| MUSKEGON — L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems is supporting of two major vehicle platforms now in operation in Iraq and is gearing up to produce parts for a new expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV) for the U.S. Marine Corps. As a result, L-3 is boosting the troop strength on the assembly line of its Getty Street operation.
Since February the Muskegon-based division of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. of New York has added 50 workers and plans to fill an additional 20 professional and manufacturing positions in the coming months.
L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems President Michael Soimar said his company has been supporting two major platforms in Iraq, including transmission and turret drives for the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and tank components like gun mounts and sprockets for the Abrams main battle tanks. L-3 also produces the turret drive for the Stryker wheeled combat vehicle. Soimar said the U.S. Army's extension of the life of the Abrams and Bradley tanks to 2050 has helped his division.
"These platforms increase their overall spare parts volume because of expensive usage," Soimar told MiBiz.
L-3 is building the suspension for the new Marine Corps EFV amphibious vehicle, which will go into production in a year. To handle new accounts like EFV, L-3 has hired a supervisor and beefed up the second shift at its Getty Street plant, according to Soimar, and now has the capacity to add a third shift. Annual sales for the L-3 division, thanks to the Bradley and the Abrams vehicles plus the EFV, are expected to jump from $140 million last year to a projected $155 million in 2005.
The added hiring has taken place since the General Dynamics Land System Propulsion Systems plant on Getty Street in Muskegon Township was sold to L-3 Communications in February. L-3 Communications provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems and products, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization, training and government services.
The difficulty coordinating activities between a subsystem supplier and a systems integrator like General Dynamics Land Systems led to a mutual agreement between GDLS and L-3 to sell the division.
"Our charter fits much better in L-3's general business approach," Soimar said, adding that the sale allowed his company to compete in new programs for future combat systems and others.
L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems has five product lines including engines, transmissions suspensions, turret drives and tank components. It sells to armed forces in 30 different friendly nations. With its own army of 50-60 engineers on board, Soimar said L-3 Combat Propulsion System's strength lies in the ability to take a product from cradle to grave. Products are designed, developed, validated, tested, produced and supported with training and spare parts.
One new product that L-3 will propose to the U.S. Army is a 1,500-horsepower diesel engine for the Abrams tank. The engine is expected to reduce tank fuel consumption by 60 percent.
"That's a fantastic saving — very significant savings," Soimar said.
L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems is part of a long Muskegon heritage of heavy manufacturing on Getty Street that dates back 100 years to when Continental Motors built its first engine. The manufacturing of military components began in 1942 when Continental spun off its first division in the military arena. Today L-3 is adding to that heritage. In fact, Soimar said he and his employees were proud that the diesel engine in the Hercules tank that toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein during the Iraq war was made in Muskegon.
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This article appeared in the July 13, 2005 issue of MiBiz, read by upper management executives in West and Southwest Michigan. Print subscriptions are free to qualified individuals who do business in West and Southwest Michigan. For further information about MiBiz Network, visit www.mibiz.com.
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