CPI Aerostructures, Inc. (CPI Aero) announced that it has received a contract from Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for tow hook assemblies used on the MH-53E Sea Dragon, the U.S. Navy’s primary airborne mine countermeasures aircraft.
CPI Aero will tear down, inspect, overhaul, and repair an initial quantity of 15 tow hook assemblies for evaluation and expects to receive additional quantities in the future. The cumulative value of the initial 15 repair orders could approach $1 million, depending on the level of repair that is required.
CPI Aero has previously manufactured new tow hook assemblies under a spares contract awarded by Sikorsky in 2010. The tow hook assembly, a complex electromechanical device, consists of precision machined parts, springs, and linkage mechanisms that lock the cable in place during towing operations.
The MH-53E can operate from carriers and other warships, and is capable of towing a variety of mine hunting/sweeping countermeasures systems, including the MK-105 minesweeping sled, the ASQ-14 side-scan sonar, and the Mk-103 mechanical minesweeping system. The Navy currently has 28 MH-53E in service.
“The expertise we gained from manufacturing these assemblies in the past enabled CPI Aero to put forth an MRO proposal with greatly reduced program execution risk for our customer, delivering our first component MRO win,” said Douglas J. McCrosson, president and CEO of CPI Aero. “The contract also builds upon a very successful aerostructures MRO program on Blackhawk that we have been performing for Sikorsky since 2013 and that has exceeded the customer’s expectations for quality, turnaround time and technical support.”
