Kaman to supply composite structural components for Bell AH-1Z helicopter blades
Kaman Composites Wichita has been awarded the manufacture, and supply of composite skin to core assembly structural components for the Bell AH-1Z’s helicopter blades.
Kaman Composites Wichita (KCW, Wichita, Kan., U.S.) a division of Kaman Aerosystems (Bloomfield, Conn., U.S.), announced on April 1 that it has been awarded the manufacture, and supply of composite skin to core assembly structural components for the Bell AH-1Z’s helicopter blades.
Bell has been producing the AH-1Z helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps at their Amarillo, Texas manufacturing facility since 2003. All composite detail parts and assemblies will be manufactured and delivered from the KCW facility in Wichita, Kan. with deliveries beginning in 2019 and extending through 2023.
“This award further exemplifies Bell’s confidence in Kaman Composites Wichita as a leading aerospace composite structures supplier,” says Mark Withrow, vice president and general manager, Kaman Composites U.S. “We are proud that Bell has placed these flight critical components into our facility.”
Related Content
-
Composites manufacturing for general aviation aircraft
General aviation, certified and experimental, has increasingly embraced composites over the decades, a path further driven by leveraged innovation in materials and processes and the evolving AAM market.
-
Plant tour: Airbus, Illescas, Spain
Airbus’ Illescas facility, featuring highly automated composites processes for the A350 lower wing cover and one-piece Section 19 fuselage barrels, works toward production ramp-ups and next-generation aircraft.
-
Industrializing additive manufacturing in the defense/aerospace sector
GA-ASI demonstrates a path forward for the use of additive technologies for composite tooling, flight-qualified parts.