The U.S. Air Force has awarded Thales Defense & Security an $18.4 million contract to supply two production-representative versions of a deployable instrument landing system (D-ILS) that will support precision landings at austere airfields. The service plans to acquire up to 38 systems in the coming years, the company said.
The Thales D-ILS is a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) system based on the company’s fixed-base ILS 420 system. According to the Air Force, it will provide precision approach guidance to Category 1 weather minimums, with a 200-foot decision height and half-mile visibility, at austere and expeditionary airfields. It will allow the service to convert a bare base into a working airfield, to augment an existing airfield or to restore ILS capability at damaged airfields.
Program officials at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., used the Pentagon’s Foreign Comparative Test (FCT) program to select the ILS system. The FCT program evaluates highly developed technologies of allied and friendly nations to help meet U.S. defense requirements more quickly. Thales is headquartered in France.
“The results of the FCT tests on the Thales D-ILS clearly showed it meets our requirements,” said Lauren Paradiso, Hanscom’s D-ILS deputy program manager. “The system incorporates a COTS-based mature technology that has been developed and fielded in a number of configurations for military customers such as the Qatari Air Force, Pakistani Air Force and Italian Ministry of Defense.”
The Air Force contract calls for Thales to test and deliver the production-ready systems with associated training and materials by July 2018, leading to a possible Milestone C decision to begin low-rate initial production.