Kaman

In 1957, a corporation business diversification program was launched, a research and development branch in Colorado Springs was established, in 1961 AirKaman, Inc., a civilian airline, was established, and in 1964, an AviDyne division specializing in aeronautics and space technology was acquired in In 1966, three more industrial branches joined the corporation structure ^[1] .

Kaman Aircraft and Kaman Aerospace

Location: Bloomfield , Musap and Plainfield , Connecticut

The historical core of the company, the helicopter builder Kaman Aircraft, was founded in 1945. The first helicopters to use were the K-125, K-190 and K-225 models. The main customer was the US Navy ; the company was unable to gain a foothold in the market of combined arms and civilian helicopters. The modern product line (in addition to repairing and restoring old equipment) includes the Kaman K-MAX “flying crane” and the Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite sea-based combat helicopter.

The sale of helicopters is extremely unstable, therefore, back in the 1950s, Kaman differentiated his business by starting the production of aviation components on orders from other military-industrial enterprises. According to the results of fiscal 2006, these units earned $ 48 million in operating profit from sales of 326 million, which is significantly lower than the profitability in the “large” aviation industry. Patents issued in recent years by Kaman Aerospace indicate the continuation of military-technical developments in the areas of search systems at sea (see lidar ), underwater communications, anti-submarine warfare , guided torpedoes , etc. naval systems. ^[2]

AirKaman

Location: Bradley , Connecticut

Divisions: Omaha , Nebraska ; Jacksonville florida

Civilian air transportation on the Hartford , Connecticut - Springfield , Massachusetts route and air services to surrounding communities were established in 1961. Since the beginning of 1968, the geography of transportation has been expanded, a unit has been formed in the state of Nebraska , since the end of 1968 in the state of Florida ^[1] .

Kaman Automation

Location: Bloomfield , Connecticut

Production of packaging equipment ^[1] .

AviDyne

Location: Bedford , Massachusetts

Development of aviation and rocket and space technology , research in the field of space technology ^[1] .

KaCarb Products

Location: Bloomfield , Connecticut

Production using exclusive technology of our own development of self-lubricating, heat-resistant, stainless ball bearings of increased reliability and extended service life of titanium , ceramic and pressed graphite ^[1] .

Kaman Music

Location: New Hartford , Connecticut

Subdivisions:

Coast Wholesale Music Co., Los Angeles and San Francisco , California (1967) - distribution network of musical instrument stores

National Musical Strings, New Brunswick , NJ (1970) - String Manufacturing Plant

C. Bruno & Sons, Melville , New York ; Austin , Texas ; Los Angeles , California (1971) - distribution network of musical instrument stores

The production of musical instruments was established in 1966 under the name Ovation Instruments ^[1] as a by-product of Charles Kaman's many-year hobby, who was engaged in the amateur manufacture and tuning of guitars. For these purposes, three floors of the building of the former cotton mill were rented in New Hartford, where the production of guitars on wood processing technologies for the aviation industry was established. Serial production of musical instruments actually started in 1974, before that, preparations for production, installation of machine tools and production equipment, commissioning continued, - Kaman did not want to chase profit and produce low-quality instruments until the technology of their production reaches the required level of sound quality , especially considering the fact that the production technology was fundamentally different from the existing ones ^[3] .

In the 1980s, Kaman Music actively bought up independent manufacturers of musical instruments (Adamas, Hamer, Gibraltar Hardware, Gretsch, Sabian , Takamine and others) and in 2006 reached a sales level of $ 214 million with an operating profit of $ 11 million. In October 2007, Kaman Music was sold with all Fender brands for $ 117 million. ^[four]

Kaman Industrial Distribution

Subdivisions:

Reliable Bearing & Supply Co., San Bernardino , California (1971) - Bearing Production

Western Bearings, Inc., Salt Lake City , Utah (1971) - - bearing manufacturing

Bitco, Inc., Spokane , Washington (1972) - industrial production and after-sales service for products sold, acquired in March 1972.

In 1971-1989, Kaman actively bought up small enterprises - suppliers of bearings , hydraulic drives, specialized transmissions , etc. ^[1] With the acquisition of three national distributors of equipment and components, Kaman Industrial Distribution became the largest part of Kaman Corp. and the third largest component distributor in the country, maintaining long-standing ties with the US Navy , shipbuilding and aircraft industries. In 2006, the division’s turnover was $ 665 million with operating profit of $ 35 million.

Kaman Nuclear

Location: Colorado Springs , Colorado

Kaman Nuclear Corp. conducted research and development work in the field of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons for the US Armed Forces and the Atomic Energy Commission , the development of nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles of submarines ( Polaris , Poseidon and Trident ), ^{[5 ]} Nuclear warheads for army atmospheric interception missiles (" Sprint "), ^[6] assessment of the stability and survivability of strategic missile defense facilities of the country (" Seyfgard ") to the effects of damaging factors of the enemy’s strategic nuclear arsenal, ^[7] rating the results of tests of the nuclear weapons of the fleet at sea atolls, the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion for the surface forces of the fleet and carrier-based aviation, the half-life of nuclear sediment products, and other R&D areas ^[8] .

Kaman Sciences

Location: Colorado Springs , Colorado

Kaman Sciences Corp. - a research branch responsible for a wide range of scientific activities in the field of electronics, electromechanics, electrical engineering, conducting analytical studies, nuclear tests (the direction of nuclear research was later separated into a separate branch, see above). ^[one]

Charles Kaman moved away from active business management, passing it to his son, Charles Jr., in 1991. Charles Jr. resigned as chairman of the board in 2001; representatives of the Kamanov family are no longer on the board of directors or on the executive level of the company. The successor, Paul Kun, the organizer of the sale of the music division, has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2001 and CEO since 1999. In September 2007, on the eve of the deal with Fender, Neil Keating was elected to the second most important position of the President of the company and COO.

1. ↑ ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8} Statement of JG Anderson, President, Kaman Aerospace Corp. . - Hearings on S. 3108. - April 18, 1972. - Pt. 6 - P. 4104-4105.
2. ↑ US Patent Library [1]
3. ↑ Gregory, William H. Firm applying aerospace-derived technology to the physics of the guitar . // Aviation Week & Space Technology . - August 5, 1974. - Vol. 101 - No. 5 - P. 119-120.
4. ↑ Reuters, 10/29/2007 [2]
5. ↑ Statement of Hon. Robert A. Frosch, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development . / Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1973: Hearings on HR 19590. - March 8, 1972. - P. 1136 - 1454 p.
6. ↑ Kill Radius Study . // Aviation Week & Space Technology . - January 21, 1963. - Vol. 78 - No. 3 - P. 113.
7. ↑ Statement of Maj. Gen. Robert C. Marshall, Ballistic Missile Defense Program Manager, Department of the Army . / Fiscal Year 1976 and July-September 1976 Transition Period Authorization: Hearings on S. 920. - March 19, 1975. - Pt. 6 - P. 3724 - 3605 p.
8. ↑ Statement of Hon. Robert A. Frosch, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development . / Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1971: Hearings on HR 19590. - May 1, 1970. - P. 1164 - 1185 p.