By Rebecca Rayko

Telephonics, the New York-based communications systems company, has taken a giant leap into the maritime surveillance radar market with the purchase of two systems from AlliedSignal/Honeywell.

The deal has yet to be formally announced, but Telephonics told AeroWorldNet at Heli Expo 2000 that the purchase was finalized December 27.

Telephonics purchased the RDR 1400C color weather and search-and-rescue radar, and the higher performance RDR 1500 color weather avoidance, search-and-surveillance radar.

The systems were divested by AlliedSignal at the urging of the US Department of Justice during approval stages for the recent merger with Honeywell. Honeywell has a product similar to the RDR 1400C.

Telephonics also purchased the maintenance and repair facilities from AlliedSignal to support these systems worldwide. Three are based in the US and the other is in Toulouse, France - near Eurocopter, the largest customer for these radar systems.

With the purchase, Telephonics becomes the marketshare leader in maritime surveillance radars with 80% of the market, said Ronald Cybulski, vice president of business development and strategic planning.

The two new systems broaden the spectrum of maritime suveillance products manufactured by Telephonics, which also includes the APS-143 and the APS-147. Pricing across the spectrum goes from the low-end RDR 1400C (under $100,000), the RDR 1500 ($350,000-$400,000), the APS-143 ($800,000-$1.2 milion), to the APS-147 ($2.5 million).

Telephonics is developing a radar upgrade for the US Navy SH-60R model based on its AN/APS-147(V) model. The SH-60 Romeo model is a complete modification of the older SH-60.

The company is also negotiating a new contract with Eurocopter, which Cybulski expects to close in the next few weeks. The contract is for the RDR 1500Cs to go with the 20 EC 135s recently purchased by Turkey.