Tue, Mar 09, 2004
Cut Crimps DynaBil's Plans
Aerospace manufacturer DynaBil Industries Inc. stands to see a
hard-won piece of business evaporate with the U.S. Army's
cancellation of the Comanche helicopter program. The Army requested
Feb. 23 that plans to develop and produce the sleek, fast, stealth
helicopters be canceled. While certainly not the only company to be
affected by the loss of business, this small supplier will feel the
crunch much harder than larger entities, such as Boeing or
Sikorsky.
"We'll get paid for what we've done," said Hugh Quigley,
president of the company. "I'm more upset because of the long-range
business we're going to lose because of this."
That would be a blow to DynaBil, which makes parts for both
commercial and defense aircraft. In 2003, the company generated $14
million in sales. It won a contract to make parts such as titanium
firewalls and exhaust systems on the Comanche, which was being
co-developed by Chicago based Boeing Co. and Sikorsky Aircraft
Corp. of Stratford (CT).
DynaBil expected the contract to bring in between $2 million and
$3 million in 2004. It was also a welcome bit of diversification
for the company, which was hit hard by the downturn in commercial
aviation that followed Sept. 11. While commercial giants such as
Boeing had been buffeted by massive changes in the aerospace
industry, smaller suppliers such as DynaBil had to deal with
trickle-down turbulence.
"It's not good news, but it's not devastating either," said
Quigley. "We've got to go work harder at something else, that's
all."
The fate of the Comanche is now a political football. Some
lawmakers have vowed to fight the program's cancellation. The Army
has spent approximately $6.9 billion on the Comanche program over
its 20-year history, and had planned to spend $14 billion on 121
Comanche helicopters by 2011. In 1999, the U.S. General Accounting
Office released a report detailing potential cost overruns on the
$48 billion project. Also, critics said that the craft does not fit
into the military's future plans.
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