The Rise Of Copper Wires In Automotive ICs

In 2011, the price of Gold (Au) surged to $1900/oz which had a drastic impact on Wirebonded ICs using Au wires. IC suppliers scrambled to convert from Au to copper (Cu) wire on as many products as they could. However, automotive ICs were reluctant to make the jump due to lack of reliability data and performance track-record. However, today’s automotive ICs are big users of Cu wires driven by cost and reliability considerations.

Source: The Rise Of Copper Wires In Automotive ICs

Raytheon upgrades LTAMDS missile-defense radar to handle hypersonic munitions threats 

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – Missile defense experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. will carry out upgrades and technology insertion to a new radar system to help defeat quickly evolving missile threats such as hypersonic weapons. Officials of the U.S. army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a $122 million three-year contract Tuesday to the Raytheon Missiles & Defense segment in Andover, Mass., for the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) pre-planned product improvement Increment III upgrades effort.

Source: Raytheon to upgrade LTAMDS missile-defense radar to handle advanced threats like hypersonic munitions | Military Aerospace

Update: Leonardo flies first production standard AW609 tiltrotor

Leonardo has flown a production standard AW609 tiltrotor for the first time, the company announced on 19 November. The milestone took place on 13 October at the company’s Philadelphia production facility in the US, and saw aircraft AC5 perform an initial in-flight evaluation of its systems and general handling. As noted by Leonardo, AC5 will be retained by Leonardo contributing to customer demonstrations, mission capability evaluation, and expansion, and supporting the manufacturer and the operators in the transition from the developmental to the operational phase once on the market.

Source: Update: Leonardo flies first production standard AW609 tiltrotor

Lockheed Martin to deliver 3 Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis moon missions 

Lockheed Martin is under contract to deliver three Orion spacecraft to NASA for its Artemis VI-VIII moon exploration missions. The firm is the prime contractor for the Orion program and completed two Orion vehicles, one of which is Artemis I – currently weeks away from its launch to the moon.

Source: Lockheed Martin to deliver 3 Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis moon missions | Seeking Alpha

Archer Aviation Offers a Glimpse of Air Taxi Operations 

Although developers of electric vertical takeoff and landing eVTOL air taxis have yet to receive certification of their aircraft, a few industry leaders have been thinking ahead to operations and what the experience will look like for passengers as well as pilots. Tom Anderson, Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) COO of urban air mobility, spoke with FLYING several weeks ago to offer his thoughts about top-line goals, including obtaining a Part 135 certificate, vertiports for maintenance, landings, and takeoffs, as well as training for pilots and technicians.

Source: Archer Aviation Offers a Glimpse of Air Taxi Operations – FLYING Magazine

US Navy’s “Death Star” Destroyer Will Be Armed With Laser Guns And Hypersonic Missiles

The US Navy’s next-generation guided missile destroyer will be armed with directed-energy and hypersonic weapons. Tom Stevens, the director of ground assembly at Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works, spoke with AP News about the future of shipbuilding. He said the new class of next-generation guided-missile destroyers (DDG(X)) would replace the service’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. The first contracts for building DDG(X) vessels were awarded to General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine and Huntington Ingalls Industries in Mississippi earlier this summer.

Source: US Navy’s “Death Star” Destroyer Will Be Armed With Laser Guns And Hypersonic Missiles | ZeroHedge

DARPA’s New X-Plane to Make Leaps in Aerospace Tech 

DARPA has a new program, Ancillary, and they hope it will develop and demonstrate new technologies that promise to leap VTOLs, vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, forward. Ancillary, which stands for AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And Recovery X-Plane program (it’s a loose acronym) wants to build a plane that can launch from any environment or ship flight deck, in any weather conditions, without any launch or recovery equipment, like the typical ground support equipment aircraft typically require.

Source: DARPA’s New X-Plane to Make Leaps in Aerospace Tech | Manufacturing.net

Global military spending hits record high

WASHINGTON — As the annual defense policy bill makes its way through the halls of Congress, lawmakers are fighting the Biden administration’s proposal to scrap two nuclear investments.

The White House wants to retire one of those, the B83 megaton gravity bomb. But the Senate’s version of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act prevents that from happening until the chamber receives a report on alternatives for striking “hard and deeply buried targets.”

Source: Global military spending hits record high

U.S. Army orders robotic assistant

Stratom announced Monday the U.S. Army has awarded the company a contract to develop a personnel safety system for Robotic Combat Vehicle-Light (RCV-L).

As noted by the company, the future robotic system will provide 360-degree sensor coverage and a computer system that leverages machine learning to intelligently identify objects close to the vehicle.

The system, known as the Perimeter Safety for Autonomous Vehicles (P-SAV), will include newly developed ROS2-based software to communicate the appropriate information to the RCV’s operator and its computer system to execute appropriate behaviors.

Source: U.S. Army orders robotic assistant

QinetiQ inks $45 million prototyping deal with US Army

WASHINGTON — The American branch of British defense firm QinetiQ has won a contract worth up to $45 million to support the U.S. Army’s C5ISR Center, the company announced Monday in a news release.

The deal follows QinetiQ’s announcement that it plans to acquire software provider Avantus Federal by year’s end — “an important step in the execution of QinetiQ’s five-year ambitions to expand our presence in the US,” QinetiQ CEO Steve Wadey said Friday in a statement about the purchase.

Source: QinetiQ inks $45 million prototyping deal with US Army

United Airlines places deposit for 100 flying taxis from Archer Aviation 

Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) announced a $10M pre-delivery payment from United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) for 100 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.The deposit follows a purchase agreement inked in 2021 and adds to visible interest among airline operators in eVTOL aircraft. Indeed, in July air taxi company Vertical Aerospace (EVTL) reached an agreement with American Airlines Group (AAL) for 50 aircraft.

Source: United Airlines places deposit for 100 flying taxis from Archer Aviation | Seeking Alpha

Lockheed, Pentagon near $30B deal for F-35 fighter jets 

The U.S. Department of Defense is nearing a “handshake agreement” with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) for ~375 F-35 fighter jets over three years, Reuters reported on Monday. Talks had bogged down in recent weeks over data rights, but a Monday meeting in Washington could lead to a deal on both a price range and quantity, according to the report, which also said if an agreement is reached, finalized pricing would not be locked in for several weeks if not months, but an ultimate total value is ~$30B.

Source: Lockheed, Pentagon near $30B deal for F-35 fighter jets – Reuters (NYSE:LMT) | Seeking Alpha