CONTACT: Laura Dion (978) 988-4639

WILMINGTON, MA - AMETEK Aerospace & Defense has been selected to provide a suite of fourteen sensors to Pratt & Whitney (P&W) for the engine that will power the Scramjet Engine Demonstrator (SED) flight program being developed by P&W and Boeing Phantom Works for the U.S. Air Force.

"We are extremely pleased to be participating in the design and development of this new technology. It represents a breakthrough in the practical application of hypersonic propulsion and holds the promise of more airplane-like operation for ultrahigh-speed aircraft and space vehicles," comments Wes Hardin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AMETEK Aerospace and Defense.

The supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) is able to fly at hypersonic speeds, possibly as fast as Mach 15, without the heavy oxygen tanks that rockets require. An integrated avionics package designed by Boeing successfully tested a scramjet-powered research vehicle, NASA’s X-43A, last November at speeds close to Mach 10, or 7,200 miles per hour, breaking the previously held record for air-breathing aircraft of 5,000 miles per hour set by an earlier version of the aircraft. Boeing will integrate the P&W engine into an expendable version of the Scramjet Engine Flight Demonstrator, known as the Waverider, for a series of flight tests that are expected to begin in 2008.

The successful development of the scramjet engine is expected to result in more reliable and affordable hypersonic aircraft and space vehicles. Long-term applications include launch vehicles that will substantially reduce the cost of space flight while delivering aircraft-like operation, military and commercial aircraft that are able to circle the globe in a few hours, and hypersonic cruise missiles with the ability to fly hundreds of miles in minutes.

Leading the Scramjet Engine Demonstrator (SED) flight program team for the Air Force are P&W Space Propulsion, a leader in liquid, solid, electric and hypersonic propulsion, and Boeing Phantom Works, the advanced R&D unit of The Boeing Company. AMETEK Aerospace & Defense brings to the team the industry’s broadest line of engine sensors and more than 30 years experience in designing aircraft electronic systems.

AMETEK Aerospace & Defense is a leading supplier of engine and aircraft monitoring systems, data acquisition units, fuel and fluid measurement systems, cockpit instruments and displays, engine and airframe sensors, cables, harness assemblies, avionics blowers, fans, and heat transfer and cooling systems. It is a unit of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE: AME), a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electric motors with annualized sales of more than $1.3 billion.

For more information, contact AMETEK Aerospace & Defense, 50 Fordham Road, Wilmington, MA 01887. Phone: 978-988-4639. Fax: 978-988-4944. E-mail: aerosales@ametek.com. Web Site:www.ametekaerospace.com/

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Click here for a hi-res image of the Waverider and AMETEK temperature sensors

Photo Caption:

Among the suite of fourteen sensors AMETEK Aerospace & Defense will provide Pratt & Whitney for Scramjet Engine Demonstrator program are three temperature sensors (shown from left): TETH ethylene temperature sensor, TF3 JP7 fuel temperature sensor and TMCH metal skin temperature sensor