Wilmington, MA - October 19, 2004 - Texton Marine & Land (TM&L), an operating unit of Textron Systems, and CMI Defence (CMI), based in Embourg, Belgium announced today that TM&L and CMI have agreed to an exclusive Marketing and Manufacturing Teaming Agreement. Under this agreement, TM&L's Cadillac Gage Textron Inc. business unit will manufacture two lines of turret models at the company's facility in New Orleans, Louisiana for U.S. based customers, in addition to U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and U.S. Foreign Military Finance (FMF) programs. The turrets to be manufactured and marketed by TM&L include the CMI CT-CV 105 MM and the Cockerill MK Series 90 MM LCTS Turrets.
The agreement will serve to enhance and expand TM&L's Cadillac Gage line of turret systems. It will offer CMI the opportunity to enter the U.S. market, as well as selected U.S. FMS and FMF overseas markets.
B. Clay Moise, vice president, Marine and Combat Vehicles, Textron Systems said, "We have a longstanding business relationship with CMI and have been utilizing their weapons station on many of our Cadillac Gage combat vehicles for years. We are extremely pleased to cement a more formal relationship and to be named as the U.S. licensed manufacturer for the weapons stations. These products align with our production techniques and our marketing efforts, and will serve to enhance our product portfolio."
Paul Thonon, president, CMI Defence said, "In a dynamic and global environment where the defense industry has to restructure, we want to be an active player. The agreement reached with Cadillac Gage Textron is a very important step in re-endorsing CMI Defense as a leader in its niche of powerful and versatile weapon systems for light armored vehicles. We are pleased with the signing of this agreement as it reinforces our ability to offer a much wider variety of weapon system and vehicle combinations to worldwide defense customers."
The CMI CT-CV 105 mm is an advanced weapon system, armed with the new Cockerill CV gun (105 mm) that is compatible with C-130 aircraft air-transportable vehicles. It encompasses the latest technologies and uses CMI's proven experience with modular design for flexibility and integration of future technology advancements. The weapon system design also makes provision for future advanced ammunition. The advanced 105 mm weapon accepts all current NATO 105 mm ammunition and can match 120mm performance with newly developed ammunition. The autoloader (16 rounds in nominal configuration) has a firing rate of 6 to 8 rounds per minute. The panoramic and gunner sight systems are fully electronic, featuring flat panel Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display for day and night vision. Weapon elevation of up to 42 degrees allows Beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) firing. This feature facilitates antiaircraft défilé and urban fighting engagements over that of a traditional Line-of-sight feature, enhancing its overall capability. The word défilé is used to describe an area surrounded by higher ground, where those in the low-lying area can be shot at from above. The CT-CV elevation feature makes it possible to successfully fire at the higher-ground.
The Cockerill MK Series 90 MM LCTS is a light-weight and compact weapon station that offers low recoil, which allows it to be mounted on most light armored vehicles (tracked and wheeled) that are offered in today's market. The powerful 90mm weapon allows for firepower similar to that used on large tanks, without sacrificing agility, mobility, and transportability of these lighter vehicles. The two-man turret incorporates an electro-mechanical power control system that provides 360 degrees revolution in approximately six seconds. The day/night gunners sight is fully stabilized and incorporates a laser-range finder and ballistic computer, allowing for accuracy while shooting on the move. It is equipped with a Simple Angular Indicator (SAI) system that is capable of BLOS firing.
Textron Marine & Land and CMI will be exhibiting together (Booth #1915) at the upcoming AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C., October 25-27.
About Textron Systems
www.systems.textron.com
Textron Systems Corporation, an operating division of Textron subsidiary Avco Corporation, provides innovative technology solutions to meet the needs of the global aerospace and defense industries. The company supports military precision engagement and dominant maneuver with strike weapons, mobility and surveillance systems. The Textron name is well known in the areas of advanced weapons, surveillance systems, aircraft control components, specialty marine craft and armored vehicles.
Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) is a $10 billion multi-industry company with more than 43,000 employees in 40 countries. The company leverages its global network of businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services in industries such as aircraft, fastening systems, industrial products, industrial components and finance. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others. More information is available at www.textron.com.
CMI, Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie, is a 320 million Euro industrial Group with 2,300 employees in 18 countries. The company focuses on both engineered products and maintenance activities, mainly for 3 markets: Power Generation, Defense and Industry. The CMI Group holds worldwide leadership positions in all of the engineered product niches it serves. A rapidly growing maintenance and industrial services network has been developed as a natural complement to the engineering activities. CMI's capacity to improve equipment performance by combining design, supply, and commissioning services with maintenance services (or modernization) has made the Group a valued partner for customers around the world. In the Defense sector, CMI is famous for its weapon systems (turrets and canons) for air transportable armored vehicles.