Curtiss-Wright, Claverham Ltd. Ink Pact

Curtiss-Wright Corp. signed a 15-year, $20 million contract from Claverham Limited to provide transducers for use in the fly-by-wire systems that control the main rotor and tail rotor on the Sikorsky UH-60M Upgrade and CH-53K helicopters. Shipments are expected to begin in 2009. The company will supply these products from its Motion Control facility in Christchurch, U.K. Under the terms of this contract, Curtiss-Wright will supply multi-channel and pressure sealed linear variable displacement transducers (LVDT) for use on the U.S. Army's helicopter programs. The LVDTs are embedded in the primary flight control actuators manufactured by Claverham Limited, a Hamilton Sundstrand Flight Systems business unit. The transducers provide electrical signals that are proportional to the position of the hydraulic actuator rod. The actuators form part of the fly-by-wire control system, which changes the rotor pitch angles on the main and tail rotors in response to the pilot's commands during flight.