Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has produced a cockpit subassembly for Boeing’s EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. Boeing on May 3, 2012, delivered to the US Navy the first EA-18G to feature the BEL subassembly.
The subassembly provides cockpit floodlighting compatible with the aircraft’s Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS).
Other EA-18G parts produced by BEL include a complex-machined stowage panel for the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System connector cable, and an avionics cooling system fan test switch panel with an NVIS-compatible floodlight assembly. Some of these cockpit subassemblies will also be installed on Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
Boeing awarded BEL an initial contract for this work in March 2011. That contract included options to renew annually for up to four years. As a result of BEL’s demonstrated performance, Boeing recently exercised an option to renew the contract for another year.
“BEL continues to demonstrate its capabilities and its position as a valued partner to Boeing,” said Dennis Swanson, Vice President of International Business Development for Boeing Defense, Space & Security in India. “BEL’s work on P-8I, Super Hornets and Growlers is another example of how Indian companies are becoming a part of the global supply chain while Boeing helps them expand their opportunities across the global aerospace industry.”
In addition to its F/A-18E/F and EA-18G work, BEL provides Identification Friend or Foe interrogators and Data Link II communications systems for the Indian Navy’s fleet of P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft. BEL and Boeing also partnered to establish the Analysis & Experimentation Centre in Bangalore in 2009. The center is a resource for collaboration, experimentation and discovery where the two companies work together to help the Indian Armed Forces understand the potential operational impacts of new system concepts, innovative technologies, and emerging and evolving processes.
Headquartered in Bangalore, BEL is a multi-product, multi-technology, multi-Unit conglomerate boasting of over 350 products in the areas of Military Communication, Radars, Naval Systems, C4I Systems, Weapon Systems, Electronic Warfare, Tank Electronics, Electro Optics, Telecom & Broadcast, Homeland Security, Professional Electronic Components and Solar Photovoltaic Systems. BEL’s civilian products include solar traffic signals, Electronic Voting Machine, Tablet PC and Homeland Security Systems.
BEL’s customers include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Paramilitary, Coast Guard, Police, Doordarshan, All India Radio, Department of Telecommunications and consumers of professional electronic components.
