30 January 2012
Cobham Awarded Contract to Supply Boeing with Body Fuel Tanks for US Air Force KC-46A Tanker Aircraft
DAVENPORT, Iowa - Cobham Mission Equipment has been selected by Boeing to provide Body Fuel Tanks in support of the US Air Force's KC-46 Tanker Programme. The Body Fuel Tanks enable KC-46A mission capability by providing additional fuel for offload and increased range. The engineering manufacturing development (EMD) phase began in January 2012, with low-rate and full-rate production through 2028.
The US Air Force plans to initially acquire 179 KC-46A Tankers from Boeing, each of which is expected to carry a quantity of four each of the Cobham Body Fuel Tanks. Work will take place at Cobham Mission Equipment's centre of excellence in Davenport, Iowa. The Davenport facility is a leader in the aircraft fuel tank market and has been identified as a Principal Location under Cobham's Excellence in Delivery Programme.
"Cobham is delighted to be working with Boeing to support the KC-46 programme," said Iain Gibson, vice president of Cobham Mission Equipment. "Cobham's experienced engineering and programme team will design and deliver an innovative Body Fuel Tank design that achieves the technical and schedule demands of the program."
Cobham is a key supplier to Boeing on several systems vital to the KC-46 programme. In July 2011 Cobham Mission Equipment at Davenport was also awarded two subcontracts by Boeing related to the hose and drogue aerial refuelling system that will be used on the KC-46A tanker aircraft. The contracts relate to the EMD phase of the program, including development hardware. Cobham expects to equip each aircraft with a centreline drogue system. Approximately 30 tankers will also be provided with a pair of wing-mounted aerial refuelling pods.
About Cobham
Cobham specialices in meeting the insatiable demand for data, connectivity and bandwidth in defence, security and commercial environments. Offering a technically diverse and innovative range of technologies and services, the Group protects lives and livelihoods, responding to customer needs with agility that differentiates it. The most important thing we build is trust. Employing more than 10,000 people on five continents, the Group has customers and partners in over 100 countries.
About Cobham Mission Equipment
Cobham Mission Equipment is a systems integration business that has been providing innovative solutions to its customers for over 75 years. The business is the market leader for air-to-air refuelling (AAR), providing fifth generation 'nose to tail' solutions from the cockpit of the tanker aircraft, to the tail of the receiver platform. More than 1,000 systems have been delivered for buddy-buddy refuelling, tactical and strategic tanking for fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, with Unmanned Air vehicle refuelling development well advanced.
The 'nose to tail' AAR capability is complemented by a comprehensive 'wingtip to wingtip' offering covering a range of weapons carriage and release equipment, including missile launchers, cryogenic cooling for missile seekers, pneumatic missile fin actuation and wing store carriers, bomb ejection, defensive aids, chaff and flare systems.
Mission Equipment is also a systems solution provider in the field of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robot technology, providing a range of unmanned ground systems and robots serving international homeland security and military markets, with more than 700 systems delivered to 55 countries.
- ends -
Contacts:
