Kaman is considering a range of plans to boost its aerospace business in response to sluggish K-Max helicopter sales and contracting SH-2G Seasprite revenue from naval programmes in Australia and New Zealand.
Aerospace sales for the 12 months to 31 December totalled just over $301 million, which is around one-third of Kaman's annual turnover. However, net sales in aerospace were down 21% on the previous year.
One proposal is to further develop the Integrated Tactical Avionics System (ITAS) beyond the current Seasprite application to other helicopter platforms. As part of this effort, Kaman wants to develop its own in-house software capability. "We have the rights to take ITAS beyond Australia and use it on other aircraft. This is one element we could use as an aircraft and avionics upgrade provider," says Lubenstein. In the meantime, Kaman is marketing Seasprite to navies in Mexico, Poland and South Africa and hopes to sell a second batch of six to eight machines to Egypt for search and rescue.
Kaman is also reviewing K-Max marketing efforts. The company is again considering leasing its 30 external-lift helicopters to operators for terms of six, 12 or 18 months in order to get a "critical mass" in the market. The initial helicopters operated by Louisiana Pacific and Erickson Sky Train were leased, but the scheme was later discontinued in favour of sales.
Kaman is also promoting several new K-Max applications, including an urban fire-fighting version and a torpedo-range recovery helicopter. The US Army has expressed interest in the helicopter for unmanned logistic operations, following earlier trials by the US Marine Corps.
Source: Flight International
