Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Partners with Textron (NYSE:TXT) for Navy Bid

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) has joined Textron (NYSE:TXT) via their Alcoa Defense unit to shore up their bidding strength for the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) program of the U.S. Navy.

Textron's Marine & Land Systems division also has L-3 Communications Inc. (NYSE:LLL) as part of the bidding team to secure the contract.

The value of the contract is around $4 billion, which would entail building 80 hovercrafts to replace the existing fleet of Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vehicles. The work for the Navy will begin in 2019.

Adding Alcoa Defense was a smart move, as they specialize in the development, design and manufacturing of aluminum structures at low cost and weight.

Each hovercraft will include over 100,000 pounds of aluminum each.

The vehicles will be used as landing craft by the U.S. Nave and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

No comments: