Johannes Overhues, co-shareholder and managing director of Kappa optronics, said, "It is both a great honor and an obligation that Airbus has placed this trust in us. We look forward to making a decisive contribution to the success of the Eurodrone with our key expertise in the field of safety-critical vision systems for aerospace applications!"
In the field of aerospace cameras and vision systems, Kappa is one of the leading international suppliers. With a passionate development team in Germany and Spain, the company brings state-of-the-art multispectral sensor technology to 24/7 aerospace applications such as UAV piloting or aerial refueling. The Eurodrone is the second major aerospace program for which Kappa has been contracted by Airbus. A close partnership links the companies, and Kappa is a strategic supplier. For more than 15 years, Kappa has supplied a cutting-edge vision system for the world’s leading aerial refueling system in the Airbus A330 MRTT transport and tanker aircraft. For its outstanding performance, Airbus recognized Kappa as the most innovative supplier in 2019 with the "Best Innovator Overall award “.
An impetus for Kappa, Overhues says: "In the last two years, we have positioned our aerospace division even more strongly and invested heavily. This includes, for example, the establishment of our new subsidiary in Madrid and a massive expansion of our international development team. Among other things, we were able to recruit 12 new specialist engineers in the aviation sector. We have also systematically expanded our technology portfolio, for example in infrared technology." With dedicated process assurance and modern agile working methods, the company is equipped and qualified for the most demanding projects.
Airbus obviously sees it that way, too. "For us, Kappa has always been a very reliable and technologically leading supplier with whom we enjoy working closely. Due to the investments made, Kappa has been able to compete with other suppliers once again in this important, European program," says José-María Hernández-García, as part of the Procurement department of Airbus Defence and Space. His colleague Miguel Ángel Escudero García adds, "The experience from the MRTT program was a good baseline, but our supplier qualification and selection procedures are very strict for any new program. The Kappa team had to prove their competence in detail to get into this program. They convinced us!"
Responsible at Kappa is the head of the Aviation Business Unit, Axel Zimmer: "Our team has been preparing for this project for years and has performed excellently. We were able to win the selection process with our good and resilient concepts and we will also deliver a top performance in the implementation. How crucial a high-performance Eurodrone is for our independent defense capability in Europe has become clear to everyone this year at the latest. We know what we are working for! "
Kappa optronics | Business Unit Aviation: Let your vision fly!
Kappa optronics GmbH has more than 40 years of experience in cameras and vision systems in rugged and certifiable designs for anything that drives or flies. Our Business Unit Aviation is thrilled to work 100% focused on cameras and vision systems in the Aerospace field. We focus on flight test cameras (FTI cameras), cameras for ED-155 compliant crash recording, cameras for space applications (cameras for launch vehicles and vacuum applications), HUD cameras for flight visualization, aircraft surveillance cameras (e.g., cargo, cabin/ cockpit door surveillance) and vision systems for air-to-air refueling. Our qualified aviation cameras and system solutions are ready for certification to aviation norms and can be flexibly adapted to specific applications. We are leaders in technology and meet all safety requirements on design assurance procedures in hardware and software development, qualification, and certification. As one of the very few camera suppliers, we are certified to EN / AS 9100. In 2019 we were granted the “Best Innovator Overall” Award by Airbus Defence and Space.
Kappa optronics GmbH
Kleines Feld 6
37130 Gleichen
Telefon: +49 (5508) 974-230
Telefax: +49 (5508) 974-109
http://www.kappa-optronics.com
Contact KAPPA Deutschland/Europe
Telefon: +49 (5508) 974-230
Fax: +49 (5508) 974-109
E-Mail: k.vogel@kappa-optronics.com