The French Army has selected Sandel Avionics’ SN4500 primary navigation display for its Puma transport helicopter cockpit modernisation programme.
Sandel dealer, Heli Union, was awarded a contract by the French Army to install the Sandel SN4500 with automatic direction finder (ADF), VHF omnidirectional range / instrument landing system (VOR/ILS), GPS and tactical air navigation system (TACAN) on a total of 50 ICAO Puma helicopters.
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All dual SN4500 displays will feature a full colour night vision imaging system (NVIS) mode that can support GPS or FMS-supplied waypoints, heading, bearing pointers for VOR and ADF, as well as DME display and marker beacons.
Sandel Technical Sales director, Jerry Henry, said: ”After a very successful retrofit with dual Sandel 3-ATI SN3500 primary navigation displays in all of the French Army Fennec training helicopters, it was an easy decision to consider the 4-ATI SN4500 for their Puma combat fleet.”
Heli Union DESVAUX Avionics manager, Jean Bernard, said: ”This French Army project is a great example of how Sandel products provide an ideal retrofit solution with an attractive cost for military operations.”
Weighing 3.5lb, Sandel SN4500 is a 4×4 display, designed to simplify navigation and enhance situational awareness of pilots by presenting a compass, map, flight plan and safety systems data in a high-resolution format.
Approved for use as a primary flight display by the Federal Aviation Administration and designed for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, SN4500 also features overlaid weather, along with traffic information from traffic advisory systems (TAS), traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) and traffic collision alerting device (TCAD) to enhance battlespace awareness.
Manufactured by Eurocopter, SA330 Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility operated by the French Army for all-weather tactical and logistic transport missions.
Heli Union did not disclose the contract’s value and performance period.
Image: cockpit of a French Army’s SA330 Puma helicopter. Photo: copyright of Sandel Avionics.
