The surge in Boeing deliveries helped profits at the Smiths Industries aerospace business, where core contracts include the 737 flight -management system (FMS). Profits were up by one-third at nearly ú23 million for the half year to the end of January. Smiths says that it is actively looking for new applications for its systems technology and talks are still taking place with Sextant Avionique over teaming on an advanced FMS for the Airbus Industrie range. Industry sources suggest that the most likely arrangement is for some form of licensing deal on Smiths' FMS software, similar to the agreement already in place with Rockwell-Collins.
Source: Flight International
