WEATHERSFIELD RTI awaits approval of Howitzer funding

Without Senate approval, RTI's 10-year project wouldn't be funded.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WEATHERSFIELD -- RTI International Metals stands to benefit if the Senate Appropriations Committee can persuade the full Senate to approve a defense spending plan that includes $4 million for production of lightweight Howitzer cannons.
RTI has been supplying titanium and performing some of the extrusion and fabrication for Howitzer cannons since 2001, company spokesman Richard Leone said, but Senate approval is important because without it the project would be canceled.
In the past, Leone said, long-term defense contract appropriations were approved only once, but more recently, lawmakers have been reviewing and appropriating each contract annually.
"Out front it might still be announced as a 10-year program," he said, "but it's subject to change on an annual basis."
Senators
U.S. Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, both Ohio Republicans, announced late Wednesday that the committee will ask the full Senate to consider spending $186.8 million for Ohio defense projects in 2004, including RTI's.
New cannons are needed, the senators' press release states, to replace 25-year-old weapons now in use by the military.
A spokeswoman for DeWine's office said the committee's recommendations will go to a Senate committee next week and will likely go before the full Senate for a vote in late September.
About the project
RTI was one of four U.S. companies selected in October, 2000, to contribute to production of lightweight XM-777 Howitzer cannons for the Marine Corps, the Army, and Italian and British armed forces.
The Weathersfield company at that time was awarded a 10-year contract worth more than $100 million to provide titanium, extrusion and fabricating for the weapons.
Titanium is used because of its strength and light weight. As strong as steel but 45 percent lighter, titanium use reduces the weight of each Howitzer by as much 30 percent.
BAE Systems, based in the United Kingdom and the second-largest defense contractor in the world, is manufacturing the weapons, but about 70 percent of the production is being done in the U.S.
RTI's Weathersfield township titanium mill, RMI Titanium, is producing the metal, and its plants in Houston and in the United Kingdom are doing the extrusion and fabricating for the cannons.
Titanium parts
A spokesman for Sen. Voinovich said the gun turret and some other smaller parts are made of titanium, and RTI is providing about 30 percent of each cannon's total value.
The new business couldn't come at a better time for RMI. Timothy Rupert, president and chief executive of RTI International Metals, RMI's parent company, said in April that titanium shipments have been at their lowest levels in 20 years.
vinarsky@vindy.com