Rome 24 February 2015
2014 has seen for Finmeccanica a remarkable success in terms of orders for the advanced laser activities manufactured at the Selex ES plant in Edinburgh, UK.
All of the orders signed were for the export market and in particular the United States, where the high-energy lasers will continue to be key components in major aircraft programs such as the Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II and the Apache helicopter. Innovative ground-based laser systems have also been purchased by customers in Europe and the Middle East.
Finmeccanica - Selex ES produces laser systems for high quality thanks to a world-class laser research program, carried out through the solid links established by the Company with the leading Scottish academic institutions. Many engineers of Finmeccanica - Selex ES working on this product graduated at Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities, and in 2013 the Finmeccanica company joined forces with Heriott-Watt University to fund and create the “Selex ES Professorial Chair in Laser Devices and Engineering" at the university’s School of Engineering.
In November 2014, the Company has signed a contract (worth over 400 million euro for Finmeccanica - Selex ES) to lead the development of the new Captor-E radar, built at the Scottish site for the Eurofighter Typhoon. In 2013 the site of Edinburgh celebrated its 70th anniversary since its inauguration in 1943, when the company began its activities manufacturing gyro gun sights for the Spitfire. Today the site, which has won several awards in the UK for international trade and innovation, is a center of excellence for the development and production of radar, high energy lasers and microelectronics.