GKN Aerospace APFCs enter UK MOD service
GKN Aerospace has announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide the Mark 5 Air Portable Fuel Containers (APFCs) to UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The contract, worth £2 million, will cover a five year period.
The APFCs – the newest in the GKN range – will be used to transport fuel to inaccessible points such as forward airstrips, helicopter landing zones and forward operational areas.
According to the company, the fuel containers are 25% lower in weight and 30% lower in cost than previous generations of APFC. This is due to the introduction of an innovative new manufacturing process, developed by GKN Aerospace, which replaces the established slow and solvent-heavy, rubber-based production with a process which sprays a polyurethane compound paint onto nylon wire. This new process is much faster, lower cost and is virtually VOC (volatile organic compound) free, so far more environmentally friendly.
GKN Aerospace APFCs are among the toughest available on the market. They are extremely rugged, and able to function effectively at temperatures as low as minus 26 degrees Celsius and as high as plus 71 degrees Celsius – and will survive down to minus 46 degrees Celsius. The containers are para-droppable, towable for ten miles and aerodynamically designed to offer optimum flight conditions when under-slung on a helicopter. They are qualified for us in cargo aircraft such as the A400M and C-130.
Deliveries are underway and these items are now in service in Afghanistan.
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