Leahy Announces $21 Million
For The Army And Navy
To Adopt Vergennes Plant’s
Advanced Helicopter Technology

VERGENNES, Vt. (FRI., Dec. 13) – Visiting Goodrich Aerospace’s plant in Vergennes on Friday, Senator Patrick Leahy announced that the U.S. Army’s elite 101^st Airborne Division will test the firm’s high-tech helicopter diagnostic system with funds Leahy has secured in the defense budget. 

Leahy announced a major new $21 million appropriation – on top of $21 million more he had secured for the project earlier -- for the integration of Integrated Mechanical Diagnostic Health and Usage Monitoring System (IMD-HUMS) in military helicopters.  Leahy said $14 million will be used for an intensive demonstration of the system on the helicopters of the U.S. Army’s renowned 101^st Airborne Division, and $7 million goes to the Navy to begin equipping its helicopters with the system.  Leahy is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and of its Defense Subcommittee, which handles the Senate’s work in writing the annual defense budget bill. 

IMD-HUMS is a series of wires, sensors and displays installed to monitor the real state of critical moving parts.  It allows pilots and maintenance officers to determine whether such critical systems as rotors, gearboxes and engines are operating within safe and effective parameters.  The system will help the military services move from a so-called time-based to a more condition-based maintenance mode, saving lives and shaving operational costs.

The demonstration will involve installing the system on 30 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters of the 101^st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, Ky.  The division is part of the Army’s elite 18^th Airborne Corps, which has participated in battles spanning from D-Day to Afghanistan.  The unit’s intensive flying makes it ideally suited to test, develop and refine Goodrich Aerospace’s IMD-HUMS system.  The funding for the Navy will pay for an ongoing effort to incorporate the IMD-HUMS system on SH-60 Seahawk and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters.

The $21 million is the latest of several appropriations that Leahy has secured for the technology over the past several years.  In the 2002 Defense Appropriations Bill, he secured an initial $21 million to the fund the Army and Navy development programs.  

“This cutting-edge system was designed, developed and built in Vermont, and it clearly shows the skill and creativity that Vermont’s workforce has to offer,” said Leahy.  “This plant has set an example for firms across the state in its ability to thrive in prosperous times and persevere during the hard stretches.”

“Few complex machines have a smaller margin of error than helicopters do,” Leahy said, “and that goes double for helicopters used in combat missions.  This system will fundamentally change the way that large helicopter fleets are managed.  It will vastly lower operating costs, and it will save lives.  This system is proving itself every step of the way, and I’m convinced that before long our armed forces are going to want it on every helicopter we have.”

Harry Arnold, president of Goodrich’s Fuel and Utility Systems Division, said, “We have made great progress introducing the IMD-HUMS system to the U.S. Army in the past year.  We appreciate Senator Leahy's support in funding this key program which has the potential of equipping the entire U.S. Army Black Hawk fleet of over 1200 helicopters.  Obviously this will make a big difference to the future of the Goodrich Vergennes facility.”

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