Vancouver-based IBC ships F-35 components to Lockheed Martin

VANCOUVER—IBC Advanced Alloys, an advanced alloys and precision castings company, has delivered its first Beralcast azimuth gimbal housing components to Lockheed Martin for use in the company’s F-35 Lightning II. The IBC’s products will be used the fighter jet’s Electro Optical Targeting System .

IBC said the Lockheed Martin’s EOTS provides affordable, high-performance multi-function targeting to the F-35’s full spectrum of military operations. It added that the system is the first sensor to combine forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality to provide F-35 pilots with situational awareness as well as air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting from a safe distance. The technology enables aircrews to identify areas of interest, perform reconnaissance and precisely deliver laser- and GPS-guided weapons.

“Successful first article delivery of Beralcast components to Lockheed Martin raises the bar for high performance aerospace applications delivered with cost and lead time savings,” Ray White, president of IBC engineered materials, said.

“This is an important milestone for both IBC and the aerospace industry, and we look forward to continuing to support Lockheed Martin and aerospace with IBC’s Beralcast cast alloys,” he added.

The company said Beralcast alloys are ideally suited to many aerospace applications where lightweight, high modulus and cost are critical performance factors. The principal Beralcast alloys are three times stiffer than aluminum with 22 per cent less weight and can be substituted for aluminum, magnesium, titanium, metal matrix composites as well as pure beryllium or powder metallurgy beryllium-aluminum.