The US Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center’s aircraft division in Patuxent River has awarded a contract to BAE systems for the procurement and installation of 55 electronic flight bags with civil global positioning system (GPS) capabilities for the C-130T transport aircraft.

Under the $9.8m modification contract the company will provide 45 install kits, 23 instrument display systems and 45 engine instrument display systems.

The electronic flight bag (EFB) is an electronic information management device that helps flight crews perform flight management tasks.

It is designed to replace paper-based reference material like aircraft operating manual, aircrew operating manual and navigational charts and automates performance take-off calculations.

EFB’s capabilities also include technologies like real-time satellite weather information and integration with GPS.

The bags will be installed on the navy’s Hercules version C-130T aircraft.

The major portion of the work will be carried out in Crestview, Florida, and the rest in California, Maryland, which is expected to be complete by September 2011.