Thales is to continue as the US Federal Aviation Adminstration’s main provider of instrument landing systems after winning a contract potentially worth $60 million to supply up to 300 ILS420 Category I/II/III systems over six years. The company’s US air traffic management business was selected over Finmeccanica’s US unit ASI.
Thales is currently delivering Mk20A ILSs to the FAA under a contract awarded in 2000. The need for additional systems is driven by the decision to relegate the GPS-based local-area augmentation system, originally intended to replace instrument landing systems, to a research and development activity because of concerns over integrity and cost.
Under the new contract, Thales will deliver its next-generation ILS 420, which is already in service in Austria, France and Germany. The first phase of the contract, which also covers installation, training and 10 years of support, covers three first-article systems to be developed and tested to FAA specifications, says Thales.
Source: Flight International
