Finmeccanica’s Airborne and Space Systems division (in the process of the reorganisation of the Group’s companies, the division has absorbed, from January 1st 2016, part of the activities of Selex ES), has opened a state-of-the-art new Eurofighter Typhoon maintenance training centre at its electronic warfare site of excellence in Luton, UK. The new facility will train Saudi Arabian engineers working for Riyadh-based Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) to repair parts of the electronic warfare equipment carried by the Typhoons.
The opening was attended by a delegation of Saudi nationals who met with Finmeccanica’s experts and toured the new facility. An initial tranche of six AEC engineers began training in January.
In Saudi Arabia, AEC forms part of an in-Kingdom repair service for the Typhoon jet managed by BAE Systems. The new Finmeccanica training centre will teach AEC’s engineers to maintain the Praetorian system, the Typhoon’s Defensive Aid Sub-System (DASS). Praetorian provides protection against airto-air and surface-to-air threats and includes electronic support measures, missile warning, on-board electronic countermeasures and towed radar decoys to detect, evaluate and counter threats at maximum range.
The new facility is designed to provide specialist knowledge transfer from Finmeccanica’s electronic warfare experts to senior AEC engineers. A similar centre focused on repairs to the Typhoon’s radar system is already in place at Finmeccanica’s facility in Edinburgh, UK. Both training operations demonstrate the Finmeccanica company’s commitment to in-country partnerships in the delivery of export contracts.
Finmeccanica is Europe’s leading provider of electronic warfare technology and support and plays a prominent role in the protection of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The company contributes more than 60 percent of the avionics for the aircraft including leading the consortia that delivers the Praetorian defensive aid suite, the Pirate IRST and the Captor radar. Finmeccanica has also signed a teaming agreement with BAE Systems that will see the two companies working together to provide electronic warfare operational support for Eurofighter Typhoon customers.