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Contact: Karen Ouellette Manager, Communications (860) 465-8777 |
FACT SHEET
AUTHORIZED FOR RELEASE
May 25, 2000
Military
Milestones
Blolite™ Installations Aboard U.S. Navy
Ships
General Cable and Newport News Shipbuilding
1996
Blown fiber technology licensed from inventor
British Telecom to General Cable predecessor BICC Brand-Rex for introduction
to North American
market as Blolite® - based on BICC Brand-Rex experience with blown
fiber installations throughout the U.K. and Europe.
Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS)
researches and explores potential development of blown optical fiber technology
for U.S. shipboard applications to replace
conventional fiber optic cable installation.
NNS and BICC Brand-Rex inaugurate
joint R&D and product development to
modify Blolite components to meet harsh demands and specialized circumstances
of U.S. Navy shipboard environment.
November 1997
First blown optical fiber installation of 584 feet of Blolite by NNS and BICC Brand-Rex aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
January 1998
Blolite and BloTwist™ (Blolite blown optical fiber infrastructure in siamese configuration with high-performance copper cabling) officially introduced to the North American commercial market by BICC Brand-Rex.
March 1998
Installation of Blolite completed aboard USS Harry
S. Truman (CVN 75) - 169 installations, a total of approximately 47 miles
of optical
fibers.
Installation of Blolite completed aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65 - "The
Big E"), the U.S. Navy's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier launched
at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1960 and recently returned to service by
NNS in 1994 after
a major four-year overhaul and refueling.
Installation of Blolite completed
aboard USS Nassau (LAJ-4) while underway during rough seas - 53 installations
under difficult conditions with no problems.
Planning
underway for Blolite installation aboard aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan
(CVN 76) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
BICC Brand-Rex and Newport News Shipbuilding
enter into a multi-year $8+ million agreement for General Cable to provide
specialty fiber optic and
copper-based
shipboard cables for the U.S. Navy, expediting resource allocation, scheduling
and flexibility.
July 1998
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) commissioned into the Atlantic Fleet, acknowledged as the world's most modern and powerful warship, towering 20 stories above the water line, longer than three football fields and featuring a 4.5-acre flight deck.
August 1998
Newport News Shipbuilding announces capability
of Microduct tubing for the Blolite System to double individual tube capacity
from four
to eight optical fibers, extending the total capacity of seven-tube Multiduct
from 28 to 56 optical fibers, thus facilitating the installation of fiber
optic network backbones aboard the largest U.S. Navy ships.
Blolite installation program
launched aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Planning
underway for Blolite installation aboard USS
Wasp (LHD 1).
January 1999
Planning underway for Blolite installation aboard USS Tarawa (LHA 1).
June 1999
General Cable Corporation announces acquisition of BICC Energy Cables operations worldwide, incorporating BICC Brand-Rex into the new General Cable (NYSE: BGC), The New Power of ONE, among the world's largest cable manufacturers and the largest cable supplier to the U.S. Navy.
October 1999
Installation of Blolite completed aboard USS
George Washington (CVN 73).
In November, General Cable and NNS announce general availability of
and open access to jointly developed blown fiber technology to all suppliers
of the
U.S Navy.
October 1999
General Cable awarded MIL-STD-790 product assurance
program certification, accepting the company's in-house testing of fiber
optic cabling
system products and components from its inspected manufacturing facilities
as full verification of compliance with QPL (Qualified Products List) specifications
for military cables and accessories, by the Defense Logistics Agency.
Continuing
industry efforts moving toward defining and securing official military certification
of blown optical fiber performance specifications
and standards.
General Cable Contact:
Karen Ouellette
800-338-0901
Newport News Shipbuilding Contact:
Jerri Fuller Dickseski
757-380-2341
Blolite® and BloTwist™ are trademarks of Novar plc
and are used under license.
Release No. 0306
05/25/00
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