04/29/03
By SHELBY G. SPIRES
Times Aerospace Writer shelbys@htimes.com
A Madison defense company will expand its plant and add 85 jobs because it has won a five-year, $35 million contract to work on the Air Force's latest fighter - the F/A-22 Raptor.
CTA Inc. will apply special coatings to pieces of the F/A-22 airframe to allow the fighter to avoid radar detection. The CTA process helps the fighter be "stealthy," said CTA President Dave Henry.
The advanced fighter's parts will be shipped to CTA from Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Ga., plant. CTA employees will do surface preparation work on the F/A-22 parts, then specially designed robots will apply the stealth material, Henry said.
The robots are necessary because the coating work has to be so exact that a person cannot accomplish the task.
The special coatings help an aircraft absorb radar signals. Radar sends radio signals reflected by an object, and special equipment analyzes the return of those signals. By absorbing part or all of the signal, an aircraft can avoid detection.
The Air Force's first successful stealth aircraft was the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. The F-117 is also covered in radar absorbent material, and it was used during the first Gulf War in 1991.
The F/A-22 will replace the Air Force's 30-year old F-15 fighters. The Air Force hopes the F/A-22 will be able to attack air and ground targets with advanced weapons while remaining unseen by enemy radars.
The F/A-22 contract will allow CTA to expand its work force from 48 people to 133, and add 37,000 square feet to its 34,000-square-foot plant in Madison.
