Deliveries Scheduled To Begin In Early 2009

CMC Electronics Inc. tells ANN the company recently signed a contract with Lufthansa and Lufthansa Technik to supply its latest generation flight management system (FMS) known as the CMA-9000 for the retrofit of its fleet of 14 A300-600 aircraft.

Representatives with the company say the upgraded A300-600s have a much larger navigation database, improved performance optimization and increased datalink capability. The installation will consist of a dual CMA-9000 flight management system, providing the aircraft with multi-sensor-based navigation and enhanced operational capability.

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in early 2009.

"The selection by Lufthansa of our industry leading FMS for the retrofit of their A300-600 aircraft confirms the capability of our product as the solution of choice for the air transport market," said Jean-Pierre Mortreux, CMC president and CEO. "A variant of our new FMS has already been selected by Thales for their avionics suite on the Sukhoi SuperJet 100."

The CMA-9000 is a family of compact FMS variants designed for modern digital cockpits in fixed and rotary wing aircraft for both civil and military applications. It is the next-generation FMS derived from CMC's successful CMA-900 FMS/GPS and CMA-3000 FMS.

The single unit CMA-9000 has multi-sensor (GPS, INS, DME and EGI) navigation capabilities and is certified for operations in civil airspace. It conforms to the ARINC-739 multifunction control display unit standard, making it suitable as a display and control unit for other systems such as ACARS, ACMS and SATCOM. It also has the capability to act as a radio management unit.

CMC Electronics notes its previous generation FMS, the CMA-900, has received more FAA and other national Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approvals than any competing product for the avionics upgrade of B747 Classic aircraft.  The CMA-900 has also been successfully installed and integrated on a number of C-130 aircraft worldwide.  With recent orders, the CMA-900 is now in service with over 60 airlines and military operators. 

Andreas Gherman, Lufthansa's vice-president of technical operations, says the new FMS will allow unrestricted operation of the A300-600 fleet for the foreseeable future.

FMI: www.cmcelectronics.ca, www.lufthansa.com