Rockwell Collins Awarded $16M Development Contract for F-18 Display Modernization Program
SAN JOSE, Calif. (September 23, 2002) - Rockwell Collins (NYSE:COL) has been awarded a $16 million contract by Northrop Grumman Canada Corporation to develop advanced
colour flat panel displays for the Canadian Forces (CF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18 aircraft.
Under contract with Northrop Grumman Canada Corporation, Kaiser Electronics, a Rockwell Collins business, is developing the
new displays. The development effort is expected to last approximately 30 months and will be followed by production of the
new displays. The upgrade program will involve modifying 71 Australian and 80 Canadian F/A-18 aircraft with the new displays
are also being offered to other F/A-18 users.
The new state-of the-art displays, which will replace the monochrome CRT displays developed in the 1970's, will provide enhanced
situational awareness by supporting improvements in aircraft sensors, mission computers and weapon systems also being introduced
to the aircraft. The program will include developing a display suite consisting of two 5-inch active matrix liquid crystal
displays (AMLCD) and a 6-inch Horizontal Situational Display. The new display suite also includes an embedded digital map
system which will replace a system that requires the crew to install a film map in the aircraft.
The Kaiser/Northrop Grumman Canada team previously completed contracts from the Canadian Department of National Defense for
the System Definition and the Concept Demonstration/Risk Reduction phases of the program. Kaiser and Northrop Grumman Canada
Corporation have had a long-standing relationship beginning with the manufacturing of the original Kaiser-designed CRT-based
displays for Canadian CF-18 aircraft and other applications in the 1980's.
Kaiser Electronics, located in San Jose, California, is an industry leader in providing vision system solutions to the defense
and aerospace industry. Kaiser Electronics supplies a complete range of high quality display system solutions for tactical
fighter/attack aircraft including head down, head up and helmet mounted displays. Additional information available at www.kaiserelectronics.com
# # #
531-NR-29
|
