The agreement will provide aviation industry customers with a complete solution for flight test instrumentation integration, certification, and training
PARIS AIR SHOW – JUNE 16, 2015 – Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) today announced that its Defense Solutions division and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) have signed an MOU to jointly offer fully integrated instrumentation hardware and service solutions for the global aerospace test market. Under the agreement, Defense Solutions’ Avionics & Electronics business will cooperate with NLR to provide its defense and commercial aviation customers with the training, integration, and certification services needed to support Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) applications using Curtiss-Wright’s Acra KAM-500 Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) subsystem hardware. This cooperation will provide KAM-500 customers with industry-leading expertise and services to meet worldwide FTI and integration requirements.
"Many of our global aviation customers are looking for a solution to speed and simplify their flight test instrumentation certification requirements, to reduce costs and get new aircraft platforms airborne quickly and safely," said Lynn Bamford, Senior Vice President, and General Manager, Defense Solutions division. "We are excited to cooperate with NLR to offer these customers world-class integration, training, and certification services to support their Acra KAM-500-based applications and further expand our value proposition for the post-FTI market space."
"NLR has integral knowledge in the aerospace domain, covering the full life cycle of civil and military aircraft from the initial design up to operation and sustainment," said Michel Peters, CEO of NLR. "Our experience and services in the domain of flight testing, certification, training, and health and usage monitoring are complementary to Curtiss-Wright’s Acra product line. We already have experience working with Acra equipment and this MOU is a logical step to jointly provide customers with complete and innovative solutions and services."
About NLR
The National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) is an independent aerospace knowledge enterprise in the Netherlands. Its overall mission is to make air transport and space exploration safer, more sustainable, and more efficient. NLR’s multidisciplinary approach focuses on developing new and cost-effective technologies for aviation and space, from design support to production technology and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul). With its unique expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, NLR is bridging the gap between research and application. NLR covers the whole RDT&E (Research, Development, Test & Evaluation) range, including all the essential phases in research, from validation, verification, and qualification to evaluation. By doing so, NLR has contributed for almost 100 years to the innovative and competitive strength of government, industry, and SMEs, in the Netherlands and abroad.
About the Acra KAM-500
The KAM-500 is one of the world’s most reliable airborne measurement systems. Providing fleet managers with one flexible instrumentation system, delivering the high-fidelity data necessary for aircraft prototype certification and continued airworthiness, this compact, low-power, modular DAU has been developed through decades of experience and heavy investment in R&D. Driven by hardwired finite state machines, the DAU is extremely reliable, and its small size makes it ideal for installing in locations that have limited space. The KAM-500 has passed rigorous environmental testing ensuring it is fully qualified for aerospace applications, enabling rugged flight data acquisition in the harshest of environments.
Under the agreement, Curtiss-Wright will provide customers with its KAM-500 DAU chassis developed at its Avionics & Electronics business in Dublin, Ireland. NLR will provide instrumentation integration, certification, and training services from its location in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
About Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 9,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.
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