Delta company fills big military contracts

Analytic Systems president Jim Hargrove (left) provides a tour of the Tilbury factor to Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, Pat Bell, and Delta Mayor Lois Jackson.

Adrian MacNair photo

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A Delta company has announced a $4.7 million shipment of power conversion products to an American military equipment manufacturer in Maryland.

Analytic Systems will supply the power conversion technology for the AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ Shadow, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.

“This project started off fairly simple but rapidly grew to a full-fledged military development program,” said Analytic Systems president Jim Hargrove.

AAI contacted Analytic five years ago to work on the design, build, and testing of lithium-ion battery units for use in UAVs. The power system is comprised of power supplies, inverters, voltage converters, and battery chargers.

“The first production units of this largest order in company history will begin shipping in February. At the same time our R&D department is already working on the next generation of this system,” Hargrove said.

Analytic Systems was founded by Jim’s father, Lloyd Hargrove, in Vancouver in 1976. He passed away in 2009, just as the company moved into its Delta location, which now employs 76 skilled workers.

“One of the differences between us and a lot of the other companies in the high technology industry in British Columbia is we manufacture here,” said Hargrove.

He said Analytic is working on another project for the U.S. military that is saving lives in areas of armed conflict.

The company was approached by Michigan Technical University three years ago for a specialized charger for a counter-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) system to be fitted to a mine-resistant armor protected vehicle (MRAV).

The U.S. Army uses MRAVs in many deployments where IEDs and land mines pose a constant danger for military and civilian personnel, most notably Afghanistan.

“Last March this program came to life almost overnight and we built 400 of these chargers in only two months for the Anniston Army Depot in Louisiana,” he said.

Hargrove said he believes the future is headed toward a fully electric economy, and that power conversion technology companies like Analytic will become increasingly in demand, generating highly skilled jobs and high wages for British Columbians.