The South Korean army and air force have selected Elbit Systems' ANVIS/HUD night vision system to equip Bell AH-1 Cobras, Boeing CH-47 Chinooks and Sikorsky UH-60PBlack Hawks. An initial contract is worth $6 million and includes options for 200 systems. The Mexican navy has purchased a Rotorway Exec 162F kit-built helicopter for preliminary rotorcraft training. Italy has placed a $5 million contract with Elop ElectroOptics Industries for laser designators integrated with a forward looking infrared sensor. The man-portable, tripod-mounted systems can be used to designate targets for the army's surface-to-surface missiles and the air force's air-launched weapons. The Royal Danish Air Force is leasing, from Atlantis Aerospace, desktop trainers for Collins FMS-800 flight management systems recently installed in its Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules. Tadiran Spectralink has won a $5 million follow-on contract for its Airborne Search And Rescue System from the Italian Air Cavalry. Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) has won an initial £40 million ($64 million) deal to supply its S1850M long-range radars for the Principal Anti-Air Missile System on the next generation of French, Italian and UK air defence warships. The 72-month contract covers the development and supply of a prototype radar and a "first of class" radar for the UK. A contract worth £16 million is due later this year for the first units for the French and Italian navies while a production contract worth more than £100 million should be placed in 2004. The S1850M is based on the Signaal Smart L system with a new AMS signal processor. Greece has placed a $12 million order for Hellfire II missiles for delivery by late November next year. Raytheon has been awarded a $83 million contract by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency as part of the US Government's Cooperative Threat Reduction programme.
Source: Flight International
