Aug 3 2004
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company will receive $2.25 million under the defense appropriations bill, passed last week by the U.S. Congress. The grant will fund research and development on the next generation of aircraft tires to be used on the nation's new Navy and Air Force joint strike fighter jets.
The R&D efforts will be directed by Goodyear's Akron Technical Center. Goodyear is the world's largest supplier of tires for commercial, military and general aviation aircraft. The company's aircraft tires are manufactured in Danville, Va.; Bangkok, Thailand, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"This grant underscores Goodyear's history of aircraft tire innovation and we are proud to have earned the confidence of the U.S. military and the aviation industry to produce the tire," said Joe Gingo, executive vice president quality systems & chief technical officer.
Goodyear has been producing new and innovative products for the U.S. military for 85 years. The company works closely with aircraft manufacturers to develop and qualify radial and bias-ply tires for new aircraft.
Today, Goodyear is the only remaining U.S.-owned tire company manufacturing aviation tires for the nation's military.
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