Bharat Electronics Ltd has produced a cockpit sub-assembly for US Navy’s electronic attack aircraft, the Boeing EA-18G Growler, says a Hindu Business Line report. On May 3 this year, Boeing delivered to the US Navy the first EA-18G featuring the BEL sub-assembly.
The defence public enterprise got an initial contract for this work in March 2011. The sub-assembly provides cockpit flood lighting compatible with the aircraft’s night vision imaging system. Boeing has renewed the contract for another year; it can do so for up to four years.
BEL said it had delivered some more parts of the EA-18G. “Some of these cockpit sub-assemblies will also be installed on the Boeing [fighter planes] F/A-18E/F Super Hornets,” it said. The others are a complex machined stowage panel for the joint helmet mounted cueing system connector cable; and an avionics cooling system fan test switch panel with an NVIS compatible floodlight assembly. Dennis Swanson, vice president of International Business Development for Boeing Defense, Space & Security in India, said, “BEL’s work on P-8I, Super Hornets and Growlers is another example of how Indian companies are becoming a part of the global supply chain.”
