This important
milestone will be followed by a delivery from Brest to AgustaWestland
in Yeovil, England, where it will be installed in the Super Lynx 300
naval helicopter. The FAT was witnessed by a dedicated Project Team
from AgustaWestland who have now 'signed-off' the successful test
result.
Speaking in Brest, Loic Bellanger, Compact FLASH Programme manager,
Thales explained "The Compact FLASH variant has a new all-electric
drive for the reeling machine, a lighter cable and drum and a new
system architecture. This FAT is the culmination of a successful development
phase followed by extensive bench and lake testing and we are very
proud to now prepare for first delivery, on schedule, to our important
customer AgustaWestland".
Compact FLASH,
which has been specifically developed for the AgustaWestland Super
Lynx 300 and AW159 naval helicopters, uses the same FLASH Submersible
Unit, Transmitter/Receiver unit and acoustic processing as installed
in larger Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters thus providing the same
unrivalled ASW capability to smaller 5-6 tonne class helicopters.
Also under production
in the Thales Brest facility is Compact FLASH Sonics, which integrates
Compact FLASH with sonobuoy processing, it is also under contract
with AgustaWestland for installation in the AW159 ASW helicopter being
manufactured in Yeovil for the Republic of Korea Navy.
Benoit Lafouasse,
Programmes Director for mine warfare and airborne acoustic systems
activities, Thales added "We are delighted to have achieved
this first-of-class milestone, on schedule, following a very challenging
programme regarding timescales and very much look forward to building
on our excellent working relationships with AgustaWestland as we progress
through to the delivery and support phases of our programmes with
them".
Thales' Compact FLASH dipping sonar system at Euronaval 2014