HEATH, Ohio, Feb. 8, 2021 — Boeing (NYSE: BA) will continue to provide the U.S. Air Force with guidance and navigation repair work on a variety of aircraft under a 5-year, $91 million sole-source contract.
The company has serviced components for aircraft including the B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress, E-3 Sentry and F-15 Eagle at the Boeing Guidance Repair Center in Heath, Ohio, since 1996.
The Boeing Guidance Repair Center is responsible for maintaining the readiness and modernization of guidance and navigation systems for U.S. nuclear-capable platforms, as well as non-nuclear capable guidance and control systems, electronics and radio frequency systems, and platform processors. In addition, the center is home to assembly, integration and test activities for several Boeing production programs, including the KC-46 tanker, T-7A Red Hawk and the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft system.
Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR.L) announced today that following a successful equity raise, the Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) business has today been established, to bring forward and deliver at scale the next generation of low cost, low carbon nuclear power technology.
Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited will invest £195m across a period of around three years. The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210 million from UK Research and Innovation funding, first announced by the UK Prime Minister in ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’. Today’s announcement is another step towards the delivery of the Government’s net zero strategy and its 10-point plan.
The business, which will continue to seek further investment, will now proceed rapidly with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules that enable on-site assembly of the power plants. Discussions will also continue with the UK Government on identifying the delivery models that will enable long-term investment in this vital, net-zero enabling technology. Rolls-Royce SMR is engaging with export customers across many continents who need this technology to meet their own net zero commitments.
Rolls-Royce SMR is using proven nuclear technology, coupled with a unique factory-made module manufacturing and on-site assembly system, to harness decades of British engineering, design and manufacturing knowhow. It brings together the best of UK industry to ensure a decarbonisation solution that will be available to the UK grid in the early 2030s. The potential for this to be a leading global export for the UK is unprecedented.
Nine-tenths of an individual Rolls-Royce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions and around 80% could be delivered by a UK supply chain – a unique offering in energy infrastructure in the UK. Much of the venture’s investment is expected to be focused in the North of the UK, where there is significant existing nuclear expertise
A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy the footprint of two football pitches and power approximately one million homes. It can support both on-grid electricity and a range of off-grid clean energy solutions, enabling the decarbonisation of industrial processes and the production of clean fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and green hydrogen, to support the energy transition in the wider heat and transportation sectors.
Rolls-Royce (London: RR.L) and Fermi Energia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to study the potential for the deployment of affordable, compact nuclear power stations, known as small modular reactors (SMR), in Estonia. The study will cover all aspects of deployment including grid suitability, cooling, emergency planning, human resources, licensing feasibility, economics and supply chain.
Rolls-Royce is leading a consortium that is designing a low-cost factory built nuclear power station, known as a small modular reactor (SMR). Its standardised, factory-made components and advanced manufacturing processes push costs down, while the rapid assembly of the modules and components inside a weatherproof canopy on the power station site itself avoid costly schedule disruptions.
Fermi Energia is a company founded by nuclear scientists, energy experts and entrepreneurs to bring small modular reactors to Estonia to meet its climate goals, help the economy develop and gain energy security.
The consortium led by Rolls-Royce is working with its partners and UK Government to secure a commitment for a fleet of factory built nuclear power stations, each providing at least 440MW of electricity, to be operational within a decade, helping the governments around the world net zero obligations.
The consortium members feature the best of nuclear engineering, construction and infrastructure expertise in Assystem, Atkins, BAM Nuttall, Jacobs, Laing O’Rourke, National Nuclear Laboratory, Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Rolls-Royce and TWI. The current phase of the programme has been jointly funded by all consortium members and UK Research and Innovation.
The power stations will be built by the UKSMR consortium, before being handed over to be operated by power generation companies.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The successful March 26 launch of the U.S. Space Force’s sixth and final Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket marked the 500th flight of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RL10 upper-stage engine.
The RL10, which powers the ULA Atlas V Centaur upper stage, is one of several Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion products supporting the mission. Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion can be found on both the rocket and the AEHF-6 satellite. Built by Lockheed Martin, the AEHF satellites provide secure, jam-proof communications, including nuclear command and control, to U.S. and allied forces.
“This launch marks an important milestone for Aerojet Rocketdyne and for the country,” said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s CEO and president. “The RL10 has supported a majority of the nation’s most important national security and scientific missions, including all of the AEHF satellites which provide communication links that are critical to our warfighters.”
The Atlas V in the 551 configuration is the most powerful vehicle in the Atlas V family, featuring five Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid rocket strap-on motors, each generating 348,500 pounds of thrust. Designed specifically to provide extra lifting power to the Atlas V, the AJ-60A is the world’s largest monolithic solid rocket motor ever flown.
The AEHF-6 satellite, meanwhile, is outfitted with three different types of Aerojet Rocketdyne thrusters for attitude control, orbital station keeping and maneuvering. These include 12 MR-103G and six MR-106E monopropellant thrusters; and four, 5-kilowatt-class XR-5 Hall-effect electric thrusters and associated power processing systems.
The Atlas V also uses Aerojet Rocketdyne reaction control thrusters on the Centaur upper stage, as well as pressure vessels provided by ARDÉ, an Aerojet Rocketdyne subsidiary. The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and the AEHF-6 satellite is on its way to its operating location in geostationary orbit.
In addition to the Atlas V, the RL10 also powers the upper stage of ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket. The RL10 has helped place hundreds of military, civil and commercial satellites into Earth orbit and has sent spacecraft to explore every planet in our solar system. The RL10’s proven reliability over more than five decades of service has made it the upper-stage engine of choice for three new rockets under development, including ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, Northrop Grumman’s OmegA, and NASA’s Space Launch System.
About Aerojet Rocketdyne: Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (AJRD), is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion systems and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, and tactical systems areas, in support of domestic and international customers.
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Thursday it will book a 496.4 billion yen ($4.5 billion) special loss after its aircraft unit delayed the delivery of its SpaceJet regional jet for at least another year until after March 2021.
The sixth delay announced by Mitsubishi Aircraft is a fresh blow to Japan’s commercial jet ambitions and could stretch Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ finances.
The company cited the special loss as one reason for wiping out a forecast for operating profit of 220 billion yen in the business year ending March 31.
The new postponement also means an aircraft that Mitsubishi Heavy had planned to bring to market in 2013, will have to compete against a new generation of regional jets built by Brazil’s Embraer SA <ERJ>.
Japan’s biggest airline by revenue, ANA Holdings Inc., is now to take the first delivery of the jet sometime after March 2021.
Mitsubishi Heavy, which builds products ranging from nuclear reactors and ships to rockets and industrial machinery, has traditionally relied on stronger units to support weaker businesses.
“We use cashflow and borrowing to finance our projects and going forward the SpaceJet development will require further funds,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy said. The company, he added, had no plan at the moment to raise capital for aircraft development.
Government funding would not be an option for Japan’s biggest heavy machinery maker even though the SpaceJet is backed by the government because doing so would contravene World Trade Organization (WTO) rules banning taxpayer subsidies.
A spokeswoman for Mitsubishi Aircraft declined to say how much development of the SpaceJet has cost so far.
The company on Thursday said it had appointed Takaoki Niwa, the head of its U.S. operations, as its new president, replacing Hisakazu Mizutani, who will become chairman.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing)
President Trump accused Iranian general Qassem Soleimani of planning “imminent and sinister attacks” Friday in his first televised remarks since thedeadly airstrike that killed the generalat Baghdad’s international airport.
“We took action last night to stop a war,” Trump said during brief remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We did not take action to start a war.”
Without divulging details about what led to the early morning airstrike that killed Soleimani and nine others, the president said the United States “caught” the general “in the act and terminated him.”
“Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion,” Trump added, saying that “what the U.S. did yesterday should have been done long ago.”
The killing of Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, which has careened from one crisis to another since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.
Senior State Department officials described the killing as a defensive strike supported by solid intelligence and claimed Soleimani was planning imminent attacks against United States interests and personnel in the region.
SEOUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) – South Korea showcased newly acquired F-35 stealth fighter jets to mark Armed Forces Day on Tuesday as President Moon Jae-in tried to allay concerns that his policy of engagement with North Korea would weaken the South’s commitment to defence.
At an event marking the founding of the South Korean military, Moon said South Korean fighter jets conducted patrol flights offshore, including over islands at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute with Japan.
North Korea has criticised the South’s weapons procurements and its joint military drills with the U.S. military as undisguised preparations for war that are forcing it to develop new short-range missiles.
Moon has thrown his support behind dialogue to end the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, urging that working-level negotiations between the North and the United States be held soon. No new dates or locations have been set.
Moon marked Armed Forces Day at a ceremony at an airbase in the city of Daegu that highlighted four of the eight Lockheed Martin F-35A jets delivered this year. Forty of the aircraft are to be delivered by 2021.
During the event, an F-15K jet patrolled over the islands claimed by both South Korea and Japan and called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
Moon made no direction mention of North Korea or Japan but said today’s security climate was highly unpredictable, requiring strength and innovation.
“As the recent drone attack in the Middle East region demonstrated to the world, the challenges that we will face will be entirely different from those of the past,” he said in an address to the military. “The war of the future will be a fight of science and intelligence against all elements that threaten our people’s safety and property.”
Analysts have said the F-35 stealth jets put North Korea’s anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems in a vulnerable position.
Negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes have stalled since a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke down in February over disagreements on denuclearisation.
North Korea blamed the United States on Monday for a failure to restart talks, with Pyongyang’s U.N. ambassador Kim Song saying it was time for Washington to share proposals for talks that showed Washington had adopted a new “calculation method”.
South Korea and the United States have separately begun talks for a new military burden-sharing agreement to decide how much South Korea will pay for stationing what is now about 28,500 U.S. troops in the country.
Moon told Trump during a summit in New York last week what South Korea would contribute, including an increase in purchases of U.S. weapons and future purchase plans, a senior official at South Korea’s presidential office said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee Editing by Jack Kim, Paul Tait and Gerry Doyle)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Raytheon (RTN) was selected by the Boeing Company as radar supplier for the B-52 bomber radar modernization program. Under the contract, Raytheon will design, develop, produce and sustain active electronically scanned array radar systems for the entire U.S. Air Force B-52 fleet. The advanced radar upgrade will ensure the aircraft remains mission ready through 2050 and beyond. Low rate initial production is scheduled to begin in 2024.
With an AESA radar on board, the B-52 will gain improved navigation reliability to support nuclear and conventional missions. Raytheon’s B-52 radar is based on AESA technologies developed from the APG-79/APG-82 radar family.
“When it comes to years spent flying in support of our nation’s defense,” said Eric Ditmars, vice president of Raytheon Secure Sensor Solutions. “Our new AESA radars give aircrews the eyes they need to achieve their mission for the duration of the B-52’s service life.”
The B-52 will also benefit from improved mapping and detection range and an increase in the number of targets it can simultaneously engage. Along with improved capabilities that help crews see further and more accurately, Raytheon’s AESA radar offers greater reliability than the current system because it has no moving parts and uses modern operating software.
About Raytheon Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I™ products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran needs some 500 planes and would likely back buying the Sukhoi Superjet 100 if Russia is willing to sell them to its airlines, Iranian news agencies reported the country’s top civil aviation official as saying on Wednesday.
Iran needs to upgrade its ageing passenger fleet and is seeking to avert U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
The U.S. Treasury has revoked licences for Boeing Co (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) to sell passenger jets to Iran after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions.
Most modern commercial planes have more than 10 percent in U.S. parts, the threshold for needing U.S. Treasury approval.
But Russian officials have been reported as saying Sukhoi is working on reducing the number of U.S. parts in the hopes of winning an Iranian order for up to 100 aircraft.
“If the Iranian airlines want to use this aircraft (Superjet 100 ) and the seller is willing to sell it to Iran, the Civil Aviation Organization is ready to issue its final comment on this aircraft,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Abedzadeh, head of the Civil Aviation Organization, as saying.
“But this aircraft has adhered to world standards and is flying currently, therefore there is no reason for us to reject it,” Abedzadeh told Fars.
Flag-carrier IranAir had ordered 200 passenger aircraft – 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR (LDOF.MI) before U.S. licences were revoked.
“The airlines have proposals for plane purchases and we are trying to devise regulations that will ease their aircraft imports. Considering Iran’s very large market, we need 500 planes now,” Abedzadeh was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Alexander Smith
DUBAI (Reuters) – IranAir is looking to buy planes from any company not requiring U.S. sales permits and may consider Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet 100, the flag carrier’s head was quoted as saying, as Iran tries to renew its ageing fleet despite facing U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)revoked licences for Boeing Co and Airbus to sell passenger jets to Iran after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions.
“We welcome any (company) which is able to provide the planes needed by IranAir. We even have gone after planes such as Sukhoi 100 or planes made by non-European countries,” said IranAir Chief Executive Farzaneh Sharafbafi, quoted by Iran’s Roads Ministry website.
Most modern commercial planes have more than 10 percent in U.S. parts, the threshold for needing U.S. Treasury approval. But Russian officials have been reported as saying Sukhoi is working on reducing the number of U.S. parts in the hopes of winning an Iranian order for up to 100 aircraft.
“We will consider plane purchases if these companies can sell planes to Iran without an OFAC licence, and are willing to negotiate,” Sharafbafi added. She gave no further details.
IranAir had ordered 200 passenger aircraft – 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR. All the deals were dependent on U.S. licences because of the heavy use of American parts in commercial planes.
(Reporting by Dubai newsroom, Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Edmund Blair)
