CONCORD, Mass., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Starmet Corporation
(Nasdaq: STMT), formerly Nuclear Metals, Inc., a Concord, Massachusetts
manufacturer of advanced technology metallurgical products, today announced
that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Starmet Aerocast, recently produced the five
largest and most complex investment castings ever made using Starmet's
patented Beralcast(R) alloy.  Starmet demonstrated its production tooling and
casting technology pursuant to a contract with Lockheed Martin Electronics and
Missile Systems (LMEM) for the U.S. Army's Comanche helicopter program.  Each
Comanche helicopter requires the five castings, plus an additional 51 smaller
and lower complexity Beralcast castings.  These castings are used in the
Comanche's Electro-Optic Sensor System (EOSS).  Over the next eighteen
(18) months, Starmet Aerocast will be manufacturing and delivering three full
sets of Comanche castings in support of LMEMs demonstration/validation
program.
    These complex castings are the culmination of more than two and one-half
years of cooperative engineering development between Starmet and LMEM to
refine component design.  Compared to aluminum, Beralcast is 22% lower in
density and 300% higher in stiffness.  In some configurations, LMEM has
achieved weight savings of up to 50% utilizing Beralcast in lieu of
conventional aluminum technology.
    The RAH-66 Comanche program is one of the U.S. Army's top development
programs and includes a team of leading aerospace manufacturers led by Boeing
Defense and Space Group, Helicopters Division and Sikorsky Aircraft, Inc., a
subsidiary of United Technologies.  LMEM is the EOSS system subcontractor to
Boeing/Sikorsky.  The lightness and strength afforded by Beralcast(R) makes it
ideally suited for the Comanche Helicopter and other aerospace applications.
    Starmet Aerocast, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starmet Corporation, is a
manufacturer of Beralcast(R) specialty products for use by the government and
aerospace industry.

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