Signature Industries Limited announced today that it has been awarded a contract valued at £4.6m to supply the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (UK MoD) to supply latest generation SARBE Personal Locator Beacons.

The equipment known as Personal Emergency Locator System (PELS), will replace the currently deployed SARBE 7 which from February 2009 will be obsolete due to changes in satellite monitoring technology.

PELS will be issued as standard survival equipment to airmen in the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and British Army. The supply contract is for over 4500 operational variants with additional training equipment, training and support.

The equipment consists of the Advanced Aircrew Personal Locator Beacon (AAPLB) and an integration solution that allows the equipment to automatically activate and deploy antennas when fitted in a range of air crew clothing. Once activated the equipment transmits a distress signal on 406MHz containing a unique identity and precise GPS co-ordinates. The signal is received and processed by the COSPAS-SARSAT network which then alerts the relevant authorities in the country of registration.

A spokesman for the company said, “We are pleased the UK MoD has selected the SARBE PELS system after a very rigorous selection process. As the current supplier of PLBs to UK armed forces we fully understand the challenges of providing a system that integrates with the unique operational environment of our military aviators and are looking forward to seeing the latest generation of SARBE equipment enter service”.