Cobham in $561 mln deal for Australia airborne search and rescue

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - British defence company Cobham said on Friday it signed an A$640 million ($561 million) deal to provide airborne search and rescue capability to Australia for 12 years from 2016.

The company said that under the terms of the deal, which it won after an open industry competition, it would acquire and modify four Bombardier Challenger special mission jets and then operate and maintain them for the duration of the contract which covers search and rescue over land and at sea.

The full value of the contract could rise to A$700 million if Australian authorities opt to add three more years to the contract. (1 US dollar = 1.1408 Australian dollar) (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by James Davey)