Composite parts: ATK's fiber-placement machines will help U.S. air defense

CLEARFIELD — Its operator climbs aboard, using computer-generated readouts to glide the huge machine into position and hit its target efficiently and precisely.

It has been deemed vital to U.S. air defense capabilities for the next two decades.

And it never leaves the ground.

The first of three fiber-placement machines to be used by ATK to manufacture composite parts for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft was both celebrated and demonstrated Thursday at ATK's facilities at the Freeport Center. The machines, funded by the Defense Production Act, or Title III program, are dedicated to providing Lockheed Martin with wing and engine skins for two variants of the F-35.

ATK's newest $240 million contract with Lockheed Martin runs through 2015, but speakers made it clear during ceremonies Thursday that its impact will be long-lasting.

"These machines will ensure production capability and capacity necessary to execute the F-35 program over the next two decades," Joy de Lisser, vice president and general manager of aerospace structures for ATK Aerospace Systems , told the crowd of about 150 people.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said composites allow for lighter, stronger, stealthier aircraft than ever before.

An admitted aviation buff, Bennett said he was glad to be able to "ooh and aah over the new technology" on Thursday. He acknowledged he would not understand any part of the fiber-placement machine "other than the implications that will come from the ability to use fiber and other composites in ways that the Wright brothers never dreamed of and that even as recently as 30 to 40 years ago — when we were thinking titanium was the ultimate material — aviation engineers never dreamed of."

The FPM-4 feeds spools of composite ribbons to the business end of the machine, which places the material in precise geometries and layers to produce the F-35 parts.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, also said he doesn't understand the technology. "But what I do know is that the end product of what you do here is producing aircraft that is lighter, it is faster, it is tougher, it is heartier, it is better for this nation," he said.

Bishop said the U.S. will rely on the F-35 "for a long, long time."

"This plane is essential, and what you're doing here is an essential component of that," he said.

The Title III-funded fiber placement activities have meant 60 new jobs, and 60 more will be added later.

The company pioneered automated fiber placement in the 1980s as a way of replacing work done by hand, and the Title III funding accelerated the technology.

ATK has been involved in the F-35, currently in test flight phase, since 2002. ATK's contracts over the years have led to the production of 14 structures for the aircraft. The work is done at its Clearfield facility, which has more than 200 employees involved in composite structure design and production and a total work force of more than 600.

ATK Aerospace Systems, based in Magna, is one of four business groups of Minnesota-based Alliant Techsystems. Alliant has more than 18,000 employees in 24 states. Its Armament Systems group is based in Clearfield, and the company also has operations in Brigham City and Logan.

e-mail: bwallace@desnews.com