Garmin International has been awarded the Elite Supplier award from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) for its support and development of the G5000H integrated flight deck on the KUH-1 Surion helicopter. The award was presented by KAI at its semi-annual Supplier Symposium in South Korea and recognises a select group of elite suppliers for outstanding performance.

“Our collective teams have devoted thousands of hours to achieve this significant milestone,” says vice president of aviation sales and marketing Carl Wolf. “The Elite Supplier award is representative of the loyalty and dedication that Garmin has to its customers and we look forward to continuing to serve KAI well into the future.”

The Elite Supplier award honours Garmin for its outstanding service to KAI throughout flight testing, development and certification of the G5000H IFR-capable integrated flight deck in the KUH-1 Surion helicopter. Using a third-party mission computer, the G5000H offers KAI the flexibility to interface existing equipment on board the helicopter with modern, state-of-the-art systems. Due to its unique design, KAI can easily adapt the KUH-1 Surion to the needs of its operators and easily integrate third-party systems that are critical to their customers' operations, providing significant cost savings.

Most recently, two G5000H-equipped Surion's were delivered to the Korean Coast Guard (KCG) and are expected to enter into service this year. The KCG will use the Surion and its advanced mission equipment for search and rescue efforts and to maintain maritime security. Three additional KUH-1 Surion helicopters equipped with the G5000H were delivered to the National Police Agency in South Korea last month.