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CONTACT: Marian Schaffer or Jonathan Lehrer
Corporate Development
Ghetzler Aero-Power Corporation
847-215-0520
Ghetzler Wins Navy SBIR Phase II Contract for
"Advanced Low-Drag Ram Air
Turbine" with Application to EA-6B
Buffalo Grove, Ill., Nov. 3, 2003--Ghetzler Aero-Power Corporation has
been awarded a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovative Research Program
(SBIR) contract from the U.S. Navy for its “Advanced Low Drag - Ram Air Turbine.”
Under the contract, which commenced Oct. 10, 2003, the company will develop
a flight version of its patented Low-Drag Ram Air Turbine Generator (LD-RATG)
technology to power the EA-6B radar jamming pod (AN/ALQ-99), with potential
future application to the EA-18G radar jamming system.
The Integrated Project Team (IPT) lead is PMA 234 at Naval Aviation Systems
Command, Patuxent River, Md., with Naval Sea Systems Command, Crane, Ind.,
as the Assistant IPT Lead.
This version of the LD-RATG (U.S. Patent # 6,270,309) is being designed to
be a direct replacement for the external bladed ram air turbine generator
(RATgen), which currently powers the radar-jamming system in the present AN/ALQ-99
pods.
Program’s major goals include:
- Reduction of overall drag induced by the combined ram air turbine and pod;
- Improvement in reliability and safety; and
- Reduction in maintenance and life-cycle cost.
Feasibility of applying the LD-RATG to radar jamming pods on the Navy’s EA-6B,
manufactured by Northrop Grumman Corporation, was the subject of a study funded
by two prior Navy contracts and a State of Illinois grant.
Following an initial NAVSEA contract valued at $25,000 in early 2002, Ghetzler
received a grant of $250,000 several months later from the Illinois Technology
Challenge Grant Program to develop a ground testable prototype for the EA-6B
application. The company then received a $70,000 contract under the Navy’s
SBIR Phase I in fall, 2002, to supplement this work and evaluate feasibility
of developing a flight version (27 kW output) derived from the ground test
unit.
The SBIR Phase II project will involve Engineering Development, Testing
and Evaluation required to develop flight-rated prototypes able to meet
requirements for the EA-6B/EA-18G over a 14-month program.
The Navy will be evaluating application of this version of the LD-RATG to:
- The AN/ALQ-99 pod for the present EA-6B; and
- Possible future application to the AN/ALQ-99 pod mounted on the EA-6B successor,
the EA-18G.
The LD-RATG is a ducted ram air turbine that automatically adapts to flight
conditions and electrical loads by adjusting the air inlet to minimize air
flow spill over drag while adjusting internal flow controls to the stator/turbine
to maintain high turbine efficiency while operating the electrical generator
shaft speed at the required constant rotational speed.
In addition to this work underway for the EA-6B, Dr. Richard Ghetzler, the
company’s president and founder, says his company is developing several versions
of its invention for potential application to military and commercial aircraft
for both auxiliary and/or emergency power. Ghetzler says this could include
application to the Global Hawk and other UAV’s for upgraded sensor systems,
application to low drag aerial refueling tanker pods, emergency onboard power
for executive jets where an inlet scoop would open when needed, and as a power
source for defensive pods on commercial aircraft to defend against terrorist
missile attacks, eliminating the need to re-wire the aircraft.
Ghetzler Aero-power Corporation (www.ghetzleraeropower.com) was founded in
February of 2000 and recently moved into its new 12,000 sq ft. R and D, Test,
and Manufacturing facility in Buffalo Grove in March 2003. It is ISO 9001:2000
Certified and also produces precision aerospace machined components for large
aerospace DOD prime contractors.
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