ONYOURWING Q L-3 MAS to lead In-Service Support for Maritime Helicopter Program

Transcription

1 ONYOURWING Q to lead In-Service Support for Maritime Helicopter Program

2 Features to lead In-Service Support for Canada s Maritime Helicopter Program will play a leading role in the provision of In-Service Support (ISS) for the 28 Sikorsky H-92 Cyclone medium lift helicopters for the coming 20 years. 4-5 Sylvain Bédard Editorial Wins New Contract with RAAF has been awarded a new contract with the Royal Australian Air Force for the manufacturing and supply of the production modification kits for the Hornet Structural Repair Program Phase 1. 6 Publishes Another Success Story After six years as the prime contractor on the Department of National Defence (DND) Publishing Services Contract, the Technical Publications group at has now been awarded the Publications Maintenance Services 7 Positions Robotic Shot Peening for Success Robotic shot peening system in a production environment has achieved a very high level of precision that could not be accomplished through manual peening. 8 Rising to new challenges Massive changes are taking place at an amazing rate in every area of business. Competition is coming from a variety of sources including the increasingly global nature of business. In addition, technology is continuing to create other forms of competition. I m pleased to say that L-3 Communications is meeting these challenges head-on. This issue of On Your Wing is in many ways a celebration of, and recognition for, the business excellence demonstrated throughout our organization. In it, you ll learn about our recent successes, including being chosen to provide lead in-service support for Canada s Maritime Helicopter Program, the awarding of a new contract with the Royal Australian Air Force, and the winning of the Publications Maintenance Services contract for the Department of National Defence. Successful business is all about developing strong relationships. As we move forward into the future together, we will continue to stand behind our services, while standing side-by-side with our clients. ON YOUR WING is published semi-annually by: 10,000 Helen-Bristol Street Montréal International Airport-Mirabel Mirabel (Québec) J7N 1H3 Telephone: (450) Fax.: (450) info.marketing@l-3com.com Editor: Rachel Thibault Editorial Consultant: Cameron Miller Collaborators : Wayne Crowe, Gilles Lefebvre, Paul Mercier, Bruno Mercier, Benoit Arcand and Sylvain Forgues Graphic Design: LADC To make use of the contents of this publication, you must first obtain permission from L-3 Communications MAS (Canada) Inc L-3 Communications MAS (Canada) Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in Canada. L3C-0016 (11/04) Sylvain Bédard President O N Y O U R W I N G L - 3 M A S 3

3 to lead In-Service Support for Canada s Maritime Helicopter Program The Government of Canada announced on July 23, 2004 its selection of the Sikorsky Aircraft H-92 Cyclone helicopter to replace the Canadian Forces aging fleet of Sea King helicopters. As a major partner to Sikorsky in the bid for the Maritime Helicopter Program (MHP), will play a leading role in the provision of In-Service Support (ISS) for the 28 Sikorsky H-92 Cyclone medium lift helicopters for the coming 20 years. We are pleased with this decision, said Sylvain Bédard, President of. The H-92 Cyclone is a superior product, and MAS has a proven ability to provide innovative, cost effective fleet support through the assembly and management of strong industry teams. The result will be a successful program for the Government of Canada, new opportunities for small businesses and literally decades of new job opportunities in a number of Canadian communities. The ISS portion of the MHP contract will allow the creation of more than 100 direct jobs for spread across the country. In addition, several subcontractors will also see significant activity. Major beneficiaries will be communities in Atlantic Canada and on the West Coast. The ISS contract charges with lead responsibility for ISS set-up and provision of extensive ISS activities. The mandate includes ensuring a smooth transition from production to in-service, providing a training facility and training to Canadian Forces aircrew and maintenance personnel, as well as management and control of all ISS work in strict accordance with cost, schedule and performance requirements. will establish a Contractor Management Office in the Ottawa area and Contractor Field Offices at each H-92 operating unit, to act as the point of contact for the Department of National Defence (DND) and Sikorsky for all ISS issues. will support Sikorsky in the development and management of an Accredited Technical Organization, support the DND Weapon System Manager with Fleet Management and Operational Planning, and ensure the H-92 operational availability is maintained for its life cycle with the Canadian Forces. The 20-year ISS contract, which includes options to extend in five-year increments, provides significant potential for long-term growth. The real appeal for, however, is the challenging breadth and scope of its mandate. This is an opportunity to demonstrate the full capabilities of our organization, commented Dixon Kenny, Vice-President, Marketing and Business Development. The requirements of this program are rigorous and extensive. The potential here is huge not only to show what we can do, but also to stretch ourselves and grow with the program. Key opportunities for include the growth of supply chain management in support of the contract, and the expansion of engineering support and fleet management, which builds on s considerable experience developed under national and international F/A-18 programs....a successful program for the Government of Canada, new opportunities for small businesses and literally decades of new job opportunities in a number of Canadian communities. 4 L - 3 M A S O N Y O U R W I N G O N Y O U R W I N G L - 3 M A S 5

4 ...evaluated as the best cost per rated points of all competitor proposals submitted... L- 3 MAS Wins New Contract with RAAF is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a new contract with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for the manufacturing and supply of the production modification kits for the Hornet Structural Repair Program Phase 1 (SRP1). A total of 62 shipsets are to be delivered to the RAAF in 4 lots over a 2 year period. The total value of the contract is marked at $5.4 million Cdn. The objective of the RAAF Hornet SRP1 program is to correct structural deficiencies to the fuselage and wing structures in order to lengthen the structural life of the aircraft. The SRP1 program is similar in scope to the Department of National Defence s CF-18 ALEX CP1 program. Last year, completed the development and prototype phase of the structural modifications. Currently, is under contract with the RAAF to modify the first 6 production aircraft and ensure a transfer of knowledge to the Australian Industry comprised of Boeing Australia Limited and BAE SYSTEMS Australia. Later this year, the Australian Industry will pursue the production phase for the RAAF. The program is to be completed over a four-year period. In addition, earlier this year was contracted by RAAF to undertake a scoping study for Phase 2 of the Structural Repair Program known as SRP2 which involves the replacement of the aircraft's middle section. SRP2 is aimed at ensuring full life on a limited number of aircraft. These on-going relationships reflect s expertise and commitment to being a leading provider of high technology solutions. A total of 62 shipsets are to be delivered to the RAAF in 4 lots over a 2 year period. Publishes Another Success Story After six years as the prime contractor on the Department of National Defence (DND) Publishing Services Contract, the Technical Publications group at has now been awarded the Publications Maintenance Services This 34 month follow-on contract will include the possibility of two 1-year options, to be exercised at the Crown s discretion. Our proposal, generated by the Tech Pubs department, was evaluated as the best cost per rated points of all competitor proposals submitted to the Crown. To successfully meet the needs of this new mandate, our Tech Pubs department has developed a number of high-end publication production skills on the various publications programs that increase both efficiency and throughput. For example, research and development activities in the area of publication enhancement features, such as intelligent wiring diagrams, will be available to DND under the new In addition, our Tech Pubs group has developed extensive capabilities in the area of SGML to XML conversion, as demonstrated with the conversion of the CF-18 IETM. These skills will prove to be particularly beneficial as work in the areas of SGML and XML are also anticipated under this follow-on 6 L - 3 M A S O N Y O U R W I N G O N Y O U R W I N G L - 3 M A S 7

5 Positions Robotic Shot Peening for Success It began several years ago with a small R&D project that used a simple robot to control the position of a shot peening nozzle. Followed by more serious development, this ultimately lead to proof of concept testing that demonstrated the capabilities of a robot to perform shot peening in very difficult to access locations. In fact, testing was done with the robot inserted upside down into a mock-up of a CF-18 fuel tank since it is representative of one of many challenging locations where shot peening is required on an aircraft. NOW, ROBOTIC SHOT PEENING IS READY TO TAKE OFF Traditionally, shot peening has been applied manually on the CF-18. Shot peening is the hammering of a structure s surface with small ceramic beads that in many ways, resembles the sand-blasting process. The ceramic beads plastically deform the surface that is then held in compression by the un-deformed material underneath. This compressive effect significantly delays the initiation of cracks in the structure. Shot peening has proven especially advantageous to the CF-18. As a fighter aircraft flown under severe conditions, the aircraft s structure cannot be repaired with the traditional methods as used on commercial aircraft. For that reason, fatigue cracks on thick-machined structures such as bulkheads need to be prevented instead of repaired. STRINGENT PROCESS CONTROL But because shot peening is often the only aspect of a modification, more stringent process control was required for critical structural components. As a result, robotic shot peening was explored to fulfill two main requirements. The first requirement was to provide a high level of control, accuracy and repeatability to the shot peening process. The second requirement was to record all the major parameters of the process for quality control. There was also a third challenge. No commercial robotic shot peening systems were available on the market. So, our robotic team designed and built our own system. Our system is comprised of 3 major components: 1. Japanese built robot and controller 2. Swiss built computer controlled shot peening machine 3. Touch screen user interface that controls the robot, the shot peening machine, and records all the process parameters 8 L - 3 M A S O N Y O U R W I N G