Vermont Company Awarded $3.7M In Military Contracts
Microstrain Inc. To Develop Navy Plane Gauges
WILLISTON, Vt. -- Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy announced Thursday that a Williston company had been awarded $1.76 million in development contracts with the U.S. Navy, and an even larger contract is in the works.
Microstrain Inc., which was founded 20 years ago, develops and manufactures advanced strain gauges, NewsChannel 5 reported.
The gauges measure stress loads on items like bridges and artificial knee joints.
The U.S. Navy will be having Microstrain produce wireless gauges will will be attached to critical stress points inside aircrafts.
The gauges will help technicians measure stress levels on particular aircraft parts, and will allow them to repair the planes easier.
After a demonstration, Leahy praised the technology.
"The hardworking, highly trained employees of Microstrain are another example of how high-tech firms are diversifying and expanding Vermont's economic landscape," said Leahy, "This innovative system will help the Navy keep more aircraft in the air more efficiently, improving safety factors for our fliers."
Microstrain's first contract, for $1.76 million, has already been finalized.
The second, for $1.95 million, should be finalized soon, according to Leahy.
Both contracts are part of the Defense Appropriations Bill.
Leahy is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and of the panel's defense subcommittee, which drafts the annual defense budget. |
