October 30, 2024 - No. 44 In This Issue : Poor Quality Control and Outdated Equipment at Steel Company Behind Failed Gears on Ill-Fated CV-22 Osprey : Frank Robinson, founder of Robinson Helicopter Company,'inducted into National Aviation Hall of Fame : Retrofit electric Cessna Caravan could fly in 2026 : CFM Leap 1A Reverse Bleed System Retrofits Ramping Up : NTSB Blames Boeing 747 Engine Fire on Shoddy Maintenance Work : Utah aerospace and defense industry taking a unique recruitment approach : Boeing CEO says 'trust in our company has eroded,' calls for 'fundamental culture change' : Cityhopper Grounds Embraers As MRO Problems Persist : Unleashing the Future of Hypersonic Flight: Lockheed Martin’s SR-72 DarkStar Unveiled : Embraer facing production ‘gap’ at Florida-based A-29 facility The CV-22B Osprey crashed following a catastrophic failure in the left-hand Prop Rotor Gear Box, triggered by a crack in one of the high-speed pinion gears manufactured from a special steel alloy produced by Universal Stainless. An independent investigation by Hunterbrook has narrowed down poor manufacturing processes and inadequate quality control as the causes of the catastrophic failure in the Prop Rotor Gear Box (PRGB), which led to the crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22B Osprey on Nov. 29, 2023, off the coast of Japan, resulting in the deaths of eight personnel. These issues were traced back to Universal Stainless, the manufacturer of the alloy used in the gear that failed on the ill-fated Osprey. Contents 1. The CV-22B Osprey crashed following a catastrophic failure in the left-hand Prop Rotor Gear Box, triggered by a crack in one of the high-speed pinion gears manufactured from a special steel alloy produced by Universal Stainless. 2. What caused the November 2023 Osprey crash? 3. ‘Gear pinion manufactured by Universal Stainless failed’ 4. ‘Deficient manufacturing, poor quality control, toxic work culture’ 5. ‘Inclusions’ industry-wide problems or Universal Stainless-specific? Hunterbrook’s investigation, which followed both the Accident Investigation Board (AIB) and the internal Safety Investigation Board (SIB) reports, found a troubling mix of “toxic” personnel management and “retaliatory” practices at the manufacturing site. These factors compromised the rigorous standards essential for aerospace components, favoring increased production volumes and “high profit margins” instead. Previous accidents involving the Osprey were attributed to a recurring “hard clutch engagement,” a result of a design flaw in the component. However, in the November 2023 crash, investigators pointed to the gearbox as the cause in their preliminary findings. At that time, while they had established the “what” of the failure, they were still probing the “how” and “why.” The specific gear that failed was manufactured using a special steel alloy supplied by Universal Stainless. What is shocking, and bares the larger scale of the impropriety, is that Universal’s specialty steel alloys figure across the entire U.S. aviation sector, including its major customer Boeing, aircraft engines, and possibly the V-280 Valor, part of the U.S. Army’s FLRAA (Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft). The crash of the Osprey claimed the lives of Maj. Jeffrey T. Hoernemann; Maj. Eric V. Spendlove; Maj. Luke A. Unrath; Capt. Terrell K. Brayman; Tech. Sgt. Zachary E. Lavoy; Staff Sgt. Jake M. Turnage; Senior Airman Brian K. Johnson; and Staff Sgt. Jake Galliher. Photos comparing a new high-speed planetary gear pinion with the remains of one retrieved from the Osprey that crashed in Nov. 2023. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force via Hunterbrook) What caused the November 2023 Osprey crash? The USAF CV-22B Osprey (callsign Gundam 22) from the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing at Yokota Air Base, crashed off the Japanese coast on Nov. 29, 2023, after taking off from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, while participating in a joint interoperability exercise. The tilt-rotor CV-22 has a prop-rotor gearbox in each engine nacelle which transmits power from the engine to the proprotor and reduces the speed of the shaft. The catastrophic failure was located in the Osprey’s left-hand PRGB. Here is an excerpt from the AIB report: “Failure of the left-hand PRGB high-speed planetary section was most likely initiated by a crack in one of the high-speed pinion gear and fatigue cracking of the associated pinion gear’s bearing cage, which eventually fractured through the high-speed planetary carrier assembly. At least one piece of the failed high-speed planetary pinion wedged in the high-speed carrier assembly, grinding against the high-speed sun gear’s teeth until they were completely removed. The removal of the gear teeth prevented torque being applied to the left-hand mast”. The report then mentions that an onset of rapidly cascading malfunctions occurred less than six seconds after the failure. This resulting “instantaneous asymmetric lift condition” was unrecoverable by the mishap crew. The crew received three “PRGB CHIP BURN” alerts on the CDU screen, followed by a “L PRGB CHIPS” flash. This meant the chip detectors found pieces of metal that couldn’t be burnt off. While heading to Yakushima Island, the nearest planned divert airfield, and while waiting for traffic to clear the runway, a “CHIP DETECTOR FAIL” warning indicated one of the chip detectors completely stopped working. The pinion gear then completely failed, triggering the cascading series of malfunctions, causing the left proprotor to stop spinning. The Osprey went into a roll and crashed into the water. ‘Gear pinion manufactured by Universal Stainless failed’ The single ‘high-speed planetary gear pinion’, according to Military.com perusing the SIB report, had “begun to shred.” The resulting debris in the gearbox presumably triggered the alerts mentioned earlier, causing the crash. While both the publicly released AIB and the internal SIB blamed this single gear, the latter mentioned that the “single crack” was “similar to those seen on seven previous failures in low-speed planetary pinion gears.” Five of those prior failures, which go back to 2013, were caused by “non-metallic inclusions” – defects in the metal alloy from which the gears were made. Gundam 22’s gear also cracked “most likely due to non-metallic material inclusion.” Universal Stainless made the alloy that “later failed in Gundam 22”. Since 2014, the company has supplied a “significant proportion” of the alloy used in the Osprey gearboxes that are now under scrutiny, Military.com said, quoting the SIB. Fortunately, however, the other incidents saw the aircrafts landing “before the gear failed completely.” In 2014, the Osprey Joint Program Office received a risk assessment titled “Gear Metal Raw Material Impurities” from the aircraft’s manufacturers, Bell Textron and Boeing. But the SIB said the notice “did not adequately assess risk of high-speed gear failure.” There was also no testing of the high-speed gears done at the time, meaning there wasn’t an “adequate understanding of the failure that occurred in this mishap.” NAVAIR (Naval Air Systems Command), under which the JPO falls, implemented contractual financial withholds, according to the SIB, hoping the contractor would “correct deficiencies in the (alloy) processing that had resulted in previous gear failures.” But this method “did not prompt corrective actions.” The cut out of a report from APERAM, set to acquire Universal Stainless, showing the presence of its specialty steel alloys across aviation platforms. (Image credit: APERAM) ‘Deficient manufacturing, poor quality control, toxic work culture’ Universal Stainless, a key supplier for Boeing – itself facing allegations of shoddy manufacturing standards amid a standoff with workers’ unions – has a history of quality control issues dating back to 2001. At the time the company was sued by Teledyne Technologies for defective steel that caused “multiple crankshaft failures” in aircraft engines, with “over 90% of the crankshafts found to be flawed.” Former Universal Stainless employees describe a toxic workplace culture with equipment dating back to the 1950s, pressure to prioritize production over quality, “racial discrimination and unsafe working conditions.” Universal is now facing lawsuits from multiple former employees, for racial and age discrimination, disregard for safety, and retaliation against whistleblowing employees. Hunterbrook’s study also carried an illustrative graphic from Aperam, a European steel company that is set to acquire Universal Stainless, which showed the latter’s alloys making up the components Boeing commercial aircraft, engines and the V-280 Valor. In Boeing aircraft, it includes landing gear, actuator/hydraulic systems, hinges and actuators and fasteners. In commercial aircraft engines, Universal’s alloys are present in the casings, shafts, bearings and blades. In the V-280 Valor, they are present in the drive shafts, gears, bearings and structural components. A U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron flies during a training exercise over the plains of New Mexico, Oct. 9, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gracelyn Hess) ‘Inclusions’ industry-wide problems or Universal Stainless-specific? There are “varying” views over whether the defects were unique to Universal’s products. Hunterbook quoted a podcast by Aviation Week Network, where its senior editors said that “the raw material supplier for the pinion gear that ultimately shattered and failed in this case used a process that creates a higher incidence of this nonmetallic inclusions.” The podcast then continued saying “other suppliers that supply the same type of material use a totally different process where the rate of that incidence of…(non-metallic) inclusion…is much less.” However, The Air Current called inclusions an “insidious problem that has not been fully solved in either military or civil aviation.” For instance, Bell has been working with several alloy producers over the years, but inclusions were found in products from multiple manufacturers. Possibly, the inclusions at a broader level could be a general technological problem requiring greater internal research and development by metal fabrication and forging companies. But considering former Universal Stainless employee Ryan Smith’s statements to Hunterbrook, who cited “outmoded equipment” used by Universal Stainless, makes it hard to absolve the company. Hunterbrook cites the 2014 case of British aerospace major Rolls Royce, which discovered a “large air pocket” in the center of a steel bar produced by Universal. Smith told Hunterbook: “We got this bar back and the ends were great, but the middle of the bar had this massive air pocket in it. I don’t understand how you miss that.” He added that somehow the bar had been passed through about “10 departments.” In this context, Smith said that the steel is “refined by an outdated facility” at Dunkirk in New York, unlike its “state-of-the-art” and “sophisticated” plant at North Jackson, Ohio. Some equipment “dates back to the 1950s” or even “the World War era”. “You can’t even get parts for this stuff.” Smith added. During his time at Universal Stainless, meetings addressed manufacturing only “after a customer discovered a problem, rather than through internal quality control.” Frank Robinson, founder of Robinson Helicopter Company, inducted into National Aviation Hall of Fame Robinson Helicopter Company Press Release | October 23, 2024 The late Frank Robinson, founder of Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC), will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Remembered for the design, certification, and manufacture of the R22, R44, and R66 model helicopters, this honor recognizes Robinson’s contributions to the aviation industry and the legacy he has left behind. Frank Robinson’s son and former president and CEO of Robinson Helicopter, Kurt Robinson, accepted the honor on his father’s behalf at the Newsmakers Luncheon at NBAA BACE in Las Vegas yesterday. The official induction will take place during the 61st Enshrinement Ceremonies in Wichita, Kansas, on September 18 and 19, 2025. Since its establishment in 1962, the National Aviation Hall of Fame has inducted more than 200 of the nation’s most prominent air and space pioneers. The list of honorees includes the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Lawrence Dale Bell, Charles Lindbergh, and more. “Frank Robinson’s contributions to the field of helicopter engineering have had a profound and enduring impact on civil aviation,” stated David Smith, president and CEO of Robinson Helicopter Company. “His innovative designs and commitment to safety have inspired generations of pilots and aviation professionals worldwide. We are truly honored to carry forward his legacy, continuing to provide safe, accessible, and easy-to-maintain helicopters.” This press release was prepared and distributed by Robinson Helicopter Company. Propulsion system developer Dovetail Electric Aviation and Skydive Voss are to collaborate on the electric retrofit of several Cessna 208 Caravans, with the first test flights to take place as soon as 2026. The new partnership with the Norwegian skydiving operator will see Skydive Voss become Dovetail Electric Aviation’s second customer in Norway, following a similar partnership established with Scandinavian Seaplanes earlier this year. A consortium, established by Dovetail in partnership with both operators, has submitted a proposal to the International Test Arena for low and zero-emission aircraft to test the electric caravan in– which, if approved, would expedite the “real-world trials of these innovative electric aircraft, demonstrating their capabilities in Norway’s unique conditions”. This test area is the result of a collaboration between the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority and Avinor, a wholly-owned company in the hands of the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications (and responsible for 43 state-owned airports). While the Norwegian CAA provides regulatory facilitation, Avinor provide infrastructure, airspace and access to energy; enabling select national and international players to test and demonstrate low and zero-emissions aircraft within its remit. In principle, the test area will cover the entire Norwegian airport and airspace, with specific geographical locations also to be decided. In February 2023, Dovetail Electric Aviation completed the first ground tests of its small-scale electric propulsion system using a MagniX electric motor. It estimates the range of its electrified Cessna 208 to be over 100km with a top speed of around 300km/hr and a payload of up to 950kg. Dovetail and Skydive Voss will also jointly explore the electric-propulsion conversion of other smaller aircraft used for skydiving applications, such as the Cessna 182 and 206. CFM Leap 1A Reverse Bleed System Retrofits Ramping Up Sean Broderick October 22, 2024 Credit: S. Broderick / AWST BARCELONA—Installations of systems designed to prevent fuel nozzle coking on CFM International Leap 1A engines are ramping up and data from the initial retrofits shows the kits are working as intended, a senior GE Aerospace official says. About 300 engines are flying with reverse bleed systems (RBS), including 30 that have been retrofitted since work began for the in-service fleet in August, CFM's Leap Customer Technical Director Mike Hoffmeister told Aviation Week ahead of MRO Europe here in Barcelona. While deliveries of new engines with RBSs, which started in April, will remain relatively stable, retrofit work is rising quickly. “We’ve shipped over 100 retrofit kits to airlines and our MRO shops since the beginning of October,” Hoffmeister said. “That’s a multiple of what it was the couple of weeks prior to [Oct. 1]. Now it only matters when those parts get installed, but it’s a really nice leading indicator that shows us evidence that we’re on track.” The RBS was developed to counter the Leap’s tendency to develop carbon deposits when residual heat soaks back and heats fuel nozzles. Unburned fuel around the nozzles is hardened into solid carbon if certain thresholds are exceeded. This can affect fuel flow and cause uneven internal combustor temperatures, which leads to reduced on-wing life and in the most extreme cases, in-service issues. Coking affects both Leap 1As that power some Airbus A320neo-family aircraft and the Leap 1Bs found on all Boeing 737 MAXs. A Leap 1B-spec RBS is under development with a timeline running about a year after the 1A’s unit, roughly matching the gap between the two engines’ entry-into-service dates. Hoffmeister says the Leap 1A RBS’s functionality has been validated with data from the initial installations. The in-service fleet includes some aircraft with one RBS-equipped engine and one unmodified engine that allow comparisons with identical operating environment variables. “Exactly the same flights, exactly the same exposure,” he said. “We can look at data like the [exhaust gas temperature] probe variation, which without RBS [will] evolve, and that spread will get bigger over time as evidence of nozzle coking. What we see on the RBS-equipped engines ... it’s flat. There’s really no evolution of the indicators of coking in the engines flying with RBS.” Hoffmeister said CFM, the 50-50 partnership of GE Aerospace and Safran, is working with airlines to time RBS upgrades with already-planned fuel nozzle swaps. “Our goal is, every time there’s a fuel nozzle set change, let’s get RBS on the engine [and] avoid multiple heavy work scope interventions at the same part of the engine by integrating the tasks,” he said. The retrofit plan also is benefiting from a growing set of sources that can do the work. Besides operators trained to do the installations and on-wing support programs from GE Aerospace and Safran, 26 third-party providers are licensed and trained to install RBSs. “Many of those third parties were not CFM’s idea,” Hoffmeister said. “It was our collaboration with the airlines. They’ll say, ‘I already have [a specific company] as a maintenance provider. I would love for them to be able to do my RBS retrofits.’ When we hear that, we engage, and not in every case but in the majority of cases, convert those companies into a licensed, trained, ready-to-go third-party [provider].” As more installations are completed, CFM, airlines and MRO providers are sharing best practices to help streamline the process. “This is a fairly heavy work scope,” Hoffmeister said. “We’ve done a lot of training. We’ve done a lot of Lean events to refine our training and to try to get the procedure as efficient as possible.” NTSB Blames Boeing 747 Engine Fire on Shoddy Maintenance Work The agency published its final report on a January engine fire incident. A Boeing 747-8 freighter aircraft (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera) [ News ]October 21, 2024 12:13 pm ET By Ryan Ewing The National Transportation Safety Board said an improperly installed borescope plug led to a January engine fire on an Atlas Air Boeing 747. Maintenance on the aircraft was performed just four days before the incident. On Jan. 18, Atlas Air flight 3885 was flying between Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, when the crew received a fire indication in the Boeing 747-8F’s No. 2 engine at approximately 3,000 feet. An emergency was declared and the aircraft returned to Miami with no injuries reported. No signs of an uncontained engine failure were found, the NTSB’s final report noted, though minor burn damage was reported on the GEnx engine’s thrust reverser fan duct. The aircraft returned to service nine days later on Jan. 27. According to the agency’s report, a third-party maintenance contractor was tasked with performing a borescope inspection on the No. 2 engine, requiring the removal of a plug. Both the mechanic and inspector certified that the inspection had been completed in line with maintenance manual standards. The removed plug was found loose in the engine cowling, which resulted in the fire. Utah aerospace and defense industry taking a unique recruitment approach Oct 18, 2024, 6:00 PM FILE- An Airman from the 388th Fighter Wing’s 421st Aircraft Maintenance unit marshals an F-35A Lightning II during night flying operations at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, March 26, 2019. The Utah aerospace and defense industry is taking a unique recruitment approach. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw) BY EMMA KEDDINGTON Producer/Reporter SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s aerospace and defense industry is growing. To help platform this growth, three companies have come together to showcase an artificial intelligence-powered method of career recruitment. The method is called YouScience Brightpath, and it’s designed to help students realize their aptitude for this specific industry. YouScience CEO and co-founder Edson Barton said it’s meant to leverage YouScience’s “innovative aptitude-based career guidance tools,” along with the industry expertise of Apogee Worx and 47G‘s community, to create a talent pipeline. Barton, along with CEO and President of 47G Aaron Starks and co-owner of Apogee Worx, Brian Janroy, joined Inside Sources to discuss their unique recruitment approach. A growing industry According to Starks, the aerospace and defense industry accounts for about 20% of the state’s overall economy. It also provides about 300,000 jobs. Barton said one of the challenges in this industry, however, is getting more people to work in the field. “I think if we looked around the aerospace and defense industry, here in Utah, we’d probably find another couple of billion dollars that are not being realized because we don’t have enough workers to supply these businesses for growth,” Barton said. With Brightpath, YouScience is helping identify those individuals at a younger age, Barton said, to help guide them into these kinds of jobs in the future. Janroy called it a “science-based” approach to identifying talent. Recruitment Brightpath recruitment will rely on a series of brain games, Barton said. He described those as simple exercises that help identify people’s natural talents. “Based on that, we can start to break through self-imposed biases or stereotypes… That are keeping them away from jobs of the future,” he said. Barton said he often finds a lot of those self-imposed biases in women. “Women have the skills and the talents to truly do the highest level of work here in Utah and throughout the United States in aerospace, defense and a lot of other industries that they generally just don’t look at,” Barton said. “We’re able to identify that for them, connect the dots for them, and then point them in the right direction.” The future of the industry With the advent of artificial intelligence, industries like aerospace are going to see more assessments such as this, to help younger generations understand what they want to do in life earlier on, Starks said. “Our goal is to move the needle. We’ve got a robust industry. We need to strengthen and develop it,” Starks said. “I think over the next decade, more of the state’s future and certainly economy will be influenced by this industry unlike any others. And, Starks said he wants to see more people get these higher-paying jobs with more sustainable wages. “It’s in everyone’s best interest to help students find jobs in this industry,” he said. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing with this partnership Boeing CEO says 'trust in our company has eroded,' calls for 'fundamental culture change' Boeing is facing heightened regulatory scrutiny, eroding trust from consumers and financial headwinds By Eric Revell FOXBusiness Market investor likes Tesla stock, but advises against Boeing Fitz-Gerald Group principal Keith Fitz-Gerald looks at the top and bottom stocks before Monday's market open. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg on Wednesday said that "trust in our company has eroded" and laid out a plan for the aerospace giant to regain a leadership position in the industry while addressing its financial challenges. Ortberg, who was appointed as Boeing's CEO in late July, faces an ongoing strike by Boeing machinists that has impacted production along with a loss of confidence stemming from a series of incidents like the midair blowout of a 737 Max 9 door panel in January. The company's balance sheet is also in decline and the company is looking to prevent its credit rating from being downgraded to "junk" status. He said in his prepared remarks that the company is "saddled with too much debt" and that trust in Boeing has been undermined because of "serious lapses in our performance across the company which have disappointed many of our customers." Ortberg explained that Boeing needs to right the ship, and that will require a "fundamental culture change" along with steps to stabilize the business and improved execution discipline on the company's new platforms. "Our leaders, from me on down, need to be closely integrated with our business and the people who are doing the design and production of our products. We need to be on the factory floors, in the back shops, and in our engineering labs," Ortberg said. "We need to know what's going on, not only with our products, but with our people. And most importantly, we need to prevent the festering of issues and work better together to identify, fix, and understand root cause." He said that he has introduced a more detailed business cadence to ensure that happens and that the culture change "has to be more than the poster on the wall" and that Boeing's redefined values "will be used to hold leaders accountable in how they lead our teams in delivering safe, high-quality products and services to our customers." Ortberg explained that stabilizing Boeing's business "has been central to my focus since starting the job in August" and that they have "some really big rocks that we need to get behind us to move the company forward." The International Association of Machinists is weighing a new offer from Boeing that could end the strike. (Jordan Gale/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images) He said that ending the strike by the International Association of Machinists is the first and foremost priority and that Boeing has been "feverishly working to find a solution" that works for Boeing and its workers, and that he's "very hopeful that the package we put forward will allow our employees to come back to work so we can immediately focus on restoring the company." Ortberg said in reference to the task of "restarting the factories and the supply chain" that it's "much harder to turn this on than it is to turn it off. So it's critical, absolutely critical, that we do this right. Our Safety and Quality Management Systems will guide us through the restart, and we have a detailed return-to-work plan in place and I'm really looking forward to getting everybody back and getting to work on that plan." He said that Boeing has developed and is implementing a safety and quality plan that is going to be part of the criteria used by the Federal Aviation Administration in determining whether the production system is stable enough to gain the agency's approval for an increase in 737 production rates. "Another big rock to stabilize the company is managing our balance sheet to best support retaining our investment grade credit rating," Ortberg said. "We have a plan, and we are executing that plan, and I'm confident that we have a good path forward to manage the realities of our business and retain our investment grade rating." Last week, Boeing announced a plan to raise up to $35 billion in financing to shore up its balance sheet and retain its investment grade credit rating. Cityhopper Grounds Embraers As MRO Problems Persist Alan Dron October 24, 2024 Credit: Embraer KLM Cityhopper, the Dutch flag-carrier’s regional arm, is storing aircraft as it tackles a shortage of maintenance capacity at Pratt & Whitney. Three of the operator’s fleet of 18 Embraer E195-E2s are currently stored at Twente Airport, in the east of the Netherlands, a KLM spokesman told Aviation Week Oct. 24. “This is due to insufficient MRO capacity at Pratt & Whitney. It is not an engine issue as such, but a maintenance issue. Due to the previous powdered metal issue, the interval for maintenance has been shortened, and so the capacity of their shops is insufficient to deal with the sheer number of engines that are being offered for maintenance,” a KLM spokesman said. “[Pratt] expects that things will improve in the near future and that we will see that the problem will become less in the course of 2025.” KLM Cityhopper said that the company expected more E2s to be parked, but that numbers and the length of time they would be grounded remained uncertain. The spokesman said that the number of grounded aircraft would not affect Cityhopper’s services. The E195-E2 is powered by the PW1900G, which has been affected by contaminated powdered metal. Inspections are subsequently being made on both the E2 and the Airbus A220 (which uses the PW1500G member of the engine family). News Unleashing the Future of Hypersonic Flight: Lockheed Martin’s SR-72 DarkStar Unveiled 2024-10-28 byProf. Samantha Clarke With recent developments in aerospace technology, the future of aviation has never looked more exciting. The most progressive trailblazers in this realm are the engineers at Lockheed Martin, who are in the process of developing the SR-72 DarkStar. This single-penetrating aircraft aims to navigate the high-tech world of hypersonic flight, providing substantial revelations for military and civilian aviation alike. The SR-72 DarkStar, a Futuristic Marvel Unveiled as an upgrade to the traditional SR-71 model, the SR-72 DarkStar’s hallmark is its unbelievable speed – a staggering Mach 6 (which is nearly 4,567 mph or 7,346 kmph). This hypersonic speed would help in performing military missions more effectively, aiding in fast strikes sans detection. The crux of the SR-72’s design is an innovative propulsion system called the Combined Cycle. This ingenious technology blends elements of both traditional turbine and rocket propulsion, and it is this unique pairing that endows the SR-72 with the ability to reach its exceptional speeds. Illuminating the Future with DarkStar The SR-72 DarkStar does not just signify a remarkable leap in hypersonic technology; it exemplifies an exciting insight into the future of aviation each time it graces the skies. There is speculation that it could enable faster and more efficient satellite launches, exploration missions, and real-time responding capabilities in unpredictable crisis scenarios. Embracing the cutting edge of technological advancements, the SR-72 DarkStar of Lockheed Martin embodies a paradigm shift in the aerospace industry. Heralding the future of aviation from the centre of innovation, it continues to carve its path as an apex disruptor. This hypersonic marvel doesn’t merely foreshadow the future, it accelerates towards it at Mach 6. Embraer facing production ‘gap’ at Florida-based A-29 facility “We are running the facility without big orders coming from FMS [foreign military sales],” Bosco da Costa Jr., chief executive of Embraer's defense unit, told Breaking Defense. “We are facing a gap of production there." By Valerie Insinna on October 25, 2024 at 10:58 AM An A-29 Super Tucano from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., stops for crew rest and refueling July 17, 2015, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Stephanie Serrano) WASHINGTON — Brazil’s Embraer is hunting for new A-29 Super Tucano orders to keep its American final assembly line humming, with 2025 seen as a critical year to parry back a production gap, its defense CEO told Breaking Defense. Embraer stood up an A-29 final assembly line in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2013 to produce the turboprop plane for the US military and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, most prominently for Afghan air force pilots trained by US troops. But with US involvement in Afghanistan at an end, production at the facility has slowed to its “minimal pace,” said Bosco da Costa Jr. in a recent interview. “We are running the facility without big orders coming from FMS,” da Costa told Breaking Defense. “We are facing a gap of production there. We are still fighting for some orders coming from FMS case[s] and even — why not — from the US government.” The Jacksonville factory is tooled to produce about 24 Super Tucanos per year, da Costa said, but the company currently only has four A-29s in various stages of production. (A Embraer spokesperson said those planes are “allocated to current and near-term customers,” but declined to name what countries had ordered them.) Jacksonville could face an uphill battle for orders due to its unique setup. Most orders for the Embraer plane, also known as the EMB 314 Super Tucano, run through the company’s Brazil-based production plant. But the A-29 variant produced in the United States is assembled by Embraer in Florida, before US prime contractor Sierra Nevada Corp. outfits the baseline aircraft with US-specific mission systems and communications gear in Colorado. That production line caters only to US customers or Foreign Military Sales brokered by the Pentagon, a much slimmer portion of the Super Tucano customer base. That means that while Embraer has garnered new Super Tucano orders this year from countries such as Paraguay and Uruguay, those contracts cannot be used to pad out a lapse of orders for Jacksonville. “I think we have 2025 as a year to fix it, trying to find another possibility regarding orders,” da Costa said. Otherwise, the company will be forced to reevaluate “everything around Jacksonville.” “The option is to find orders,” he added. “That’s the only option.” A spokesperson for Sierra Nevada Corp. deferred questions on the Jacksonville plant to Embraer. “SNC is a proud partner with Embraer providing A-29s and subsequent logistical support worldwide,” the spokesperson said. “SNC is pursuing multiple campaigns with Embraer, and our companies are well-positioned for a number of opportunities with international customers to provide mission-focused and agile A-29 solutions.” Currently, Embraer sees the US military as a potential customer, with da Costa pointing specifically to the Air Force. In the late 2010s, the Air Force explored buying light attack aircraft that it could operate in the Middle East as a low-cost alternative to more expensive fighter jets. Although the service bought a handful of A-29s and AT-6 turboprop planes for test purposes, it ultimately scrapped plans to move forward with a full program of record in 2019. Earlier this month, three of the A-29s purchased as part of that evaluation effort were transferred to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where they will be used as a test platform for sensors and weapons, the Air Force said in a news release. “We still believe that this platform could serve … [the] US Air Force, and we are fighting to keep this facility. But again, we are facing problems without orders and without demand,” da Costa said. Embraer did not deliver any Super Tucanos in 2023, but built about a dozen planes that year — including four in Jacksonville — to be delivered to customers once contracts were signed, Aviation Week reported in February. (Embraer clarified that the four Jacksonville planes mentioned in that report are the ones currently on the production line.) The company expects to book another two orders for A-29s this year, but da Costa said that both orders are expected to be produced in Brazil. Curt Lewis