Rockwell Collins' information management, navigation capabilities selected for Airbus A350 XWB

Airbus has selected Rockwell Collins to provide information management and navigation capabilities for the A350 XWB aircraft. This award comes in addition to Rockwell Collins' fully integrated Communication Global Work package, the Avionics Data Network, Landing Guidance Systems and the Trimmable Horizontal Stabilizer Actuator (THSA) for the A350 XWB. Rockwell Collins expects the potential value of the entire program to be $2.5 billion.

"The award means that the A350 XWB will have more Rockwell Collins content than any Airbus platform in history," said Kelly Ortberg, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Commercial Systems at Rockwell Collins. "As a core system supplier and integrator, we look forward to working closely with Airbus to bring the best value and capabilities to this aircraft."

The latest contract award calls for Rockwell Collins to provide its Information Management Onboard solution, which is a hosting platform for flight operations, aircraft maintenance and airline applications. Information Management Onboard includes a standard Class 2 electronic flight bag interface, while flight operations and aircraft maintenance functions will be developed by Airbus. Rockwell Collins will provide the hardware platform, system software and system integration.

Additionally, Rockwell Collins was selected to provide navigation system components consisting of the ADF-900 Automatic Direction Finder, DME-2100 Distance Measuring Equipment and the VOR-900 VHF Omnidirectional Radio receiver for the A350 XWB.

Work on the A350 XWB contract will take place at Rockwell Collins' locations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Irvine, Calif.; Melbourne, Fla.; and Toulouse, France.