L-3 Communications has announced that its Canadian Electronic Systems (L-3 ES) subsidiary has been awarded an $89.6 million production contract from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems of St. Louis, MO, to produce the cockpit display suite for the F/A-18 aircraft. The display suite is slated for installation on Canadian and Australian F/A-18A/B aircraft as part of Australia's Hornet Upgrade Program and Canada's F/A-18 Incremental Modernization Project.

The contract provides for the delivery of 647 displays through December 2008. Each display suite will consist of a combination of multifunction, repeater and situation displays embodying a digital moving map capability. The upgraded displays are full-color, high-resolution Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AMLCDs) that provide precise navigation/time reference, digital tactical imagery and enhanced graphics and video imagery, either individually or in combination.

The pre-production display suite successfully completed first flight and formal flight milestones earlier this year in a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18. Completion of the Australian fleet-wide incorporation of the modification is planned for December 2007, with completion of the Canadian program to follow.

"This contract represents the culmination of several years of effort between L-3 ES, the end-user community, Boeing and our industrial partners," said Richard Ackerman, vice president of contracts, marketing and projects at L-3 ES. "The new display suite will support improvements in aircraft sensors, mission computers and weapons systems, and will provide significantly reduced life cycle cost when compared to the existing displays."

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