Eurocopter said Monday that it had won its first order from Japan's military for two training helicopters, a deal that the European manufacturer hopes will increase to 15 aircraft.

Japan's defence ministry has signed a contract to buy two EC135 helicopters, Eurocopter, a unit of European aerospace giant EADS, said in a statement.

A second contract for three additional helicopters is expected next year, it said. The value of the deal was not given.

Japan's defence ministry said last month that it had selected the EC135 Eurocopter for the Maritime Self-Defence Forces, officially pacifist Tokyo's name for its navy.

Japan buys most of its military equipment from the United States, with which it has a security alliance.

Eurocopter, part of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) which includes Airbus, was bidding for the contract against British-Italian firm AgustaWestland.

Eurocopter has sold helicopters in Japan since 1964 but until now only for civilian use.

earlier related report

EDS to manage Aviva data centers in England

British insurance giant Aviva and Hewlett Packard announced on Monday the signing of a one-billion-dollar (700 million pound) agreement for HP company EDS to manage two data centers in England.

Under the 10-year agreement, EDS, which was acquired by HP last year, will transform and manage data centers in Norwich which serve Aviva's businesses in Britain, France, India and Ireland, Aviva and HP said in a statement.

"Partnering with EDS for data center services, in our view, supports Aviva's goals to improve flexibility, increase operational efficiency and lower costs," said Igal Mayer, a top executive at Aviva, the world's fifth largest insurer.

"The data center transformation will help Aviva increase efficiency, lower risk and reduce costs," said Bill Thomas, senior vice president at EDS for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

HP and Aviva said EDS will provide Aviva with data center modernization services as well as management for the insurance firm's mainframe, midrange and Windows servers.

They said approximately 300 Aviva employees will transfer to EDS to deliver the services.

HP bought Texas-based business services outsourcing titan EDS in August as part of a 13.9 billion dollar deal aimed at creating a global powerhouse in computer services to compete against IBM.

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