Running the stores

Stores management systems for maritime patrol aircraft are proving a good earner for Smiths Aerospace. The company’s selection to provide the equipment for the 80 P-X replacements for Japan’s P-3 fleet is valued at more than $40 million: production is due to start in 2008 at Smiths’ Michigan and Florida facilities. And a contract from Boeing covering stores management for the P-8A multimission maritime aircraft could be worth more than $80 million. The seven test aircraft to be produced during the system development and demonstration phase could be followed by as many as 108 aircraft to replace the U.S. Navy’s 223 P-3s.