* Canadian shipboard helicopter handling system specialist Indal Technologies has been acquired by Curtiss-Wright. Mississauga, Ontario-based Indal, which becomes part of Curtiss-Wright Controls, also produces automated passenger bridge and ramp vehicle guidance systems. The purchase of Indal for an undisclosed sum marks acquisitive Curtiss-Wright's first deal of the year. In 2004, the Roseland, New Jersey-based firm made eight acquisitions totalling $250 million, in businesses as diverse as embedded computing, nuclear systems and chemical processing.
* The Calspan name has returned to aerospace, with the management/investment buyout of General Dynamics' Buffalo, New York-based aeronautics and transport testing groups. GD acquired the Calspan operation in August 2003 with its acquisition of Veridian. In January, testing specialist Wyle Laboratories completed the acquisition of GD's Aeronautics Services business, another part of the former Veridian. Thereborn Calspan will specialise in flight research, transonic windtunnel and automobile crash testing.
Source: Flight International