Black Hawks, Kiowas Get the Newest Safety Stuff

Simula announced at the Paris Air Show that it has been delivering its Cockpit Air Bag System (CABS) technology for U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk and Oh-58 Kiowa helicopters. By the end of June 2003, the Company will have delivered 510 shipsets for the Black Hawk helicopters, and 84 for Kiowas. (That's a contract in excess of $13 million.)

At present, over 160 CABS have been installed and are in service for the U.S. Army. (Simula is the sole source provider of CABS to the U.S. Army.) At the Paris Air Show, Simula featured the CABS system -- air bags, gas generators, and a unique three-axis crash sensor, designed to protect helicopter aircrew from potentially fatal impacts with aircraft structure and equipment installed in the cockpit. When a crash impact is sensed, the air bags inflate in front of and beside the occupants to cushion their heads and upper torsos, as well as to keep their limbs from flailing excessively within the crowded cockpit environment.

Simula is still getting orders from the U.S. Army for both Black Hawk (above) and Kiowa (right) systems. In August of 2002, Simula was awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract for the UH-60 CABS, as well as an initial delivery order that satisfied the minimum guarantee under the contract. Most recently, in March of 2003, Simula received an additional $2.9M in follow-on orders for additional UH-60 and OH-58 CABS.

Simula continues to pursue new applications for its CABS technology in both domestic and international aircraft markets. With its programmable crash sensor, the CABS is adaptable to a wide variety of other military rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.

FMI: www.simula.com