E-Z-GO 2005 Annual Report Download - page 22

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Bell Helicopter is a member of Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company LLC (“BAAC”), a joint venture with Agusta S.p.A. and two of its affiliated compa-
nies (collectively, “Agusta”), a leading helicopter manufacturer based in Italy, for the design, manufacture, sale and customer support of the revo-
lutionary civil tiltrotor aircraft, the Model BA609. On December 20, 2005, Bell Helicopter and Agusta entered into a realignment of BAAC under
which Bell sold its interest in the venture’s medium twin Model AB139 helicopter to Agusta so that Bell could focus on its own medium twin prod-
ucts and BAAC could focus exclusively on the Model BA609. The Model BA609 met a major milestone in 2005 by achieving forward flight in air-
plane mode for the first time. In 2005, the Model BA609 also achieved speeds in excess of 220 miles per hour and an altitude of over 15,000 feet.
Bell Helicopter and AgustaWestland North America Inc. formed the AgustaWestlandBell LLC (“AWB LLC”) in January 2004 for the joint design,
development, manufacture, sale, customer training and product support of the US101 helicopter and certain variations and derivatives thereof, to
be offered and sold to departments or agencies of the U.S. Government. On January 28, 2005, Lockheed Martin, with AWB LLC as its principal
subcontractor, was selected to design, develop, manufacture and support the Presidential helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps Marine 1 Heli-
copter Squadron (VH-71) Program. Bell Helicopter plans to assemble the production aircraft at its Assembly & Integration Center in Amarillo,
Texas.
Bell’s helicopter business competes against a number of competitors based in the United States and other countries, and its spare parts business
competes against numerous competitors around the world. Competition is based primarily on price, quality, product support, performance, relia-
bility and reputation.
Textron Systems
Textron Systems is a primary supplier to the defense, aerospace and general aviation markets. Its principal strategy is to address the emphasis
being placed by the U.S. Department of Defense on network centric warfare and the leveraging of advances in information technology by focusing
on the development and production of networked sensors, weapons and the associated algorithms and software. Textron Systems manufactures
“smart” weapons, airborne and ground-based surveillance systems, aircraft landing systems, hovercraft, search and rescue vessels, armored
vehicles and turrets, reciprocating piston aircraft engines, and aircraft and missile control actuators, valves and related components. Textron Sys-
tems is involved in supplying the U.S. Air Force with some of its premier smart weapons as prime contractor for the Sensor Fuzed Weapon and is
a subcontractor to The Boeing Company for tail actuation systems on the Joint Direct Attack Munition and the next generation Small Diameter
Bomb. Textron Systems is a tier one supplier of unattended ground sensors and intelligent munitions systems for the U.S. Army’s Future Combat
System. While Textron Systems sells most of its products directly to U.S. customers, it also sells an increasing number of products in over 35
other countries through a growing, global network of sales representatives and distributors.
Actuation products for the aerospace, defense and industrial markets are sold under trade names of HR Textron and APCO. Specialty marine, land
vehicle and turret products are sold under the trade names of Textron Marine & Land Systems and Cadillac Gage. The recognized need for
armored vehicles for secure transport of U.S. and other armed forces has resulted in increased demand for the highly protected and cost effective
vehicles offered by Textron Systems. Weapons, surveillance and landing systems are sold under the Textron Systems name. Reciprocating piston
aircraft engines are sold under the Lycoming name directly to general aviation airframe manufacturers and in the aftermarket through domestic
and international distributors. Lycoming also is the exclusive supplier of engines for Cessna’s product line of new single engine aircraft.
Textron Systems competes against a number of competitors in the United States and other countries on the basis of technology, performance,
price, quality and reliability, product support, installed base and reputation.
Cessna Segment
Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of general aviation aircraft. Cessna currently has four major
product lines: Citation business jets, single engine turboprop Caravans, Cessna single engine piston aircraft and aftermarket services. Revenues
in the Cessna segment accounted for approximately 35%, 30% and 29% of our total revenues from continuing operations in 2005, 2004 and
2003, respectively.
The family of business jets currently produced by Cessna includes the Citation CJ1, Citation CJ1+, Citation CJ2, Citation CJ3, Citation Bravo,
Citation Encore, Citation XLS, Citation Sovereign and Citation X. The Citation X is the world’s fastest business jet with a maximum operating
speed of Mach .92. By the end of 2005, Cessna had delivered its 4,500th business jet. Currently, the entry-level Citation Mustang is under devel-
opment. First customer deliveries of the Citation CJ1+, an upgrade to the CJ1, commenced in December 2005, and customer deliveries of the
Citation CJ2+, an upgrade to the CJ2, are scheduled to commence in 2006. The first Mustang that will be finished on the production line at our
Textron Inc.