I deeply regret the fact that our shareowners were negatively impacted by these events in the short-term. However, I believe that today's equity markets discount the value of Rockwell Collins in the long-term — and that this company is well-positioned to succeed in these uncertain times. Here's why:
First, our relationships with customers have never been better — across the board. Those relationships are strong because our people have done an outstanding job of meeting their commitments.
The proof can be found in our program performance, where we have a solid track record for delivering on time and on budget — with increasing levels of customer satisfaction. Our disciplined approach to continuous process improvement contributes significantly to this success.
We've also continued to invest in technologies that allow our customers to be more proficient and more cost-effective in serving their end customers. For fiscal year 2008, we invested 19% of sales, almost $900 million, on research and development activities.
All of these attributes combined — our ability to meet commitments, our investments in technology, and the personal relationships that our people have established with customers — have built a solid foundation to back up our brand promise: "Building trust every day."
Our people understand what it takes to build trust. They understand it means delivering what we promise. They understand it means being responsive. They understand it means listening to what our customers are asking us to do and creating solutions to meet their needs.
The second reason I'm confident that Rockwell Collins is well-positioned for the future is the amount of market share we've won over the last several years that will benefit this company for many years to come.
In our Commercial Systems business we have outstanding positions on two platforms that represent the future of the air transport market — the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 XWB. The 787 represents the largest ship-set content we've ever had on a commercial airplane, and the A350 XWB more than doubles the amount of content we've ever had on an Airbus airplane. For the next 15 to 20 years, this company will enjoy the benefits of those program wins as we deliver advanced avionics and communications systems to these aircraft.
In the regional jet market, we've made major progress in capturing the next generation of aircraft and establishing relationships on a global scale. We're delivering integrated avionics systems for China's Advanced Regional Jet, the ARJ21, and we won positions this year for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and the Bombardier CSeries. In the business jet segment, we've won 21 of 22 competitions for new aircraft avionics since our spin-off in 2001, a testament to the advantages of our Pro Line 21 and Pro Line Fusion™ open architecture avionics systems, and to our strong track record for meeting customer requirements.
In Government Systems, we're also seeing great success. The Air Force awarded us a contract to build a Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS) — another example of our plan to provide customer solutions involving a higher level of systems integration.
We're well-positioned to provide the warfighter with networked communication solutions through a variety of programs including the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). The Multi-function Information Distribution System-JTRS (MIDS-J), which is the solution for fighter aircraft, command and control centers and ships, will begin to deliver production units in 2009. This will be followed by the Ground Mobile Radio (GMR) in 2010, and the Handheld, Manpack and Small form fit (HMS) radio solution in 2011.
In addition, our Future Combat Systems/Integrated Computing System solution, and our win on the low-cost displays program for military ground vehicles, position us to provide the pivotal technology needed to bring network-centric operations, and with it greater situational awareness to the battlefield.