Simula (Hall 3, F10) is close to completing an initial order for its Cockpit Air Bag System (CABS), currently being installed in US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
The order for 510 systems was awarded in June 2001. More than 160 CABS have been installed and are already in service. Simula has also completed an order for 84 CABS for US Army Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters.
Simula's UH-60 CABS includes air bags, gas generators, and a unique three-axis crash sensor. It is designed to protect helicopter aircrew from potentially fatal impacts in the event of a crash. When an impact is sensed, the air bags inflate in front of and beside the occupants to cushion their heads and upper torsos, as well as to keep their limbs from flailing within the crowded cockpit.
Simula's CABS for the Army's OH-58 Kiowa helicopters uses a combination of air bags and Simula's proprietary Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS) to protect the aircraft's occupants. Simula is the system designer and integrator of all components in the two systems, and provides them on a single-source basis to the US Army.
The contract is worth $26.5 million and the army has exercised an option under an existing contract to acquire 98 additional OH-58 CABS, with a value of approximately $2 million. In March, Simula received an additional $2.9 million follow-on order for additional ship-sets for the UH-60 and OH-58.
Simula has also been awarded a contract to develop and manufacture crashworthy armoured crew seats for the initial production run of Boeing-Sikorsky's RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter.
It produced the crashworthy seats used in the RAH-66 during the aircraft's demonstration-validation phase, and will be adding its lightweight ceramic/composite armour to the newly-designed Engin-eering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) version of the seat.
Source: Flight Daily News
