DHi Wins $1M NAVAIR SBIR Phase III Contract

DHi Wins $1M NAVAIR SBIR Phase III Contract

Lakehurst, NJ (September 19, 2007)—The U.S. Naval Air War Center, Aircraft Division (NAWC/AD) has just awarded a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III Delivery Order (DO) to Defense Holdings, Inc. (DHi) of Arlington, Virginia.

  The DO was awarded against an existing $25M IDIQ Contract with DHi. With an approximate value of $1M, this new DO will support further research and development of metal fiber brushes intended to improve propeller de-icing systems—critical to the continuing success of the Navy’s E-2C aircraft missions.

 

Successful completion of this work by DHi and its partner HiPerCon, LLC, will result in increased reliability, performance, and operational availability of the E-2C aircraft and a significant lifecycle cost savings to the fleet.

Presently, propeller de-icing systems employ problematic carbon brushes running on copper-beryllium slip rings to transfer current to rotating propeller blades. Unfortunately, carbon brushes wear relatively quickly, creating carbon dust which mixes with hydraulic fluid to create a conductive, flammable paste that causes arcing in slip ring assemblies. This type of damage eventually results in costly disassembly and repair issues. Replacement of carbon brushes with Metal Fiber Brushes has shown great promise in contributing to increases safety, greater aircraft availability, and reduced the maintenance and lifecycle cost liabilities for the E-2C fleet.

The current DHi-HiPerCon effort will involve the testing and certification of the team’s Metal Fiber Brush technologies in preparation for transitioning to retrofit for the E-2 and C-2 NP2000 propeller system.

DHi is a world-class team of dedicated engineering professionals committed to developing and deploying innovative technologies to advance the national interest and improve the lives of all Americans.