LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ducommun Incorporated (NYSE: DCO) today announced that its Miltec Corporation subsidiary was the industry team lead for the successful test flight of the U.S. Army's unique Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW). The AHW is a first-of-its-kind glide vehicle, designed to fly long range within the earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) conducted the AHW boost-glide flight test on Nov. 17, 2011.
“We are very proud to have played a key role on this government-industry team,” said Anthony J. Reardon, president and chief executive officer. “Flying a hypersonic glide vehicle from the Pacific Missile Range Facility to the Reagan Test Site within the earth’s atmosphere demonstrated technologies necessary to develop future capabilities for Conventional Prompt Global Strike.”
The objective of the test was to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight. The mission emphasis was aerodynamics; navigation, guidance, and control; and thermal protection technologies.
The AHW program is managed and executed by the USASMDC/ARSTRAT program office in Huntsville, Alabama. The booster system and glide vehicle were developed by Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, N.M.), and the thermal protection system was designed and built by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center in Huntsville. Miltec led a team of four companies across five states in support of the AHW program for this test.
Ducommun’s Miltec subsidiary, part of the Ducommun LaBarge Technologies, Inc. business unit, is a leading technology provider with design, development, integration, and test capabilities in the areas of missile and weapon systems, space systems, military aviation and security, and surveillance technology. Miltec’s customers include the USASMDC/ARSTRAT, Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) and RDECOM’s Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), the Missile Defense Agency, the Missile and Space Intelligence Center, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the U.S. Navy.
About Ducommun Incorporated
Founded in 1849, Ducommun Incorporated provides engineering and manufacturing services to the aerospace, defense, and other industries through a wide spectrum of electronic and structural applications. The company is an established supplier of critical components and assemblies for commercial aircraft and military and space vehicles as well as for the energy market, medical field, and industrial automation. It operates through two primary business units – Ducommun AeroStructures (DAS) and Ducommun LaBarge Technologies (DLT). Additional information can be found at www.ducommun.com.
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