Boeing

The Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche Joint Program Office will move to Huntsville, Ala., on July 1, 2000.

According to Boeing Sikorsky program director Arthur Linden, the move will provide a closer working relationship with the U.S. Army.

"The Army's Comanche Program Management Office and the Aviation Program Executive Office are both located at the Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. Our new location will facilitate closer communications with our customer as we move into the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Comanche program next year," Linden said. In the past, the Joint Program Office location has alternated between sites near Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Conn., and Boeing in Philadelphia.

The Comanche Joint Program Office manages the RAH-66 developmental program for Boeing and Sikorsky. Approximately 30 people from Boeing and Sikorsky are employed at the office.

"Both Boeing and Sikorsky are fortunate to have many talented technical and administrative specialists who will ensure a smooth transition and keep Comanche on track during and after our relocation," Linden added.

The Joint Program Office also is reviewing the relocation of Comanche flight test activities from Sikorsky's Experimental Flight Test Facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., following Sikorsky's recent announcement that it will close the facility in mid-2000.

The RAH-66 Comanche, the U.S. Army's 21st century combat helicopter, is being developed by U.S. Army Aviation and a team of leading aerospace companies led by Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.

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