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Airbus Helicopters Selects Thales Next-gen Standby Units
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Airbus Helicopters has selected Thales third-generation integrated electronic standby instrument for its new-production aircraft.
Word Count: 217
Airbus Helicopters has selected Thales’s third-generation Integrated Electronic Standby Instrument (IESI) for ew-production H135, H145, H160, and H175 civil and military helicopters. Progressive entry into service will begin in 2026 for those civil variants and in 2027 on the Guépard joint light helicopter—the military version of the H160. The IESI weighs 25 percent less and uses 33 percent less power than first-generation backup units that entered service in 1999.
Thales's IESI incorporates pressure probes, sensors, accelerometers, and gyrometers, which form an artificial horizon, as well as an LCD display that provides the pilot with speed, altitude, and attitude information. It is designed to withstand high levels of vibration and electromagnetic interference and is compatible with night vision goggles. 
“Tens of thousands of pilots around the world rely, every day and in all circumstances, on this safety-critical equipment, which our engineers were first to invent and has again today demonstrated its importance,” said Thales v-p of flight avionics Jean-Paul Ebanga.
Thales has been producing artificial horizons since 1993 and 30,000 aircraft have been equipped with its IESI instruments to date. Thales facilities in Vendôme, Châtellerault, Moirans, and Valence, France will all support production and repair services for the new-generation IESI.