LONDON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Additional electro-optic turrets that provide enhanced situational awareness to aircraft crews are being supplied to Britain's Ministry of Defense by Selex ES.
The contract for 15 of the company's Titan turrets is worth nearly $11.2 million. Deliveries of the turrets and first line test equipment will begin early next year.
The Titan 385ES-HD electro-optic turrets are for the Royal Air Force's current and future CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters. The Royal Air Force procured 45 of the turrets under an earlier contract.
"The Titan turret gives crews a major operational advantage in situational awareness, but the technology inside Titan is only part of the story behind this contract," Selex ES Optronics & Communication Systems Marketing Vice President Mark Byfield said. "A key reason for the success of this program has been our close working relationship with the Ministry of Defense in achieving on-time delivery on our previous Titan contracts.
"We've been able to work very effectively side by side with the end users and fine-tune the Titan turret to work exactly how they need it to work to achieve mission success."
The Titan 385ES-HD electro-optic turrets were developed by Selex ES with co-funding from the government. The system features a SLX Merlin medium waveband infrared camera and thermal imaging technology for high-resolution night vision capability.