Hitco Carbon Composites has signed a long-term agreement with Denel Saab Aerostructures to supply composite sections for the aft fuselage and tail cone of the proposed Embraer C-390 military transport.
Los Angeles, California-based Hitco, already a composites supplier for the Boeing C-17, would employ a new automated fibre placement machine designed for fabricated parts with a complex curvature, such as an aft fuselage, says Mark Kokosinski.
Under the agreement, Hitco would supply a still-undetermined amount of composite structure for the aft section and tail cone to the Denel Saab Aerostructures plant in South Africa, where systems installation would take place, Kokosinski says. The completed structure would then be shipped to Embraer's final assembly plant in Brazil, where it would be joined with other sections.
Embraer is expected to launch the C-390 with a military customer shortly, Kokosinski adds. Hitco is prepared to deliver the first aft section components about two years after the programme is launched "if things go fairly smoothly" during the design phase, he says.
Embraer has proposed the C-390 as a jet-powered alternative to legacy examples of Lockheed Martin's C-130 transport. Although derived from the E-190 regional airliner, recent images of the aircraft have shown major diversions, including a T-tail and larger fuselage.
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© Tim Bicheno-Brown/Embraer |
Denel Saab Aerostructures, which already produces composite structures for the Airbus Military A400M, early last year voiced its desire to take a risk-sharing involvement in the C-390 project.
Source: Flight International