depth and grey-scale image of the terrain in front of the helicopter. Potential obstacles are displayed in a red signal color in such a way that they can be recognized by the helicopter crew in good time and safely circumnavigated. It has been successfully evaluated by the U.S. Army’s Foreign Comparative Testing program.
“HELLAS rounds out DRS’ flight safety product line and allows us to offer complete system solutions for helicopter brown out landings and obstacle avoidance,” said Alan Dietrich, president of DRS Technologies’ Intelligence Technologies Strategic Business Unit.
19 Jun 07. Saab Aerotech and RUAG Aerospace have jointly responded to a Request for Information (RFI) from the Austrian Ministry of Defence regarding a midlife upgrade (MLU) of their Saab105OE aircraft fleet. In order to deliver solutions
for the MLU as well as the long-term support program, Saab Aerotech and RUAG
Aerospace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future cooperation. The
Air Force Material Division of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence has issued a RFI regarding a midlife upgrade of 22 Saab 105OE. In order for these aircraft to be operated another 10-15 years the avionics system needs to be modernized. (Source: Google)
22 Jun 07. Today, the defence ministries of France, Germany and Spain announced that they have decided to move ahead with the joint projectplanning and development of a future trinational modular system family of jetpowered high performance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A “Technical Arrangement”, as the document has been designated, provides the basis for a subsequent study, the task of which is to consolidate the capability requirements of the armed forces of the partner nations in the area of unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance systems and propose appropriate technical solutions. “This decision is an important milestone to realize a future-oriented and truly European military programme,” said Stefan Zoller, member of the EADS Executive Committee for Defence & Security. “It also paves the way for the implementation of a modular advanced UAV concept that efficiently closes identified capability gaps while at the same time immensely improving force interoperability in this future-oriented field.” Autonomously operating UAVs propelled by jet turbines are suitable both for future long endurance wide-area surveillance scenarios and for high-speed low altitude reconnaissance flights over combat zones. In both cases, the vehicle’s jet propulsion unit ensures that the required flight performance and on-board energy supply for the operation of powerful sensors and data links are achie