World's First Parachute Company, Irvin Aerospace, Awarded $7.96M U.S. Army Government...

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Irvin Aerospace, the world's first parachute engineering, design and manufacturing company founded in 1919, has been awarded a $7.96 million contract to build new parachutes for The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command in Natick, Mass.

The

contract includes more than 2,000 newly designed MC-6 parachute systems for the United States Army. The parachute systems will be built in Irvin's 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Santa Ana and is the first part of a wider program forecast of up to 20,000 MC-6 parachute systems. The contract is expected to be completed by April 18, 2011.

"We are pleased to have received this U.S. Army government contract," David Berry, president of Irvin Aerospace, said in making the announcement. "Our company's commitment to quality design and engineering technology, state-of-the-art manufacturing and on-time delivery throughout our history has made us the standard of the industry for over 85 years."

The MC-6 parachute system was designed for precision infiltration of airborne forces and features the newest technology in steerable troop parachutes. The system contains two parachute canopies; a main and a backup reserve. "Army paratroopers using the MC-6 will have greater airborne maneuverability and softer landings when they effectively reach their targets," Gary Calvaneso, vice president of marketing explained.

The MC-6 system was developed through the Special Operations Forces Tactical Assault Parachute System (SOFTAPS) program and features the Irvin Aerospace-designed SF-10A canopy. It has been in use by U.S. Special Forces Operations since 1999, logging over 60,000 successful jumps and has proven to be an effective airborne delivery system.

"Our SF-10A canopy design is the result of our investment in new technology, focus on innovation, teamwork, and the dedicated efforts of our talented and experienced people," Calvaneso said. "Irvin Aerospace has been providing high-performance parachutes for the air forces worldwide since 1933."

About Irvin Aerospace

Irvin Aerospace is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of best-of-class parachutes for space and vehicle recovery systems, deceleration systems for high-performance aircraft, military, personnel, and cargo parachute systems as well as ordnance flare chutes, airbags, and weapons delivery systems. Irvin's R&D also designs a wide variety of deceleration systems for custom applications. Irvin Aerospace has more than 85 years of parachute engineering design experience and is located in Santa Ana. Irvin Aerospace and its products and services can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.irvinaerospace.com.

Irvin Aerospace is part of Airborne Systems which combines the resources of the world's leading parachute companies. Airborne Systems represents and sells the products and engineering services of Irvin Aerospace, Irvin-GQ, Irvin Aerospace Canada and Para-Flite to global markets.