Thales To Provide Deployable Instrument Landing Systems To US Air Force

Thales has won a contract to provide Deployable Instrument Landing Systems (D-ILS) to US Air Force (USAF).

“The systems will be used in airfield environments where the ability to provide precision guidance to aircraft on final approach during low visibility or low-ceiling weather conditions – while also being able to quickly set-up, activate, break-down and re-locate – are critical,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

The Thales D-ILS will provide the equivalent of fixed-based Instrument Landing System capability at tactical airfields and environmentally diverse regions such as areas of natural disaster or humanitarian relief efforts.

The Thales D-ILS is a COTS system based on the Thales ILS 420, a fixed-based, dual frequency ILS with more than 700 fixed-base systems chosen worldwide for civil and military applications.

The contract includes delivery of two Production Representative Units (PRUs) along with technical orders and provisional technical documentation, training development and conduct, system analysis, architecture and engineering, and contractor support. The USAF plans to purchase up to 38 systems over the coming years.