Cobham Regulatory News (COB)

14 August 2012

 Cobham Wins Contract Worth Up To US$30 Million from Embraer Defense and Security for KC-390 Tanker Aircraft Auxiliary Fuselage Fuel Tanks

Cobham has been awarded a contract by Embraer Defense and Security worth some $30 million, to develop and supply the Auxiliary Fuselage Fuel Tank (AFFT) for the KC-390 tanker aircraft.

Cobham's AFFT will enable the aircraft's core mission capabilities, including increased range for search and rescue operations and maximised fuel offload for air-to-air refuelling. The Brazilian Air Force is the launch customer for the KC-390, which is scheduled to enter service in 2015. Embraer expects to secure significant additional orders for the KC-390 from export customers.

Selection by Embraer follows a comprehensive competitive process and reflects Cobham's unrivalled experience in the design, development and delivery of aircraft fuel tank systems. Cobham has delivered more than one million tanks of all kinds to customers around the world and will supply Embraer with a state-of-the-art tank system optimised for weight, while still providing for quick removal and re-installation.

Following the selection announcement, Iain Gibson, vice president of Cobham Mission Equipment said: "Cobham is delighted with its selection by Embraer and the Brazilian Air Force to supply the Auxiliary Fuselage Fuel Tank for the KC-390. This award consolidates our position on the aircraft, building on the earlier selection of our wing aerial refuelling pods, nose radome and aerial refuelling probe."

In 2011, Embraer awarded Cobham a contract in excess of US$60 million to develop and supply the KC-390 programme with Wing Aerial Refuelling Pods. Cobham has also been selected to provide the aircraft with aerial refuelling probes and to design and manufacture the aircraft's nose radomes.

About Cobham

Cobham specialises in meeting the 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 donor aircraft, to the tail of the receiver platform. More than 2,000 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.

About Embraer Defense and Security

Embraer Defense and Security holds a strategic role in Brazil's defence system. Its portfolio includes the turboprop Super Tucano; the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) family; jets for transporting government officials; the KC-390 transport aircraft, under development; aircraft modernisation; training and operations support (TOSS), and solutions such as Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I). For more information, visit www.EmbraerDefenseSystems.com.

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