Aircraft

Montreal-headquartered CMC Electronics (E230) has been selected to supply flight-deck upgrades for three of Saudi Arabia’s fleet of around 50 Lockheed Martin C-130 military transports.

The new flight decks will be similar to those implemented on a pair of Dubai Air Wing Lockheed Martin L-100-300s, the second of which is in the static park here after returning to service last month.

Prime contractor for the Saudi deal is Riyadh-based modification and repair provider Alasalam Aircraft, which is showing a model of the flight deck on its stand (C706). Saudi Arabia’s designated C-130 modification centre, Alsalam will install the CMC-integrated flight decks in Riyadh over the next two to three years.

Core of the upgrade is CMC’s CMA-900 flight management system (FMS), featuring a colour LCD multifunction display and the company’s own GPS navigation sensor. Also included on the new flight deck are an autopilot, inertial navigation, new primary flight instruments and traffic collision avoidance (TCAS).

CMC continues to develop its integrated flight deck offerings. Potential additions to the package could come from other companies belonging to US parent group Esterline, which acquired CMC in March this year. They include Korry (displays), Mason (hands-on throttle and stick assemblies – HOTAS), Traxsys (tracker balls) and Avista (safety-critical software).

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