PERRYVILLE'S SABRELINER GETS NAVY CONTRACT

PERRYVILLE -- Sabreliner now has contracts with the Army, Air Force and Navy.

The latest military contract is with the Navy. It calls for Sabreliner to provide periodic structural inspection, heavy maintenance, modification, repair and painting of Navy T-2C and TA-4J training aircraft.

The contract, which has a potential value of more than $30 million, also calls for the same maintenance of foreign-owned T-2 and A-4 aircraft through the U.S. government's foreign military sales program.

The work will be performed at Sabreliner's Perryville plant at Perryville Municipal Airport.

"The contract has the potential of adding 60 jobs, which will be phased in to meet contract requirements," said Barry Dunnegan of Sabreliner.

The work force at the Perryville Sabreliner plant ranges from 120 to more than 250. The facility now has 130 employees.

"We'll see Navy planes starting to come in for maintenance in late October or early November," said Dunnegan.

The government estimated that 15, T-2 and two A-4 aircraft will be sent to the Sabreliner facility for depot-level maintenance each year.

The T-2 Buckeye training aircraft was originally produced by North American Aviation (Rockwell International) in Columbus, Ohio, in 1958. The trainer is used by the Navy for aircraft carrier take-off and landing training.

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was produced in many variations from 1953 to 1979. It included more than 2,400, A-4 attack aircraft and more than 500, TA-4 trainers. While only the training version remains in service, the A-4 still operates as a front-line aircraft.

Sabreliner provides maintenance and modification services on a variety of government, military, commercial, airlines and cargo aircraft, engines, systems and components. The company employs more than 2,000 people at 14 facilities in seven states.

The Navy contract is the third military contract for Sabreliner during the past month. Other military contracts are a $200 million Air Force contract and a $3.4 million Army contract.

The Air Force contract calls for inspections, support and heavy maintenance of C-20 Gulfstream aircraft. The work for the Air Force will be done at Sabreliner's Midcoast Aviation subsidiary in the St. Louis area. The seven-year Air Force contract should add 60 jobs at that facility.

The company will handle 21 to 24 Gulfstream planes the Air Force bought to transport generals. The luxury business jets cost between $25 and $430 million.

The Army contract calls for overhaul and upgrade of Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Rotary Win Head Servo Assembly. The Army work will be performed at Sabreliner's Independence, Kan., facility.

Sabreliner's Perryville facility includes state-of-the-art equipment, which was installed following the flood of 1993, when the Perryville Airport was under more than 14 feet of water.

The new equipment allows the facility to manufacture some parts previously provided by subcontractors.

New machinery at Perryville includes a Vertical Machining Center (VMC), a computer-controlled milling machine that can manufacture airframe and engine parts to repair and modify aircraft, and a new, numerically controlled 350-ton hydropress that enables Sabreliner to manufacture frames, ribs and brackets for a number of aircraft. Like the VMC, the hydropress makes it possible to fabricate parts on site on demand.