News
Magellan Aerospace to beef up Winnipeg plant for Joint Strike Fighter program

Sept. 2, 2008, Winnipeg, Man. – Magellan Aerospace says it will invest up to
C$120 million in its Winnipeg Bristol Aerospace plant to gear up for
the Joint Strike Fighter program, a multinational effort led by the
United States that could be worth billions of dollars of revenues to
the Canadian company over the next two to three decades.

The Canadian government will provide Magellan with up to C$43.4
million in repayable financial support for technology and process
development.
Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 supersonic stealth fighter
plane with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.

Three variants of the F-35 will replace at least 13 types of
aircraft for 11 countries.
Magellan has been manufacturing low quantities of components and
assemblies for the JSF program for the past five years and considers
itself to be “well-positioned'' to get future contracts under the
program.

Although there are many factors to consider, Magellan management
estimates that the company could reap as much as US$3 billion over
25 to 30 years, with revenues of up to US$120 million per year once
full rate production is achieved.
“The JSF is a game-changing program due to its size, its
advanced technology, and most importantly for Magellan, its
manufacturing and process technology,'' Jim Butyniec, Magellan's
chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“We are also investing in capability for the JSF program in
other Magellan locations, and we have been in discussions with
various levels of government in the areas of training and
sophisticated tooling, both in Manitoba and Ontario.''

The federal government will be investing up to C$43.4 million
over five to seven years, starting in the current quarter, through
the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) program.
The SADI funds will supports the development of new manufacturing
and process technology for composite and metallic materials for the
F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
Magellan shares traded Tuesday at $4.28, up 10 cents.