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Broens, the precision engineering company acquired last year by Forgacs, for the first time displayed the gearbox jack it has developed to lift and manoeuvre from and to its position the gearbox of the F135 engine equipping the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

This has to be undertaken within fractions of a millimetre even in SEA State 6 aboard aircraft carriers, a demanding requirement achieved by advanced computer modelling, Finite Element Analysis, and complex machining and hydraulics.

Andy Davis, Forgacs’ Group General Manager for Strategic Business Development, said the company has now manufactured 16 of the jacks for Pratt and Whitney and hopes eventually for a production run of between 150-200, although the US company is currently only ordering in small batches.

“Every JSF squadron around the world will need one or more gearbox jacks and there will eventually be about 250 such squadrons, although some may be consolidated at a single base”, he said.

Broens’ response to a worldwide tender brief was shortlisted and eventually selected by Pratt and Whitney, an extraordinary achievement given that ITAR security regulations meant the Australian company had to develop its innovative design concept without access to an engine or even a model of an engine.

Davis also disclosed that Broens was redeveloping its TALU (Truck Aircraft Loading Unloading) cargo vehicle, 150 of which are now in service with the defence forces of 16 countries, to make it more user-effective.

Much of this was being achieved by removing features not required by individual customers, making the vehicle both cheaper and lighter.

 

This article first appeared in Australian Defence Magazine VOL.23 No.4, April 2015

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