Czech company producing S-70i assemblies

Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody has won a contract from PZL Mielec of Poland to produce helicopter cockpit assemblies.

The assemblies are for Sikorsky Aircraft's S-70i Black Hawks, the international version of the UH-60, which PZL Mielec produces as a subsidiary of the U.S. company.

A minimum of 50 cockpit assemblies are to be produced through 2017 but Aero Vodochody didn't reveal financial details of the deal, which was signed at the ILA Berlin air show.

The cockpit assemblies are a single assembly that includes the nose section, the windshield canopy and the platform upon which the aircraft's pilots sit. Electrical wiring and flight controls -- the cyclic stick and the anti-torque pedals -- are included.

"AERO Vodochody is a proven aerostructures manufacturer with an established history of delivering high quality airframe assemblies to Sikorsky," said PZL Mielec President Janusz Zakrecki.

Aero began producing cockpits for Sikorsky's UH-60M Black Hawk last year and has worked with produced cable harnesses for the S-70i for the past two years.