Air Industries Group, a Long Island-based manufacturer of precision aerospace and defense parts, agreed to buy “certain assets used to produce landing gear and landing gear components for the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and the Boeing CH -47 Chinook helicopters.” The seller of the assets and the value of purchase were not announced.
The buyer stated that the purchase “at attractive prices” would be immediately accretive to earnings. It did not indicate the terms of its supply deal for the military aircraft programs.
"This transaction is the acquisition of a new production line enabling Air Industries to quickly enter a number of markets without the normal barriers of developing tooling, engineering, and the delays inherent in acquiring long-lead time raw materials," according to Daniel Godin, president and CEO.
Records show that Circor Aerospace Products Group, Corona, CA, was contracted by Sikorsky Aircraft four years ago to produce landing gears for H-60 Black Hawk and Seahawk helicopters under a multiyear contract with an initial value of $25 million.
The UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky, a United Technologies Corp. business now in the process of being sold to Lockheed Martin Corp. in a $9-billion cash deal.
The Boeing CH -47 Chinook also is a twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter used for troop transport, artillery placement, and battlefield resupply.
The assets Air Industries Group purchased include machine tool center and assembly systems, as well tooling, forged raw materials, and major component parts, and had been used to produce landing gear components for both platforms. The buyer noted that the machining center and tooling will be delivered fully programmed and ready to produce landing gear drag beams for Black Hawk helicopters, “significantly minimizing the barriers to entry into these markets.”
Godin added that acquisition puts Air Industries in a strong competitive position to win new business in both the OEM and after-market segments for landing gear and gear components on these airframes.
With this purchase and other additional contract wins, Air Industries now produces complete landing gear or components for the F-15, F-16, F-18 US Fighter Aircraft, the E2-D Naval Reconnaissance aircraft, the Blackhawk UH-60, and the Chinook CH-47Helicopters as well as the C-130 and other aircraft."
Air Industries Group designs and manufactures structural parts and assemblies for landing gear, arresting gear, engine mounts and flight controls, and also provides sheet metal fabrication, tube bending, and welding services.
