A$100M to Thales for MRH90 Equipment
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Thales Australia has signed a contract for A$ 100M (about $88.2 million) with Eurocopter subsidiary Australian Aerospace, for services related to Australia’s new “MRH90” helicopters under Project AIR9000 Phases 4 & 6. Under this contract, Thales will add the responsibility to provide aircraft equipment and spares, incl. TopOwl helmet-mounted displays with night vision capabilities, other cockpit avionics including navigation, internal secure communications, identification systems, and tactical systems for Australia’s 34 new MRH90 TTH helicopters, bringing the total number of helicopters they’re responsible for to 46. The delivery of this equipment will be scheduled from 2008 – 2013.
As an A$ 20 million portion of that contract, Thales will also supply the Australian developed Ground Mission Management System (GMMS) to fulfill Army Aviations Training & Operation requirements.
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Thales has already established a significant Australian footprint in these areas, thanks to Eurocopter’s ARH Tiger attack helicopter contract, and Australia’s earlier purchase of 12 NH90 variants. Local development of the Tiger Ground Mission Management System; the ARH Software Support Facility in Brisbane; “TopOwl” NVD Helmet Assembly, maintenance and customisation capability; and avionics through-life support infrastructure services have all spun out of these earlier programs. Thales Australia release [PDF].
