Saab Avitronics has succeeded in an intense competition to supply the Airbus A400M military transport with its lifetime monitoring system, the first of which is due for delivery in 2009. The revenue from this deal could exceed $7.1 million and last for more than 10 years. Production of the LTMS will be conducted at the Saab Avitronics plant in Centurion, one of three it operates in South Africa in addition to four in Sweden.

The LTMS will monitor loads and heavy landings in the aircraft, as well as sampling and recording key fatigue-related parameters to determine inspection threshold and intervals for proactive fleet management.

Saab has been a major supplier to Airbus since 1997 and a risk-sharing supplier in the A400M since it received a contract to build the crew entrance doors. In March 2005 it won the contract to provide the high-lift control and monitoring system, and in February this year became the supplier of the terrain-masking low-level flight computer for the German air force’s A400Ms.