Kaman Aerospace Corporation

Pushing the Envelope of Helicopter Technology

In 1945, helicopter pioneer Charles H. Kaman founded the Kaman Aircraft Corporation. Since then, the company has become known for its innovative rotary-wing design concepts and has gone on to build many helicopters, some of which have set records and achieved world firsts.

Today, the ISO 9001-certified Kaman Aerospace Corporation produces aircraft structures and components for commercial and military aircraft markets and supports the SH-2G Super Seasprite maritime helicopter and the K-MAX medium- to heavy-lift helicopter. It also designs and manufactures safe, arm and fuzing devices for missiles and bombs and designs and manufactures other advanced-technology products, including precision, non-contact measuring systems for industrial and scientific use. In addition, the company's Electro-Optics Development Center designs and manufactures advanced electro-optic systems for defense applications.

SH-2G Super Seasprite

The SH-2G Super Seasprite is a proven day/night/all-weather multi-mission helicopter. Designed to meet the exacting requirements of the U.S. Navy, the SH-2G Super Seasprite has the highest power-to-weight ratio of any maritime helicopter, assuring a safe return-to-ship capability even in single-engine flight conditions. Its robust design, outstanding stability, excellent reliability, and proven capability (more than 1.3 million flight hours) are important advantages in the demanding maritime environment.

K-MAX

With outstanding performance, affordable operation, and unmatched reliability, K-MAX is the ideal medium-lift helicopter. Designed to perform repetitive external lifting, K-MAX performs that mission better than any other helicopter. Proven in the harshest environments, this vertical-lift superstar is ideally suited for emergency response missions ranging from firefighting and disaster relief to search and rescue or mobilization and logistics. The K-MAX is also perfect for construction, power-line work and timber harvesting.

And Now, the BURRO+ ...

Deliver ammunition. Move supplies. Place unmanned combat vehicles on the battlefield. Do all this and more, with no risk to personnel, with BURRO+ (Broad Area Unmanned Responsive Resupply Operations), Kaman's unmanned, remotely-controlled 6,000-pound lifter.

"We see many joint applications for Army, Navy and Marine missions, especially because BURRO+ participation in the FUSE [Family of Unmanned Systems Experiment] trials has proven the near-term capabilities of the system," says Mel French, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Kaman's Helicopters Division. "BURRO+ is a utility lift helicopter that has the ability to lift a useful amount of equipment and supplies, delivering them to multiple sites in one mission. We think this is an excellent tool for reducing casualties currently being experienced in ground and air logistics operations."

During a November 2005 U.S. Army test at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., the BURRO+ VT-UAS (Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Aerial System) broke new ground, delivering and recovering an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to perform a mission. It was the first time a full-scale, rotary-wing VT-UAS has completed the "robots moving robots" scenario, and proved the concept of using VT-UAS and UGV in concert to gather intelligence and investigate possible Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) while minimizing exposure to soldiers. Previous demonstrations with the aircraft featured the ability to perform logistics missions autonomously.

It's unmanned. It's unprecedented. It's unmatched. It's BURRO+.

Fuzes

Helicopters aren't the only products that the Kaman Aerospace Corproation produces. For more than 40 years, the Fuzing Division of Kaman Aerospace has been a leader in the development and manufacture of safing and arming solutions for the ordnance and other industries. It offers a wide range of services, from research and development to full-scale production, for safe/arm devices, fuzes, motor igniters, flight termination devices, and related equipment. Kaman Aerospace fuzes can be found on many of the U.S. military's missile and bomb systems.

Electro-Optics

Based in Tucson, Ariz., Kaman Aerospace's Electro-Optics Development Center provides a range of specialized services, including experiment and system design, system modeling and simulation, fabrication, integration, testing, operation, training, and data analysis.

Current programs include development of a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) targeting subsystem for the U.S. Navy, which will neutralize mines from an airborne platform using super-cavitating water-penetrating projectiles, and a height sensor that uses sound detecting and ranging (SODAR) technology to trigger soft-landing parachute systems, among others.

Kaman--The Logical Choice

Creativity, innovation, and leadership. This is the Kaman legacy, and the Kaman promise.

To learn more, go to www.kaman.com/kamanaero.html.