Germany's defence ministry has signed a €5 million ($6.5 million) deal with Selex ES to acquire an undisclosed number of Titan 385ES-HD high-definition electro-optical/infrared sensors to equip part of its navy fleet of Westland Lynx 88A maritime helicopters.
Announced on 20 June, the acquisition "will allow German navy pilots to see their environment clearly while navigating and performing surveillance missions at night and in conditions of poor visibility," the company says. Equipment deliveries will start later this year, it adds.
Some of the service's legacy Lynx are flown with an earlier version of the Titan sensor turret, which is installed on the rotorcraft's nose.
Flightglobal's Ascend Online Fleets database records the German navy has having an active fleet of 21 Lynx, which it states were built between 1981 and 1999.
Berlin had been staging a contest to replace the UK-manufactured type and Westland Sea King with either the NH Industries NH90 or Sikorsky S-92, but earlier this year opted to convert some of its existing order for NH90 tactical transport helicopters to 18 NFH naval variants.
Source: Flight International
