December 19, 2024 | International, Aerospace
Air Force secretary: Elon Musk ‘not a warfighter,’ needs to learn more
The outgoing Air Force secretary threw shade at Musk after the key Trump adviser blasted crewed fighter jets.
December 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Boeing, ELG Carbon Fibre find new life for airplane structure material in groundbreaking partnership
First-agreement of its kind will repurpose aerospace-grade composite material for making laptop cases, car parts and other products
Partnership will reduce solid waste by more than one million pounds a year
SEATTLE, Dec. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] and ELG Carbon Fibre today announced a partnership to recycle excess aerospace-grade composite material, which will be used by other companies to make products such as electronic accessories and automotive equipment.
The agreement – the first of its kind for the aerospace industry – covers excess carbon fiber from 11 Boeing airplane manufacturing sites and will reduce solid waste by more than one million pounds a year.
Carbon-fiber reinforced material is extremely strong and lightweight, making it attractive for a variety of uses, including in building the super-efficient 787 Dreamliner and the all-new 777X airplane.
As the largest user of aerospace-grade composites from its commercial and defense programs, Boeing has been working for several years to create an economically viable carbon fiber reuse industry. The company improved its production methods to minimize excess and developed a model for collecting scrap material.
But technical barriers stood in the way of repurposing material that had already been "cured" or prepped for use in the airplane manufacturing process. UK-based ELG developed a proprietary method to recycle "cured" composites so they do not have to be thrown out.
"Recycling cured carbon fiber was not possible just a few years ago," said Tia Benson Tolle, Boeing Materials & Fabrication director for Product Strategy & Future Airplane Development. "We are excited to collaborate with ELG and leverage innovative recycling methods to work toward a vision where no composite scrap will be sent to landfills."
To prove that the recycling method can be applied on a grand scale, Boeing and ELG conducted a pilot project where they recycled excess material from Boeing's Composite Wing Center in Everett, Wash., where the massive wings for the 777X airplane are made.
ELG put the excess materials through treatment in a furnace, which vaporizes the resin that holds the carbon fiber layers together and leaves behind clean material. Over the course of 18 months, the companies saved 380,000 pounds of carbon fiber, which was cleaned and sold to companies in the electronics and ground transportation industries.
"Security of supply is extremely important when considering using these materials in long-term automotive and electronic projects," said Frazer Barnes, managing director of ELG Carbon Fibre. "This agreement gives us the ability to provide that assurance, which gives our customers the confidence to use recycled materials."
Based on the success of the pilot project, Boeing says the new agreement should save a majority of the excess composite material from its 11 sites, which will support the company's goal to reduce solid waste going to landfills 20 percent by 2025.
"This collaboration takes Boeing's commitment to protect the environment to a whole new level. Recycling composites will eventually be as commonplace as recycling aluminum and titanium," said Kevin Bartelson, 777 Wing Operations leader.
Boeing and ELG are considering expanding the agreement to include excess material from three additional Boeing sites in Canada, China and Malaysia.
As a result of the partnership, ELG estimates the number of its employees will nearly triple from 39 in 2016 to an expected 112 by the end of 2019 as the recycling market continues to expand.
Contact:
Todd Kelley
425-373-8388
todd.e.kelley@boeing.com
SOURCE Boeing
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August 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 10, 2020
ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $428,229,970 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the field level maintenance, field service representative support, contingency maintenance support, new equipment training and total package fielding for the family of Stryker vehicles. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0075). Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nevada, was awarded a $318,952,224 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price) contract for simple key loader production, engineering and sustainment support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 9, 2030. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W15P7T-20-D-0030). Remotec Inc., Clinton, Tennessee, was awarded a $48,600,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the reset, sustainment, maintenance and recap to support the overall sustainment actions of the Remotec family of robots. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Detroit, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0366). Carbro Constructors Corp.,* Hillsborough, New Jersey, was awarded a $7,832,976 modification (P00003) to contract W912DS-19-C-0035 for construction of flood-control measures for Green Brook Segment C1, Borough of Middlesex, New Jersey. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 13, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 6, 2020) AIR FORCE Tangram Flex Inc.,* Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $95,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for software and reports. The scope of this effort is to perform research, development, prototyping, enhancement, testing, evaluation, integration, transition and operational assessment to enhance and commercialize the Tangram Platform resulting in flexible system engineering componentization that allows system integrators and maintainers to ease the difficulty in interface versioning and generation. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Aug. 10, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 23 offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $243,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-D-1000). Black River Systems Co. Inc.,* Utica, New York, has been awarded an $89,280,441 modification (P00012) to contract FA8750-19-C-0040 for operational counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) open systems architecture. The objective of this effort is to rapidly enhance and commercialize the technology and approach developed under the previous Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract in order to support rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation and transition of C-sUAS capabilities. Work will be performed in Utica, New York, and is expected to be completed May 1, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $9,150,720; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,683,016; and fiscal 2018 other procurement funds in the amount of $2,509,784, are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $184,929,049. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $50,000,000 cost ceiling, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Internet Protocol Enabled Communication (IPEC) program. This contract provides for the continued acquisition of supplies and services directly associated with the functions of IPEC in the overarching AWACS upgrade. Work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and is expected to be completed Aug. 10, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $1,875,634 are obligated at the time of award on the same day delivery order. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-20-D-0038). NAVY Nan Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, is being awarded a $33,491,868 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of magazines at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The work to be performed provides for constructing four standard earth covered Type D box magazines without loading platforms, each equipped with electronically-operated doors at ground level, lightning protection system and grounding system. Paving and site improvements include concrete magazine apron and site demolition. Electrical utilities include primary and secondary electrical distribution systems and transformers. Work will be performed in Oahu, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $33,491,868 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Beta.SAM.gov contract opportunities website with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Hawaii, Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62478-20-C-4016). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Argentum Medical LLC, Geneva, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $14,780,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical surgical products. This was a competitive acquisition with 24 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with an Aug. 9, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-20-D-0018). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2307696/source/GovDelivery/
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January 13, 2021 | International, C4ISR
Rafaut acquiert Secapem
DEFENSE Rafaut acquiert Secapem Rafaut vient d'acquérir Secapem, une PME innovante spécialisée dans les systèmes d'entraînement des forces armées. « Avec cette opération, le chiffre d'affaires de Rafaut, un peu au-dessus de 90 millions d'euros, va s'approcher des 100 millions d'euros », précise Nicolas Orance, directeur général du groupe, qui souligne que Rafaut entre, avec cette opération, dans « une phase plus active d'acquisitions, pour répondre aux enjeux de taille critique, en ayant toujours à l'esprit de maintenir la complémentarité entre le civil et la défense ». Le modèle dual du groupe, civil et militaire, est en effet gage de résilience. Le rachat de Secapem permet à Rafaut d'acquérir des activités liées aux systèmes d'entraînement au tir réel et des solutions de scoring hautes technologies pour les forces armées, précise L'Usine Nouvelle. L'opération concerne aussi Lun'tech, filiale de Secapem depuis 2013, qui propose des solutions complémentaires pour l'entraînement aux tirs guidés par radar. L'Usine Nouvelle du 13 janvier