WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. subsidiary of Sikorsky Aerospace has been contracted to equip a civilian utility helicopter with armor flooring.
LifePort, Inc., which has headquarters in Washington state, said the commercial Supplemental Type Certificate to provide the Bell 407 aircraft with ballistic protection is the first STC the company has received.
"We offer the most advanced and lightest custom armor solutions currently on the market," said Jeffery Jannitto, Sikorsky Aerospace Services' director of Mission Equipment. "This STC allows us to provide ballistic protective flooring solutions directly to a civil OEM aircraft.
"We are very excited about this commercial application and fully expect future OEM opportunities."
The armor systems provide a multi-hit ballistic solution for the Bell 407 cockpit floor and crew seats backs and bottoms.
Delivery of 12 turn-key BPS kits for Bell's 407 helicopter platform is under way. OEM technicians will install LifePort's kits directly on to the aircraft.
A single-engine civil utility helicopter, the Bell 407 is frequently used for corporate and offshore transport, for air ambulance and law enforcement missions and news reporting applications.
