Thales and Sofresa have won a €230 million ($206 million) contract to support and upgrade Royal Saudi Forces' Shahine air defence systems. Shahine is a development of the Crotale. Saab and BAE Systems have awarded South African firms Denel Aviation and Grintek Electronics Systems contracts to work on Swedish air force Gripen fighters, for delivery from 2002. The contracts are part of a $1.5 billion industrial participation commitment linked to South Africa's purchase of 28 Gripens and 24 Hawk trainers. Denel has been awarded a $3.6 million workshare package to manufacture a section of the centre fuselage - the main landing gear unit - for the Swedish air force Gripens and fuselage sections for South Africa's Gripens, while Grintek will supply communications units for the Swedish fighters in a $4.3 million deal. Computing Devices Canada will produce a replacement acoustic system for the Canadian Forces' Lockheed Martin CP-140 Aurora incremental modernisation programme under a C$59 million ($37 million) contract. FLIR Systems will upgrade the forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensors on US Marine Corps Bell UH-1Ns under a contract potentially worth $126 million over five years. The company will upgrade Safire FLIRs to Brite Star standard, with new thermal imager, long-range visible light camera, high-power laser designator and eye-safe laser rangefinder. Harris has won contracts totalling $12.1 million to develop a fibre-optic network for the Boeing F/A-18E/F. The dual high-capacity databuses will connect new avionics, including active electronically scanned array radar, to the mission computer. Harris will also embed a US Navy-developed terrain warning system in the F/A-18E/F's digital map computer. ITT Industries has awarded BFGoodrich the engineering and manufacturing development contract for the Boeing SikorskyRAH-66 Comanche laser warning receiver.
Source: Flight International
