UK Defence & Aerospace Industry - News & Discussion

[jonas]

As a complete layman on the subject, this to me looks more interesting than a lot of the systems I've seen on offer :-

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rede ... e-mobility

[bobp]

As a complete layman on the subject, this to me looks more interesting than a lot of the systems I've seen on offer :-

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rede ... e-mobility

Looks promising

[jonas]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/scie ... tent=daily

[donald_of_tokyo]

Cammell Laird, arguably the best experienced UK shipyard to build non-military vessel, after the closure of Appledore. RV SDA was the first ship to be built there after re-establishing the shipyard. So, they lacked experience so they lost money.

BUT, again, now Cammell Laird, arguably the best experienced UK shipyard to build non-military vessel. They are much more promising than H&W Belfast, or H&W Appledore, only next to BAE Clyde, BAE Barrow, and Babcock Rosyth. UK must "grow" them up. Engineering is pretty much based on experience, not only technologies. Next order is needed there.

[RunningStrong]

Hmmmm...

[TheLoneRanger]

Can't say I'm personally that keen on Israeli defence companies making inroads to the UK...

[Lord Jim]

Well, there is plenty of room for new companies. In addition, it will make it more palatable to adopt Israeli weapon systems if this also support the creation of high value jobs. BAe has basically tided its future participation in the area of Ground based defence by joining up with Rheinmetall, and we have GD set up shop in Wales to manufacture and fit out the Ajax. DO we still have the capacity to design and develop small arms beyond specialists like Accuracy International? There is little if anything left of our home-grown defence industry with regards to ground warfare.

[inch]

Yes we seem to outsource everything in this county,I remember hearing a conservative MP years back suggest that we should just outsource all our food need from abroad because it would be cheaper ,must admit if they can get others to do it conservatives don't like anything in house ,so arms industry was just another example, just for note and fairness im definitely not a labour or liberal voter ,and never will be ,but yes if they can have nothing produced in this county and cheeper and not costing government money they would sell off ,think times have changed and now countries need to be more reliant on in house built/produce source.shame came to this to learn lessons

[dmereifield]

AEI was also sold recently...

Add in Cobham....

And the proposed Ultra sale...

It's vandalism on a grand scale.

[TheLoneRanger]

BAE Systems in middle of dogfight between Saudis and Biden over oil

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... n-over-oil


>> troubled times for BAe...

[SW1]

[Timmymagic]

Some good news....it appears our Government is beginning to wake up...it's only taken decades...personally I think it doesn't go far enough, they should be forced to sell the remaining 14% as well...

This won't stop foreign competitors hoovering up UK competition though...the Government has no interest in stopping that...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... r-producer

https://news.sky.com/story/chinese-tech ... k-12748989

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... inal-order

[dmereifield]

Would say better late than never, but isn't it too late, now? Won't they already have had (and still have for some time until after they've appealed and sold up etc) the opportunity to take/copy/document the tech/info/data/IP etc....?

[tomuk]

The whole thing is ridiculous. Chinese owned Nexperia arguably own other more important semiconductor sites in the UK than the wafer lab. The wafer lab itself produces a tiny amount of not particularly special wafers. Now of course the might be sovereign capability requirements or secret squirrel stuff that the public aren't aware of if so then the government should buy it or at leas make a meaningful investment.

[serge750]

Ignore the headline, they've got confused between supersonic and hypersonic...very interesting development...

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techands ... r-AA15nhYv

[SKB]

Supersonic = Mach 1 to Mach 4.999
Hypersonic = Mach 5+

[Zeno]

Some years ago in a different position when ballistic vests were being reviewed the benefits of ceramic plates were discussed ,it might stop the fifty cal. bullet but the energy from this would likely break the ribs over the heart into chest cavity , people can look up back face indicator tests for bullet proof vests ,I would like to see more evidence of this testing

[SW1]

https://committees.parliament.uk/writte ... 25816/pdf/

Our presence in the UK spans over 100 years and we have inherited a rich history and extensive national footprint, including key manufacturing and research & development (R&D) facilities in Northern Ireland and Scotland. We employ over 4,700 people in the UK, a high percentage of whom are skilled aerostructure engineers and operatives delivering world-leading products in the civilian and defence sectors, including for global export. We have around 800 approved UK suppliers, and our customers include the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and leading UK aerospace and defence primes.

We are actively investing in and growing our UK defence portfolio and exploring opportunities to contribute further to the expansion of the UK space sector. Our defence work includes future unmanned platforms; our collaboration on Team Tempest to deliver the UK’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS); our contribution to the H175M Task Force consortium, which is competing to fulfil the MOD’s New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement; our research and development into hypersonics; and missionised aerostructures for international defence customers.

Since 2020, Spirit AeroSystems has been a proud collaborator on the Team Tempest programme to deliver the UK’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS). Within this collaboration, we bring our unique and innovative industry expertise to help develop ground-breaking concepts and technologies to secure the UK’s sovereign defence manufacturing capabilities in the air.

Our involvement with Team Tempest will support a UK-wide pipeline of new talent and skills to meet a new era of flight. This includes skilled aerostructure engineers and manufacturers supporting the delivery of the UK’s next generation combat aircraft. Our potential workshare on Team Tempest will also benefit from the support of well-established local supply chains across Scotland and Northern Ireland, which will bring their own expertise, innovation and skills to support the UK’s combat dominance in the air.

In 2021, Spirit AeroSystems led Project Mosquito, the Royal Air Force's future uncrewed combat aircraft technology demonstrator as part of the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) programme. Alongside Northrop Grumman UK and Intrepid Minds, we were tasked with the design and manufacture of an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) to de-risk the future LANCA programme, which would support the RAF’s F-35B and Typhoon aircraft.

Whilst the Mosquito technology demonstrator was drawn to a managed close in June 2022, a number of lessons were learnt during the project’s lifetime. Key among them was the MOD’s conclusion that “more beneficial capability and cost-effectiveness appears achievable through exploration of smaller, less costly, but still highly capable additive capabilities.”

We also learnt a number of key lessons from working in close collaboration with industry and the MOD. These include providing the MOD with significant insights and value into harnessing a range of future capabilities for ACPs, such as multi-part tooling, reconfigurable production line technology and novel lightweight one-piece composite wing manufacturing. The knowledge we gained from Project Mosquito has also helped reconfigure our own capabilities in order to be more responsive to future defence requirements.

[Jensy]

We also learnt a number of key lessons from working in close collaboration with industry and the MOD

I bet they have...

[new guy]

hay, no complaining if you get paid then they just tell you not to finish what you are paid for, spirit basically got funded low level R&D from the MoD with a high profit cut.

[new guy]

We need a britten norman version of this, for the Navy and army.

[Jackstar]

In a turnaround from previous years, the United Kingdom’s defence exports saw a significant surge in 2022, reaching £11.2 billion, a substantial increase from the £6.6 billion recorded in 2021.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british ... e-in-2022/

[new guy]

an entire thread?

[dmereifield]

Imagine what it could have been if HMG actually got behind the industry....

[new guy]

In a turnaround from previous years, the United Kingdom’s defence exports saw a significant surge in 2022, reaching £11.2 billion, a substantial increase from the £6.6 billion recorded in 2021.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british ... e-in-2022/

Merged your topic in with this one as it doesn't warrant its own topic.