CRITICAL Software renewed its cooperation with Anglo-Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland until 31st December 2017

CRITICAL Software’s technology and expertise have once again been recognised by AgustaWestland through the renewal of its collaboration agreement for a further three years. The company’s collaboration with the leading helicopter manufacture has contributed significantly to its growth and its global presence in the aerospace sector.

Lisbon, 17-12-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — CRITICAL Software, a company specialising in software engineering for critical information systems, is pleased to announce that it has renewed its cooperation agreement with one of its major customers, AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian helicopter company owned by Italy’s Finmeccanica, for a further three years, extending it until 31st December 2017.

CRITICAL Software’s successful 10 year collaboration with AgustaWestland has contributed greatly to the development and growth of the company in one of the world’s most demanding and competitive markets. The relationship began as part of an agreement which saw AW101 helicopters supplied to the Portuguese Air Force. CRITICAL Software was able to start a subsidiary in the UK, leading to the establishment of an international presence in theaerospace market, as the relationship continued and increased in scope.

Under this latest agreement, CRITICAL Software will work on a range of projects providing helicopter support solutions, along with its subsidiary in the United Kingdom (CRITICAL Software Technologies) and other companies in the CRITICAL Group, such as CRITICAL Materials. These projects will include ground logistics stations, flight and mission planning systems, the maintenance of aeronautical assets, supply and logistics performance management and the design, development and testing of safety-critical systems for advanced aviation systems.

As part of a wider agreement between both parties, AgustaWestland will also promote and support the commercialisation of CRITICAL Software’s technological capabilities within the various companies, partners and suppliers of the Finmeccanica group.

CRITICAL Software has worked closely with AgustaWestland for 10 years on the development and improvement of various critical systems, including classified military projects in the UK and USA. During this time, hundreds of mostly Portuguese engineers have had the opportunity to grow their experience and capabilitiesin a wide range of technical areas, enabling CRITICAL Software to successfully build up several other accounts with major customers, such as Alstom, Rolls-Royce and GE Aviation.

Additionally, the collaboration with AgustaWestland has greatlycontributed to strengthening CRITICAL Software’s position as a highly-qualified and skilled supplier to the defence industries in the UK and USA, with the company’s expertise, technological excellence and innovation making it one of the leading certified suppliers in demanding markets.

“We are very pleasedto have renewed our collaboration agreement with AgustaWestland, which demonstratesthe demand for our top quality engineering solutions from one of the leading companies in two of the world’s most competitive industries: aerospace and defence”, said Gonçalo Quadros, CEO of CRITICAL Software. He added: “This collaboration is of real value to our company on many levels. Working in close collaboration with AgustaWestland led us to the establishment of our UK subsidiary, and it continues to help us successfully develop a highly-skilled workforce capable of tackling the most demanding and complex global standards”.Without these kind of collaborations, a business like ours would not be as successful as it is, and we are strongly committed to this collaboration for a further three years, and its continued renewal for many years to come.”

Over the last 10 years, CRITICAL Software has worked with AgustaWestland on major projects, including:

• The development, maintenance and renewal of Ground Logistics Stations for the, AW101 Merlin, ApacheAH Mk.1 and AW159 Wildcat platforms;
• Safety case and Hazard Analysis work for the AW101 Merlin platform;
• The development of a flight and mission planning system fortheApache AH Mk.1 and AW159 Wildcatplatforms;
• The development of a health control system for the Sea King, AW101 Merlin, Apache AH Mk.1 and AW159Wildcat platforms;
• The development of simulation training software for the AW159 Wildcat platform;
• The assessment and development of a Tactical Processing Unit and a Touch Screen Unit for the AW101Merlin platform;
• The assessment, development and certification of a web-delivered technical publications browser for the AW101 Merlin platform;
• The assessment, development and maintenance of a system to manage the major routine refurbishment of all helicopter platforms;
• The development of Health & Usage Monitoring (HUMS) ground stations for data capture and analysis.