Alan Pellegrini: Thales Eyes US Military Helicopter Market With Northrop Subcontract

Thales will provide its i-FMS200 flight management system software to Northrop Grumman as part of the latter’s contract with the U.S. Army to upgrade its UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter fleet.

Thales said Wednesday Northrop will integrate i-FMS200 into the avionics mission equipment package of the Black Hawk upgrade, which will be called UH‑60V.

“This is a further expansion of our presence in the US military helicopter market,” said Alan Pellegrini, CEO of Thales’ U.S. arm.

The company noted that it has been working with Northrop for three years to develop the flight management system and verify its capability to integrate with Northrop’s mission computer.

The UH‑60V program covers the upgrade of more than 750 Black Hawk helicopters, Thales said.