Systron Donner Inertial (SDI), a brand of InnoVista Sensors has been awarded a Firm Fixed Price Contract in the amount of $2.7M by Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. Company, for the delivery of a Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) QRS21 Multi-Axis Quartz MEMS Gyro System. This initial contract release is for hardware deliveries starting in 2016 through 2018 and includes options for annual releases out to 2021 worth up to $4.8M.

The QRS21 is an integral part of the Flight and Stabilization Control System used on the Bell AH-1Z and UH-1Y attack and utility helicopters. The core of SDI's QRS21 solution is the COTS QRS11 quartz rate sensors, still the industry's first and only MEMS-based Quartz flight control box delivering extremely stable and reliable field proven performance over varying temperature ranges and high vibrational environments. The H-1 helicopter triplex flight control system is configured such that each QRS21 flight control box provides for both primary and redundant gyro information per axis.

“Bell Helicopter is an industry leader in vertical lift platform technology, and is a long standing SDI customer with a strong reputation for reliable, innovative and cost effective helicopters. “SDI is honored to support the Bell Helicopter AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft and the servicemen and women who use them" said David Hoyh, Director Sales & Marketing for SDI. “SDI's mission for its growing line of Quartz MEMS Gyroscopes, Inertial Measurement Units and INS/GPS products is to deliver superior inertial bias and noise performance in smaller, lighter, more reliable, cost effective product solutions than traditional SiMEMS, FOG or RLG technologies.”