ASDWire distribution date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:24:00 GMT +0100

Ultra Electronics to Equip Canadian CF-18 Aircraft with HiPPAG compressors

Gloucester, UK – 1 February 2010 --[ASDWire]-- Ultra Electronics announces that its Precision Air Systems business, based in Gloucester, has won a contract worth over $8m from the US Navy to supply its HiPPAG airborne compressors for Canadian CF-18 aircraft. The contract is for High Pressure Pure Air Generators (HiPPAGs™) and was procured under a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to meet a Canadian Air Force requirement to support Sidewinder missiles on CF-18 aircraft. This latest order brings the total number of HiPPAGs purchased for F-18 aircraft to over 1,900 systems.

HiPPAG is a rugged, high performance miniature compressor system which provides a continuous source of high-pressure, pure air for cooling the seekers of heat-seeking Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The HiPPAGs are mounted in the launch rail attached on the aircraft wings. Ultra’s HiPPAG systems have been in service on F-18 aircraft since 1997 and have accumulated more than three million flying hours and demonstrated impressive reliability, exceeding three thousand flying hours between failures.

Andy Yates, Managing Director of Ultra’s Precision Air Systems business, commented:
"We are delighted to supply the Canadian Air Force with the HiPPAG system for use on its CF-18 aircraft. Once again, the Ultra combination of proven performance, reliability in service and through-life cost benefits has made HiPPAG the first choice, best value benchmark for the support of heat-seeking missiles for demanding airborne applications. Ultra compressor systems are also the only compressor systems in service for pneumatic bomb ejection applications. HiPPAG provides the energy source for pneumatic ejection and has also been qualified for the pneumatic bomb rack systems for the F-35 Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter) aircraft which is in low rate initial production. Ultra is also offering systems for future programs such as the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) and Multi Purpose Bomb Rack (MPBR).”

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Further information about Ultra:

Ultra Electronics, Precision Air Systems
Ultra’s Precision Air Systems business is a leading manufacturer of compact on-board gas solutions and pneumatic systems for mission and safety critical defense and aerospace applications. Applications include cryogenic cooling and stores ejection systems.

Ultra Electronics is an internationally successful defence and aerospace company with a long, consistent track record of development and growth. Ultra businesses constantly innovate to create solutions to customer requirements that are different from and better than those of the Group’s competitors. The Group has over one hundred distinct market or technology niches within its twenty four businesses. The diversity of niches enables Ultra to contribute to a large number of defence, aerospace and civil platforms and programmes and provides resilience to the Group’s financial performance.

Ultra has world-leading positions in many of its niches and, as an independent, non-threatening partner, is able to support all of the main prime contractors with specialist capabilities and solutions. As a result of such positioning, Ultra’s systems, equipment or services are often mission-critical to the successful operation of the platform to which they contribute. In turn, this mission-criticality secures Ultra’s positions for the long term which underpin the superior financial performance of the Group.

Ultra offers support to its customers through the design, delivery and support phases of a programme. Ultra businesses have a high degree of operational autonomy where the local management teams are empowered to devise and implement competitive strategies that reflect their expertise in their specific niches. The Group has a small head office and executive team that provide to the individual businesses the same agile, responsive support that they provide to customers as well as formulating Ultra’s overarching, corporate strategy.

Across the Group’s three divisions, the major market sectors in which Ultra operates are:

• battlespace IT, summarised as being the systems and equipment that allows coalition commanders to have an integrated, real-time picture of the disposition of friendly and enemy forces that is better than the one available to the enemy. This information superiority underpins rapid decision making which, together with effective command, control and communications, translates into military superiority. The use of battlespace IT is fundamental to the implementation of the military doctrines of ‘network-centric warfare’ or ‘network-enabled capability’ that are seen as transformational in the capability to win future battles. Expenditure on battlespace IT equipment therefore continues to represent an increasing share of the total defence budget in the main markets in which Ultra operates.

• sonar systems, expanding Ultra’s traditional world-leading airborne anti-submarine warfare capability into broader activities in the underwater battlespace. These include integrated ship and submarine sonar systems, persistent seabed-deployed sensor arrays, torpedo defence and sea mine disposal systems. The fact that over forty countries have, between them, more than four hundred highly capable, stealthy submarines is continuing to focus expenditure in this sector.

• civil and military aircraft equipment, Ultra provides specialist sub-systems and equipment for military and civil aircraft. The main military aircraft programmes on which Ultra equipment is fitted continue to have political support, underpinned by consistent financial commitment. For civil aircraft, record order intake performance by all major aircraft manufacturers underpins increasing build rates for the medium term.

• specialist defence equipment, including power conversion and signature systems for naval ships and submarines. Ultra’s specialist capability in high integrity controls for submarine nuclear reactors is included in this sector, for which there is continuing commitment to new platforms and the upgrade of existing boats. Ultra also supplies advanced sub-systems for modern armoured vehicles including those for electrical power management, indirect vision and weapon control. The need for increased mobility and force protection is driving a number of large military vehicle procurements in Ultra’s main markets.

• specialist civil systems and equipment, including Ultra’s advanced airport IT solutions. Airline passenger growth around the world is driving continuing expansion and upgrade of airport infrastructure. Ultra supplies trackside power equipment for rail transit systems, for which demand continues driven by the need to expand and upgrade rail networks. The UK market for nuclear power generation is expanding and Ultra’s offering derived from its equivalent military capability is well positioned to benefit.

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