Meggitt purchases Kaman Instrumentation

April 16, 2002

As part of the strategic continuous improvement process to meet expanding customer requirements, Meggitt Safety Systems has purchased the RF Microwave Cable Product Line from Kaman Instrumentation (Colorado Springs and Middleton Connecticut) and assumed the design, manufacture, test, and delivery responsibilities of the items produced by Kaman.

Kevin Faugnhan, President of Safety Systems, made the announcement on April 16th, 2002. "The purchase of Kaman's microwave operations brings a complementary array of high performance microwave products and additional capabilities to our current microwave product line."

Meggitt Safety Systems has been providing SiO₂ (silicone dioxide) microwave products to the aerospace and nuclear industries for over 40 years. This acquisition enhances Meggitt's abilities and diversity of applications. With the purchase of Kaman Instrumentation, Meggitt will be able to offer its customers a substantially expanded line of high performance microwave products, as well as the other diverse product lines such as high performance fire and smoke detectors that Safety Systems produces for the aerospace industry.

The Kaman and Safety Systems manufacturing processes are almost identical. According to Austin Morris, Executive VP of Operations, Safety Systems will duplicate the manufacturing processes that Kaman has used to fulfill the commitments made by Kaman Instrumentation for critical applications. Safety Systems will continue to provide engineering support for the Kaman products that are in production or which are scheduled for production. Both production lines have been transported to the state of the art Simi Valley facility. "The merger was a key step in maintaining market share and building on the RF cable business that Meggitt has been successful with since the 1960's when the patent was purchased from the McGraw Edison company."

"The products from the sale include SiO₂ and flex cable used in various applications. The cables are used in F-22 aircraft, satellites, linear accelerators, missiles, radars, cryogenic applications, and university laboratory research projects. They also include unique medical application for kidney tumor detection and irradiation," stated Russ Johnson, Director of Sales and Marketing. "We are excited about the challenges ahead and the Kaman acquisition will help assure expansion in strategic growth markets."

ENDS