Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is vying with two competitors to build a dozen Black Hawk helicopters for the government of Iraq.
The helicopters would be equipped with engines from General Electric Co.
Stratford-based Sikorsky is Fairfield County”™s largest employer with more than 9,000 workers. Fairfield-based GE would manufacture the engines at its GE Aviation plant in Lynn, Mass.
Iraq”™s government is also considering competing utility helicopters from AgustaWestland and from the Bell Helicopter division of Textron Inc., which is based in Providence, R.I. Iraq did not immediately specify a deadline for choosing a contractor, with the deal also contingent on Pentagon approval.
In separate news, Sikorsky”™s Hartford-based parent United Technologies Corp. acquired a nearly 50 percent stake in wind turbine maker Clipper Windpower L.L.C., which had $737 million in revenue last year. UTC invested $270 million in Clipper Windpower, which is based in Carpinteria, Calif., and which makes wind turbines in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
UTC indicated it would apply some of its in-house expertise at Sikorsky and other units to Clipper Windpower”™s development of blade technology, turbines and gearbox design.
