The U.S. Navy awarded Vertex Aerospace LLC a $123 million contracted maintenance, modification, aircrew, and related services (CMMARS) task order to provide aircraft maintenance and contractor logistics support (CLS) services for the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II fleet. The Madison, Mississippi-based aerospace company will support pilot training operations of Marine Aircraft Group-14, Marine Attack Training Squadron-203 (VMAT-203), and eventually Marine Attack Squadron-223, pending its merger with VMAT-203.

Vertex was awarded $2.9 million at the time of the task order, which includes maintenance, repairs, engineering and technical services, aircraft upgrades and modifications, and integrated logistics support services.

Vertex’s Aerospace Defense Services (ADS) division will provide organizational, intermediate, and depot-level maintenance and integrated logistics support services for the AV-8B aircraft at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina; and Yuma, Arizona.

Honeywell secures US Army Chinook repair, overhaul contract

Honeywell has won a five-year contract for the repair and overhaul of its T55-GA-714A engines used by the U.S. Army’s CH-47 Chinook helicopters. Engines will be serviced at Honeywell’s new maintenance facility at the company’s aerospace global headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.

The facility will place repair and overhaul work on the T55-GA-714A engine in the same location as new engine production. This allows the workforce to share resources between both engine lines, for a potential surge output of 20 engines per month that can be delivered to the U.S. Army, foreign military, and commercial customers.

“Honeywell remains committed to supporting the T55 engine and the CH-47F Chinook program with improved maintenance practices, expanded repair capacities, and engine modernization improvements that will meet the helicopter’s needs for years to come,” says Dave Marinick, president, Engines & Power Systems. “Every aspect of the layout and design of this new facility was carefully planned to ensure operational efficiency.”

The fully sealed MM e-motion 4-jaw chuck provides contact-free adjustment of gripping forces without unclamping parts.

Individual electro-mechanical drives independently control and monitor each jaw, allowing many clamping functions including self-centering, compensating, and individual jaw movement within one fully automated chuck.

Designed for mill-turn applications and horizontal and vertical lathes, the MM e-motion supports heavy-duty precision machining of easily deformed workpieces. It provides automatic center adjustment for any workpiece shape or configuration including round, square, rectangular, and irregular shapes as well as workpieces with different wall thicknesses. A lightweight version is also available and suitable for limited mill-turn spindle load bearing capacity. It allows higher workpiece weight and a more usable Z stroke.

SMW Autoblok

2-axis horizontal turning centers

New Generation GL series 2-axis horizontal turning centers are available in four models with 11" to 19.3" (282mm to 490mm) max. cutting diameters and 23.6" to 47.2" (600mm to 1,200mm) Z travel. Designed for medium-to-high production environments, the GL series features high power, torque, and feed force. Models include the GL250, GL300, GL350, and GL450. Each uses durable roller ways on all axes for high rigidity. A built-in spindle motor with an incorporated chiller and direct-drive servomotors results in high response speed, accuracy, low vibration, and lower maintenance requirements. Chilling the motor increases life expectancy and produces less thermal expansion.

Romi Machine Tools Ltd.

Non-woven file belts

Vortex Rapid Prep Non-Woven File Belts improve surface finish when working with tight, intricate, complex parts. A high- performance ceramic grain blend cuts as quickly as a coarser grit size while producing finishes similar to a finer grit abrasive.

Norton | Saint-Gobain

Updated measurement software

Verisurf’s 2020 software update for automated quality inspection and reporting, 3D scanning and reverse engineering, tool building, and assembly guidance includes various reverse engineering tools with a Quick Surface modeling option, expanded device support to keep up with emerging measurement and data capture technologies, added productivity features, and features designed to support efficient measurement workflows.

Verisurf is dedicated to model-based definition (MBD) and built on a CAD/CAM platform, enabling greater compatibility, workflow integration, and more complete end-to-end solutions.

Verisurf Software Inc.

Unmanned aerial system (UAS) service provider Volansi Inc. is testing drone delivery of temperature-sensitive vaccines in rural North Carolina in partnership with pharmaceutical company Merck.

Autonomous drone vaccine delivery can significantly reduce the time it takes a vaccine to reach a patient and will help address logistical and infrastructure barriers that prevent access to high-quality preventative care, especially in vast, rural, eastern North Carolina with 1.4 million people in 29 counties. Initial flights from Merck’s Wilson, North Carolina, manufacturing site to the Vidant Healthplex-Wilson clinic marked the first drone delivery of temperature-controlled medicines within the continental U.S.

Volansi CEO and Co-Founder Hannan Parvizian says, “Drone delivery is one solution to getting critical supplies where they are needed, at the moment they are needed most.”

The project uses Volansi’s VOLY C10, an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone capable of carrying 10 lb of cargo up to 50 miles. A soft-touch release delivers fragile cargo once the drone has landed.

Volansi is collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program and the North Carolina Department of Transportation to ensure that its deliveries are made safely and in accordance with state and federal guidelines.

“This pilot helps us explore new innovative delivery options that would complement our existing supply chain capabilities,” says Craig Kennedy, Merck’s senior vice president, global supply chain management.

Merck and Volansi previously collaborated on delivering temperature-sensitive medicines in the Bahamas and Puerto Rico after hurricanes Maria and Florence. Key takeaways from those operations helped push expansion.

A rigid 2,300mm x 850mm table with 2,000mm x 800mm x 850mm traverse paths allows DMF 200|8 users in aerospace and die & mold to flexibly machine long structural components or mold inserts. Max. table load is 2,000kg.

Optimized tool change takes place behind the work table – fast, collision-free, and process-safe – so the entire clamping surface can be used. The DMF 200|8 working area is 50% larger than earlier models, allowing complex component machining using tools up to 400mm long.

A cantilevered Y-axis ensures constant rigidity across the travel path. Three linear guides in the X-axis reinforce machine stability for precise, productive machining. Even with the Y-slide fully extended, maximum spindle power can be achieved without the machine swinging up.

Extensive cooling measures ensure high thermal performance and long-term accuracy with small tolerances, while direct-driven ball screws in the Y- and Z-axes ensure consistent surface finishes.

Rapid traverse rates up to 50m/min are standard. With the optional linear drive in the X-axis, it reaches up to 80m/min for dynamic, highly productive machining.

The B-axis milling head has 6,000N•m maximum clamping torque and offers a ±120° swivel range for 5-axis machining flexibility.

A 15,000rpm speedMaster spindle is standard. A high-torque version with 200N•m is available in the modular spindle system as well as a 20,000rpm spindle.

Equipped with Siemens controls and the latest version of CELOS for digitized production, there’s also an interface for automated production, using for example, the PH Cell pallet.

DMG MORI USA