Collins Aerospace opens army customer experience center

With its proximity to Redstone Arsenal, the new facility will allow Collins to work closely with the service and industry partners on critical army aviation initiatives, including Future Vertical Lift and enduring fleet modernization, while providing configurability to evolve with the US Army’s needs. The center will also act as a testbed and demonstration area for emerging technology.

The center will also demonstrate modular open system architectures at the aircraft and sub-systems levels, designed to help the army avoid vendor lock. The Customer Experience Center will showcase the company’s open system solutions including its MOSARC™ avionics architecture, Mission System for Air Launched Effects, FlexLink™ adaptive connectivity and PerigonTM flight control and vehicle management computer.

Testing Collins products

In addition, the center is equipped with a mock military rotorcraft outfitted with current and emerging Collins products. This vehicle allows visitors to test Collins and non-Collins products in operational scenarios through a simulated flying experience.

Dave Nieuwsma, President of Avionics for Collins Aerospace, commented: “Collaboration will be the facility’s central focus. Collaboration with the army, collaboration with industry, collaboration across Collins and collaboration with our sister Raytheon businesses in Huntsville.”

In July, Collins Aerospace completed a US$30 million expansion of its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Monroe, North Carolina.