Albany Engineered Composites wins ten-year contract for CH-53K helicopter assemblies
Selected by Lockheed-Sikorsky, AEC will leverage its composites expertise in engine and airframe applications to meet a 2023 delivery period.
CH-53K heavy-lift cargo helicopter. Photo Credit: Sikorsky Aircraft, AEC.
Albany Engineered Composites (AEC, Rochester, N.H., U.S.), subsidiary of Albany International Corp., has been selected by Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md., U.S.) subsidiary, Sikorsky Aircraft (Stratford, Conn., U.S.), to produce the complete aft transition assembly for the CH-53K heavy-lift cargo helicopter in a competitively bid ten-year long term agreement covering Lots 7 through 14. According to Lockheed, the choppers will be replacing the Israeli Air Force fleet of CH-53D Yasur helicopters.
Long-lead funding is already underway to support the schedule and the contract is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2022, with first deliveries in 2023.
“We are excited and honored to be adding this additional content to our current production of sponsons and tail rotor pylon assemblies for the world’s next-generation heavy-lift helicopter,” says Greg Harwell, AEC president. “This agreement signifies the successful and growing relationship between Sikorsky and Albany.”
AEC designs and manufactures advanced engineered composite components for engine and airframe applications for commercial and military aircraft, missiles and unmanned vehicles, and for renewable energy creation and distribution. AEC says its specialty composite solutions enable current and next-generation aircraft to perform better while being more fuel-efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Related Content
-
Plant tour: Renegade Materials Corp., Miamisburg, Ohio, U.S.
Renegade Materials is known for high-performance prepregs for aerospace applications. Following its acquisition by Teijin in 2019, the company has expanded capacity and R&D efforts on a range of aerospace-targeted materials.
-
High-performance, high-detail continuous 3D-printed carbon fiber parts
Since 2014, Mantis Composites has built its customer and R&D capabilities specifically toward design, printing and postprocessing of highly engineered aerospace and defense parts.
-
Materials & Processes: Fibers for composites
The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. Fiber types, their manufacture, their uses and the end-market applications in which they find most use are described.