Bristol Aerospace has won a two-year, $4.4-million NASA contract for 20 Black Brant suborbital rocket systems. The Black Brants will be integreated with other Bristol-supplied and NASA-furnished hardware into several configurations, the largest of which is the four-stage Black Brant XII.

The Black Brants, used by NASA since the 1970s, will launch payloads into ballistic trajectories. Black Brants have been launched from Canada, France, Norway, Australia, South America and Africa.

Bristol has also won a three-year UK MoD Contract, valued at approximately $11 million, for the CRV7, a high-performance, 2.75-inch rocket developed with the Canadian Department of National Defence. The CRV7s will be used on RAF Jaguars and Harriers.

Elsewhere, Bristol will provide its Wire Strike Protection System (WSPS) for 15 Cormorant helicopters purchased by Canada for search and rescue. Bristol will share in a significant portion of the $629-million SAR helicopter contract.

By John Wiley