Vought Aircraft Industries to Participate in Navy League; Company Announces $497,000 DARPA Contract.DALLAS -- Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. is showcasing its proven track record and advanced technological capabilities with military aircraft at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition this week in Washington. As the Navy League show opens here today, Vought announced it recently received a DARPA DARPA: see Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) The name given to the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency during the 1980s. It was later renamed back to ARPA. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). ) contract valued at $497,000 to investigate the feasibility of a sea-going unmanned aerial vehicle A powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload. that could take-off and land on water. Under the DARPA contract, Vought will modify an existing aircraft for water operations, develop sea state sensors, develop ATOL (Autonomous Take Off and Landing) software, and demonstrate vehicle capability to modify flight characteristics based on transmitted sea state data. Vought's exhibit (booth 4007) features work related to key U.S. military programs: the Sikorsky BLACK HAWK Black Hawk (born 1767, Sauk Sautenuk, Va.—died Oct. 3, 1838, village on the Des Moines River, Iowa, U.S.) Sauk Indian leader. Long antagonistic to whites, Black Hawk was driven into Iowa from Illinois in 1831. helicopter (Vought builds cabin structure for new H-60 variants); Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A/B A/B Airborne A/B Afterburner (jet engines) A/B Air Blast A/B Answerback A/B Auto-brake A/B Air Bus A/B Afterburning Global Hawk UAV UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV Unmanned Air Vehicle UAV Unmanned Aerospace Vehicle UAV Unmanned Airborne Vehicle UAV Uninhabited Air Vehicle UAV Urban Assault Vehicle UAV Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (less common) (Vought creates the composite wing structure); Bell/Boeing's V-22 Osprey (Vought provides the empennage empennage: see airplane. , cargo ramp and door, sponsons and other components); Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (Vought produces the composite lower wing skins); and the Kingfisher II hybrid UAV. "This is an exceptional forum for us to highlight our capabilities in the military marketplace," said Erich Smith, senior vice president, program management and business development. "Vought has a long history of innovation and ingenuity, and now through our Kingfisher II concept, we have an exciting new research project that positions us well for future work in unmanned systems." Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. (www.voughtaircraft.com) is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of aerostructures. Headquartered in Dallas, the company designs and manufactures major airframe structures such as wings, fuselage subassemblies, empennages, nacelles and other components for prime manufacturers of aircraft. Vought has annual sales of approximately $1.2 billion and more than 6,000 employees in seven U.S. locations. |
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