INDUSTRY NEWS Lockheed Martin Awards IBC Beralcast Contract for F-35 Jets
IBC is supplying cast components for the F-35 Lightning II. Vancouver-based IBC Advanced
Alloys Corp. reports Lockheed Mar- tin Missiles and Fire Control has se- lected U.S. subsidiary IBC Engineered Materials Corp., Wilmington, Mass., to provide critical cast components for the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) on the F-35 Lightning II jet. Te first component covered by this contract is an EOTS azimuth gimbal housing to be manufactured using Beralcast, the company’s proprietary beryllium-aluminum casting alloy. Tis first contract is for production
of OEM aircraft fitted with EOTS systems and spares for low-rate initial production (LRIP) lots 7 and 8. Preproduction has begun, with initial deliveries scheduled for later this year and into 2015. Te value of the initial contract is just over $2 million includ- ing non-recurring engineering (NRE) and hard tooling deliverables, and it has the potential with subsequent LRIP contract awards to increase significantly over the life of the F-35 program. Te EOTS assembly being produced by Lockheed Martin is for all the F-35 variants and planned production quantities are estimated to be over 3,000 aircraft with deliveries through 2035. “We are pleased to announce this
validation of our Beralcast alloys and are committed to Lockheed Martin
and the demanding requirements of this critical defense program,” said Ray White, president, IBC’s Engineered Materials Division. “A key attribute of our relationship with Lockheed Martin is flexibility and collaborative engineering, and we look forward to supporting future initiatives where modulus, weight and cost are critical performance factors.” Te F-35 Lightning II, a 5th gen-
eration fighter, combines advanced low observable stealth technology with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor infor- mation, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Tree distinct vari- ants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and
a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries. Following the U.S. Marine Corps’ planned July 2015 IOC, the U.S. Air Force and Navy intend to attain IOC in August 2016 and 2018, respectively. Beralcast alloys are suited to high
performance applications requiring lightweight, high stiffness parts with good thermal properties. IBC is an integrated manufac-
turer and distributor of rare metals (beryllium) based alloys and related products serving a variety of industries including nuclear energy, automotive, telecommunications and a range of industrial applications. IBC has 80 employees and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with production facilities in Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Missouri.
IBC Delivers First Unmanned Aerial System
Components for Defense Applications IBC Advanced Alloys Corp., Van-
couver, recently announced the success- ful delivery of several unmanned aerial system (UAS) demonstration articles manufactured using its proprietary Beralcast technology. Te components were delivered to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Reliability Information Analysis Center (RIAC) as a part of a program that evolved from a 2011 devel-
opment and technical services agreement between IBC, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the Naval Air Systems Command in Maryland. Wyle, a provider of aerospace engi-
neering services to the federal govern- ment, engaged IBC on behalf of the RIAC to demonstrate the service life and performance enhancement for UAS platforms using Beralcast materials.
October 2014 MODERN CASTING | 9
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