WASHINGTON - Congressman Brian Higgins (D-NY) Wednesday praised the announcement by Cobham, a global aerospace and defense company that it will be expanding its Orchard Park facility, Carleton Technologies, Inc.

Cobham specializes in developing airborne defense capabilities, including fighter and transport oxygen systems, external fuel tanks, tactical aircraft weapons carriage and release equipment for missile and guided bomb technologies, and air refueling systems. It will be transferring some of its engineering and production operations from California to Orchard Park to form a “weapons release center of excellence.”  The Orchard Park facility currently employs more than 300 people. The move is expected to create dozens of new local jobs in the next year and add significant numbers of additional jobs in the future.