It now looks like the Russians will continue to participate in the International Space Station (ISS) past 2024. As you may recall, on July 21 it was reported that Yuri Borisov, the director of Russia’s national space agency (Rosaviacosmos), said that Russia would pull out of the ISS in 2024. This caused a minor stir in the West because the station depends on the Zvezda Service Module for a lot of important stuff, including living quarters, life support systems, electrical power distribution, data processing systems, flight control systems and propulsion systems.

A lot of attention has understand­ably accrued to the US Department of Defense’s FY 2023 request for 61 F-35s, 33 (15 As, 5 Bs, and 13 Cs) be­low the number previously projected for that year. Let’s talk about that just a little bit. First, the Department of Defense has been accused of using the F-35 program as a source for funding other priorities. There’s some reason to be­lieve that’s true. But we don’t believe that’s what’s at work here.

Recent actions by Rolls-Royce suggest that it is moving forward in its effort to materially reposition the company and return it to long-term profitability. Several factors had drastically impacted demand for Rolls-Royce products and services, causing a substantial decline in company revenues.

The pandemic driven decline in commercial aerospace had a dramatic impact on Safran’s operations and financial performance. The pandemic and delivery suspension of the 737 MAX cut revenues by almost one-third in 2020. By the close of 2021 total company revenues declined even further, resulting in a 38% drop from pre-pandemic 2019 to end of year 2021.