propulsion
3 articles
- Affordable Mass Is a Factory Problem: The Production Bottlenecks Behind U.S. Unmanned Aircraft Scale
The U.S. Air Force's 500-aircraft CCA target by 2032 turns unmanned aircraft into a production problem. The binding constraints are qualified propulsion, machining, composites, electronics, inspection, and test capacity.
- The Rocket Motor Allocation Problem: The Pentagon Is Acquiring Control, Not Ceding It
The solid rocket motor crisis is not a producer-power story. The Pentagon is acquiring allocation authority through equity stakes, framework agreements, and subsidized second sources. The rent is at the sub-tier chemical and component layer, where genuine single-source status persists.
- The Missile Throughput Constraint: U.S. Air Defense Is Gated by Physics
U.S. interceptor consumption exceeds industrial output. This analysis maps the six physical constraints between appropriations and finished missiles, separating real capacity expansion from nominal demand.