Cobham Awarded Contract To Design Radomes For Embraer KC-390 Transport Aircraft

Cobham Antenna Systems has been awarded a contract from Embraer S.A. to design and manufacture nose radomes for the KC-390 military transport aircraft being developed for the Brazilian Air Force.

“We look forward to building upon the relationship between Embraer S.A. and Cobham, first established on the AMX Fighter programme,” said Fred Cahill, vice president of Cobham Antenna Systems. “We expect to perform preliminary and detailed design activities this year, with manufacturing of prototypes and qualification during 2013 in readiness for first flight of the prototype in March 2014.”

Cobham manufactures a wide range of radomes to the most exacting tolerances to meet diverse requirements such as aerodynamic loads, bird-strike, hail, lightning strike, low Radar Cross Section (RCS), installed radar / antenna performance through to ballistic protection. Cobham radomes are used by airborne, naval and land-based platforms covering the military and civilian markets. Major programmes using Cobham radomes include the full radome suite for the Eurofighter Typhoon, the nose radome for the Korean TA-FA-50 lead in fighter / trainer, the main surveillance radar radome for the NFH-90 helicopter, through to Satcom radomes to high speed trains.

About Cobham
Cobham specialises in meeting the demand for data, connectivity and bandwidth in defence, security and commercial environments. Offering a technically diverse and innovative range of technologies and services, the Group protects lives and livelihoods, responding to customer needs with agility that differentiates it. The most important thing we build is trust. Employing more than 10,000 people on five continents, the Group has customers and partners in over 100 countries.

About Cobham Antenna Systems
For more than 60 years, Cobham Antenna Systems has been a world leader in the design and manufacture of communication systems and antennas. Cobham’s innovative communication, navigation, jamming, electronic warfare, telemetry and radar antennas serve all major commercial aviation manufacturers and operators, major defence contractors, emergency response organisations and law enforcement agencies. Cobham’s advanced antenna technology for satellite communications, avionics, radar and surveillance applications connect military and commercial aircraft, naval vessels, vehicles and mobile teams with the world, through high-speed data, voice and video, including a range of products to satisfy every Inmarsat Aeronautical application.

Cobham Antenna Systems also has the industry’s widest range of standard, commercial off the shelf (COTS) composite masts, antenna pointing devices, and vehicle mounting systems. Cobham produces high performance composite structures and products for the aerospace industry, including radomes and aircraft components, high temperature aircraft engine products, rotorcraft blade components and unmanned aerial vehicle airframes and sub-components.

Cobham Antenna Systems is a leading supplier of flat plate array antennas, standard and custom passive RF components and assemblies, including specialised microwave and electro-mechanical rotating devices. These include RF rotary joints, gear-driven pedestals and RF rotating subsystems used in military and air traffic control radars, and telecommunications systems.