#aerospace engine components

[syrontech]

Engine Component Manufacturing and New Machining Services: Precision for Modern Performance

A high-performance vehicle, aircraft, or industrial machine starts with its engine components. The evolution of engine component manufacturing has been driven by the need for tighter tolerances, improved materials, and higher durability. Today, the industry is embracing new machining services to meet growing demands for speed, precision, and efficiency. CNC machining and additive manufacturing are among the new technologies changing how we produce engine parts. This blog explores SYRONTECH's key aspects of engine component manufacturing and the latest machining services that are shaping the future.

The Importance of Engine Component Manufacturing

Pistons, crankshafts, cylinder heads and valves all face harsh pressures and temperatures when they are in use. Building modern engines relies on very strong valves, do not wear easily and are perfectly matched. They are made using set tools, require top-quality resources and are overseen by strong quality control measures. Machining mistakes as small as a few microns may result in failure or a loss of efficiency for engines. For this reason, precision must be included, not just chosen at will. The individual quality of each component helps to determine the engine’s overall performance.

Materials Used in Engine Components

Modern engineers use different advanced materials to build engine parts. Aluminum alloys are often used because they are lightweight and are found in car engines. Both steel and cast iron are popular for their good strength and ability to resist wear in tough engines. Heat resistance and low weight have made it possible for titanium and ceramic composites to find use in aerospace engine construction. Every material needs unique work methods, its tools, and special cooling during machining. It is important to use the right material for the engine’s better performance.

Traditional vs. Modern Machining Techniques

For decades, turning, milling, grinding and drilling have been common ways to make parts for engines. They get the job done, yet they take longer and are not suited for complex shapes. New Machining Services now use CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines for higher precision and repeatability. CNC systems automate the cutting process based on digital models, reducing errors and production time. Multi-axis CNC machines can create intricate shapes that were once impossible to achieve. These new methods are faster, more efficient, and ideal for complex engine designs.

CNC Machining in Engine Component Production

CNC machining is revolutionizing the manufacturing of engine components. It allows manufacturers to produce complex parts with high accuracy and tight tolerances. With 3-axis, 4-axis, and 5-axis capabilities, CNC machines can perform multiple operations in a single setup. This improves consistency and reduces material waste. For example, CNC milling can produce cylinder heads with intricate cooling channels, while CNC turning can precisely shape crankshafts and camshafts. The use of CAD/CAM software enhances the design and simulation process before production begins.

Additive Manufacturing for Prototyping and Small Batches

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is gaining popularity in engine component development. It’s ideal for prototyping and producing small batches quickly without the need for custom tooling. Engineers can test different designs before mass production, reducing time and cost. For example, metal 3D printing is used to create turbocharger components and heat exchangers with complex internal structures. Although not yet common for mass production, additive manufacturing is valuable for innovation and design flexibility in engine development.

Surface Finishing and Coating Technologies

Surface finishing is crucial to engine component performance. After machining, parts often require polishing, honing, or coating to improve durability and efficiency. Surface treatments like nitriding, chrome plating, or ceramic coatings enhance hardness, reduce friction, and resist corrosion. These processes are especially important for moving parts like pistons and valve stems. Automated finishing systems ensure uniformity and reduce the risk of human error. The right finishing technique extends the lifespan of engine components and supports reliable engine operation.

Conclusion

The future of engine component manufacturing lies in precision, speed, and innovation. New machining services like CNC, additive manufacturing, and automation are enabling the production of smarter, stronger, and more efficient engine parts. Material science and surface finishing techniques are also evolving to meet modern performance demands. Whether in automotive, aerospace, or industrial sectors, these advancements are helping engineers push the boundaries of engine design. For companies like SYRONTECH, investing in next-generation machining services, the road ahead is full of opportunity and growth.

[allmarcindia]

Built to Endure Aerospace Engineering Components Redefined

In our previous blog, we explored the intricacies of custom metal fabrication in the aerospace industry, highlighting where bespoke solutions are most needed in aircraft frames, structural assemblies, or critical components and how material choices like aluminium and stainless steel play a vital role. This time, we focus on the rigorous demands of aerospace environments and how Allmarc responds with tailored solutions built to withstand pressure, altitude, temperature variation, and time. It’s about engineering for endurance, reliability, and resilience in flight.

Why Aerospace Demands More

The aerospace sector operates in some of the harshest environments—extreme temperatures, rapid pressure changes, and continuous exposure to corrosive elements. Aircraft must perform reliably through turbulence, wind shear, thunderstorms, and sudden altitude changes, all while maintaining structural integrity and functionality. These challenging conditions call for specialised aerospace fabrication services that deliver components engineered for both resilience and precision.

Unlike typical industrial machinery, aerospace engineering components must strike the perfect balance between being lightweight and exceptionally strong. The materials used need to withstand significant environmental conditions without adding unnecessary weight that could compromise fuel efficiency or performance. Even minor deviations in fabrication can lead to operational inefficiencies or serious safety risks.

Given these challenges, aerospace manufacturing relies on engineering fabrication to maintain tight tolerances, material uniformity, and long-term dependability. As aircraft designs grow with a greater emphasis on sustainability and efficiency, manufacturing standards rise, demanding innovative, tailored metal solutions for today's flying machines.

Conditions That Define Aerospace Fabrication Standards

The aerospace sector demands more than accuracy; it demands endurance under pressure. From engine mounts to fuselage panels, aerospace metal fabrication must anticipate extremes and surpass them. Here’s why precision is at the heart of every fabricated component:

Heat Resistance at Core Components

Components like combustion chambers, turbine blades, and fuel injection systems face intense internal temperatures.

These must be fabricated using materials and techniques that can handle sustained heat exposure without warping, cracking, or degrading over time.

Custom fabrication ensures correct material thickness, thermal resistance, and finishing processes like heat treatments and shielding gas welding.

Survival in Sub-Zero Conditions

At cruising altitudes, temperatures can drop dramatically. Exterior structures, like fuselage panels and wing surfaces, are subjected to intense cold for extended periods.

Only custom sheet metal fabrication can ensure these parts remain structurally sound and resistant to brittleness or thermal shock.

Withstanding Pressure and Unpredictable Winds

Wind shear, updrafts, and pressure fronts cause severe stress on aircraft bodies.

Structural components such as wing brackets, tail sections, and engine mounts are custom-fabricated to ensure dimensional integrity, allowing the aircraft to stay stable even under extreme weather situations.

Aerodynamic Precision and Weight Efficiency

The slightest dimensional deviation can affect flight balance and fuel efficiency.

Custom aircraft sheet metal fabrication ensures tight tolerances, smooth aerodynamic finishes, and lightweight builds without compromising integrity.

Complex Designs, Stringent Regulations

Aerospace components often involve multi-stage welding, intermittent brazing, and exact curvature control.

Every piece must comply with industry standards and aerospace regulations, making precise, custom-built fabrication an absolute necessity.

Precision is more than simply tolerances; it is about foresight. Metal fabrication solutions in aerospace must be designed to ensure that every component operates reliably even under the most demanding operational conditions. From structural integrity to aerodynamic balance, each component is designed to meet the stringent requirements that define airworthiness and long-term performance.

From Core to Component: Aerospace Materials in Action

Material selection plays a critical role in ensuring aerospace components withstand intense flight demands, including high pressure, thermal extremes, and mechanical stress. Each component requires a fabrication approach aligned with its function and environmental exposure.

Aluminium remains the backbone for fabricating wing panels and engine turbine elements, valued for its lightweight strength and corrosion resistance essential for fuel efficiency and aerodynamic performance. Its excellent formability allows for seamless integration into complex structures.

Stainless steel is frequently chosen for jet engines, fuel tanks, and landing structures, where thermal resilience and structural stability are vital under fluctuating temperatures and pressures. Its resistance to oxidation and deformation makes it indispensable in high-heat zones.

Furthermore, structural steel and tailored alloys are utilised selectively in assemblies that require high rigidity, fatigue resistance, or shock absorption. These metals maintain structural integrity under turbulence and fast altitude changes.

Together, these materials constitute the foundation of precision aerospace manufacture, with each playing a distinct, high-performance function in flight-critical systems.

Allmarc’s Approach: Fabricating for Flight-Readiness

With a sharp focus on fabrication excellence, Allmarc addresses the demanding needs of the aerospace sector through precision, consistency, and purpose-built solutions.

Precision-Led Fabrication for Aerospace Demands

Allmarc specialises in fabricating high-performance aerospace components that meet tight tolerances and stringent quality standards. From structural elements to detailed subassemblies, each part is designed to deliver uncompromised accuracy and compliance.

Expertise in Aerospace Structural Assemblies

Fuselage supports wing panels, and other load-bearing sections are fabricated with careful control over dimensional stability and strength-to-weight ratio, ensuring long-term operational integrity.

Custom Metal Solutions for Complex Requirements

Allmarc develops fabrication solutions that align with each project’s functional and environmental challenges whether for high-pressure environments, rapid temperature shifts, or resistance to corrosion and fatigue.

Integration of Automation in Production

Through automated welding, cutting, and bending systems, Allmarc maintains consistency across high-volume requirements while upholding the exacting standards demanded by aerospace applications.

End-to-End Fabrication Capability

From metal preparation to final assembly, Allmarc offers a comprehensive range of aerospace fabrication services engineered to support both prototype development and scalable production.

What’s Next in Aerospace Fabrication

Driven by rapid evolution in aerospace fabrication, the industry is entering an era that demands lighter structures, greater fuel economy, and components built with exceptional accuracy. To meet these elevated benchmarks, custom metal fabrication is proving indispensable, especially in producing complex aerospace engineering components with tight tolerances and structural integrity. Technologies such as laser cutting and automated sheet metal forming are transforming traditional fabrication, reducing waste while accelerating production timelines. Allmarc continues to stay future-aligned by embracing smart fabrication methods and materials innovation that support both sustainability and high performance. As the sky becomes the starting point, not the limit, it’s the innovators in metal fabrication solutions who will define the altitude of tomorrow’s aerospace breakthroughs.

[epropelledsystems]

UAV Motor Components

Learn about the UAV motor components of an electric motor for a UAV and how it contributes to energy efficiency and overall performance.

[asapsemiconduct]

What Is an Aircraft Engine Cooling System?

In the technologically advanced world we now find ourselves in, it has become crucial that aircraft are able to provide reliable performance for long periods. Aircraft engines in particular generate an immense amount of heat during operation, and managing this is crucial to ensuring performance, efficiency, and safety.

[aeroconnect]

Aero Connect is a web-based aviation equipment marketplace that efficiently connects owners of available aircraft, engines and related equipment to end-users seeking to purchase or lease commercial aviation equipment

[medicaldevicesindustrynews]

Shaping the Future: Insights into the Isostatic Pressing Market

The global isostatic pressing market is projected to be USD 13,568.1 million by 2030 growing at a CAGR of 7.0% during the forecast period. sectors including energy, aerospace, medical devices, automotive, and manufacturing regularly use isostatic pressing. In this regard, the requirement for such technology is significantly impacted by the growing requirement for contemporary materials and…

[c1qfxugcgy0]

adventures in aerospace

So I recently started working at Large Aircraft Manufacturer. (LAM) The plant I work at employs 30,000 people. The company as a whole employs 170,000. Usually you only hear about LAM when something goes wrong. But no matter how bumbling it seems from the outside, it's way worse on the inside.

Three months after my first day, I have been "graduated" from "training." In reality, I'm still completely worthless on the floor: the training center has given me a paltry subset of the production certificates I need to actually to do my assigned job. A commonly cited statistic at LAM is that a hundred men a day are retiring, each one representing decades of experience, walking out the door, forever. The training center is in the unenviable position of managing a generational replacement, and have resorted to shoveling heaps of zoomers through as fast as possible. (As one of the few people with a visible hairline and who is not wearing a Roblox graphic tee; I am frequently mistaken for an instructor, and asked where the bathroom is, what time the next class starts, etc)

In theory, the training center knows what shop I'm assigned to, and can simply assign me all the required classes. In practice, they do the absolute minimum amount of training in a desperate attempt to relive the crowding in their handful of computer labs and tell graduates to pick up their certs later.

Of course, the irresistible force of the schedule meets the immovable object of the FAA. If you don't have the required production certificate to perform a particular job, you don't touch the airplane. Full stop, end of story.

And so the curtain opens on the stage. It reveals a single senior mechanic, supervising a mechanic who finally received all the certs and is being qualified on this particular job, surrounded by another three trainees. Trainees are less than nothing, absolute scum. At best we can fetch and carry. Mostly we are expected to stay out of the way. And the senior mechanic is only senior in title. He is one of six assembler-installers who is certified to actually work on the plane, out of twenty people on the crew, and spends every day with a permanent audience. He is 23 years old.

("Mechanic"? If you think the jargon at your job is bad, try joining a company that's a century old. Assembler-installers are universally referred to as "mechanics", despite doing work that's nothing like what a car mechanic does, and who are generally paid far worse than FAA certified A&P mechanics. Mechanics are the 11 bravos of LAM, grunts, the single largest category of worker. The tip of the spear. Hooah!)

Large Aircraft Manufacturer is in a dilly of a pickle. All of its existing airframe designs are hilariously antiquated. It tried designing a brand new plane from a clean sheet, and lost billions of dollars to a decade-long integration hell. After that, to save money, it tried just tacking bigger engines on an older design without changing anything else, and the stupid things plowed into the ground in an excruciatingly public manner.

LAM is now trying a middle road. It is upgrading one of its designs that is merely middle aged, rather than ancient, and with proven, de-risked components built in-house, rather than scattering them to subcontractors across the world. And it's still blowing past deadlines and burning billions of dollars LAM really doesn't have to spare.

This is the program I've been assigned to.

Advanced Midbody - Carbon Wing has taken the bold step of just tacking on carbon fiber wings to a conventional aluminum fuselage. Shockingly, AMCW is now stuck in lightning strike testing, due to that troublesome join between conductive aluminum and conductive...ish carbon fiber. But LAM, confident as ever, or perhaps driven by complaints of its customers, has announced that full rate production will begin just next year. Thus the tide of newhires. According to the schedule, we're supposed to jerk from one wingset a month to one wingset a week. That's not going to happen, but, oh well, orders from above move down at the speed of thought, while reality only slowly trickles upwards.

"120 inch pounds? Really?"

I startle upright. I have observed one hundred pi bracket installs, and I will observe a hundred more before I can touch aircraft structure. This is the first disagreement I've witnessed. A more advanced trainee is questioning the torque spec on a fastener. It is not an entirely foolish question-- most sleeve bolts we use are in the 40 in-pounds range. Doubling it that is unusual. I cough the dust off my unused vocal cords and venture an opinion.

"Well hey I could look it up? I guess"

The lead mechanic glances at me, surprised that I'm still awake, then looks away. Excuse enough for me!

I unfold myself from the stool I've been sitting on for the last four hours then hobble over to the nearest Shared Production Workstation.

We do not get Ikea-style step by step instructions on how to put together the airplane. Like any company that's been around for long enough, LAM is a tangled wad of scar tissue, ancient responses to forgotten trauma. If you state a dimension twice, in two different places, then it is possible for an update to only change one of those dimensions, thereby making the engineering drawing ambiguous. Something real bad must have happened in the past as a result of that, so now an ironclad rule is that critical information is only stated once, in one place, a single source of truth.

As a result, the installation plan can be a little... vague. Step 040 might be something like "DRILL HOLE TO SIZE AND TORQUE FASTENERS TO SPEC". What hole size? What torque spec?

Well, they tell you. Eventually.

(Image from public Google search)

You are given an engineering drawing, and are expected to figure out how things go together yourself. (Or, more realistically, are told how it's done by coworkers) Step by step instructions aren't done because then dozens of illustrations would have to be updated with every change instead of just one, and drawings are updated surprisingly frequently.

Fasteners are denoted by a big plus sign, with a three letter fastener code on the left and the diameter on the right, like so: "XNJ + 8"

To get the actual part number, we go to the fastener callout table:

(Note the use of a trade name in the table above. There is nothing a mechanic loves more than a good trademark. Permanent straight shank fasteners are always called HI-LOKs™. It's not a cable tie, it's a Panduit™. It's not a wedgelock, it's a Cleco™. Hey man, pass me that offset drill. What, you mean a Zephyr™? Where'd the LAMlube™ go? This also means you have to learn the names of everything twice, one name on the installation plan, and one name it's referred to in conversation.)

We find XNJ on that table, and fill in the diameter: BACB30FM8A. Now we look up the spec table for that fastener:

The eagle eyed among you might note that there is no "diameter: 8" on that table. As a LAM mechanic, you are expected to simply know that "diameter" is measured in 32nds of an inch, which simplifies down to 1/4.

(LAM preserves many old-school skills like fraction reduction and memorizing decimal equivalents like this, like flies caught in amber. Not least is the universal use of Imperial units. Many American manufacturers have been browbeaten into adding parenthetical conversions. Not LAM! Any risk at all of a mechanic seeing a second number and using it by accident is too great, and anyway, it violates SSOT. Lengths are in inches and feet, weights are in pounds, volume is in gallons and if you don't like it then you can go eat shit!)

After 10 minutes of following references, I arrive at that table, print it off, highlight the correct row, and hand it off to my senior mechanic.

"Great, thanks."

Gratified that I have enhanced shareholder value, I sit back down, and immediately fall asleep. Another day living the dream.

(next post in this series)

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Engineer reinvents ceramics with origami-inspired 3D printing

In a breakthrough that blends ancient design with modern materials science, researchers at the University of Houston have developed a new class of ceramic structures that can bend under pressure—without breaking. Potential applications for this technology range from medical prosthetics to impact-resistant components in aerospace and robotics, where lightweight—but tough—materials are in high demand. Traditionally known for their brittleness, ceramics often shatter under stress, making them difficult to use in high-impact or adaptive applications. But that may soon change as a team of UH researchers, led by Maksud Rahman, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Md Shajedul Hoque Thakur, postdoctoral fellow, has shown that origami-inspired shapes with a soft polymer coating can transform fragile ceramic materials into tough, flexible structures. Their work was recently published in Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials.

Read more.

[allmarcindia]

Custom Metal Fabrication Solutions That Keep Aerospace Advancing

The aerospace industry is a demonstration of human ingenuity where each joint, part, and structure needs to function in perfect unison at high altitude and extreme speeds. At the heart of this marvel lies metal fabrication, a craft that has developed into a fundamental aspect of aircraft engineering, shaping the future of air travel with unparalleled precision and purpose.

The growth of industrial fabrication has changed the way we construct the skies. What once relied heavily on manual labour has now shifted toward smarter, more precise techniques. This shift is especially crucial in the aerospace industry, where even the smallest component plays a significant role in flight safety and performance.

[dancing-coyote]

Y'know, I've seen a few posts positing that Billy is extremely heavy due to being made of metal.

And I can get where those are coming from.

But consider: He's almost certainly built primarily (if not ENTIRELY) of TITANIUM components.

Not only is titanium significantly stronger and more durable than most other industrial alloys, able to withstand much greater mechanical stresses as well as corrosion and extremely high temperatures (making it a popular material choice in both medicine and aerospace engineering, where strength and durability are critical necessities,) but it's also 42% lighter than steel.

So he probably doesn't actually weigh significantly more than a similarly-sized human.

JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

[luciusime]

Kr & S1

In the early days of his creation when he was still small and had extra fat clinging to his cheeks, the pains of growing spreading all over his body, Kr was not surrounded by blindingly red walls that looked too much like flayed open flesh and the smell of ozone and formaldehyde. His first lab was plain, and he couldn't name more than half the things in it. Hell, he couldn't even speak or retain consciousness very well. He was like a newborn baby, and like a newborn, he picked up on the things around him.

The walls always crackled with the bright hum of electricity, grating annoyingly at the edge of his hearing in a fuzzy sort of way. The lights always flickered too dimly and at a speed too fast for normal people to see, but it irritated Kr's eyes. Several doors down from him one of the scientists repeated the same mumbled words over and over again every day,

" Our Father, who…"

And a couple of levels into the basement, there was a perpetual screaming. It didn't have a schedule, unlike the scientist. He'd float into the waking world sometimes and it'd be silent, and sometimes the screaming was so loud it made him cry tears of pain.

It was one such time when he was crying- wailing with all his limited lung capacity- when a scientist, not the Our Father one, stormed in and demanded he be silent. When words failed, she simply turned on the components of his first chamber that filled the tank with stasis fluid. As the charmer filled and he was forced to sleep, the scientist mumbled to herself.

" The first clone is a screamer and the second is a crybaby, go figure."

He didn't really have time to think about those words when she said them, but when he woke up after a week and heard the whispers, there was no forgetting them.

The voice in his ears was soft, warm even, but something about the rough and wet sound made Kr squirm.

" And so that's why Orion is named as it is. I'm not sure where we are, so I'm not sure what the sky looks like over us, but I'm fairly sure that if you looked into the endless expanse of the stars from here, you'd be able to catch a glimpse of it."

Kr wanted to ask what a star was, and what expanse meant, and what a sky was. He did nothing as the other boy continued on. Space, aerospace, science, mathematics, English, and various other subjects were all he would talk about during the first few days after Kr was awake. He'd paint pictures with his words, stumbling through descriptions of little lights dancing and fiddling across the sky, the layer above the earth that reflected light and protected the thing on the planet from the sun, a really big star. He'd ramble on about aerodynamics and the requirements for a functional spaceship, giant flying metal constructs meant to take people into the sky and then far beyond it.

Kr hung off his every word, cooing whenever the older boy went over something particularly interesting, like biology or engineering. When the lights went out into the lab and only the soft hum of the low lights and the older boy's words filled his ears, Kr was at peace.

Of course, peace never lasted after the lights came back up. The only upside to the screaming was that Kr learned to control his tears, dampen his hearing with a constant stream of his own noise, and speak. He spoke about nothing, mostly listing off the things in his little lab, listening as the older boy gave him the names of the things he described.

"The walls are grey in here, and there are…"

His voice trailed off as he searched for a word he could not find. The older boy held in a strangled cry and waited patiently for Kr to continue.

" It's shiny, and I can't move my head enough to see it, but it shows me the floor, even though it's on the ceiling."

" Mirror, aus." the other whispered back, barely moving his mouth at all as he strained against his restraints, the reinforced bonds creaking loudly with his every effort. Aus, that had started happening recently too, that word he couldn't define and the older boy hadn't gotten the chance to explain.

He repeated the word, mirror, then told the other about the things he saw there. He trailed into things he could feel as he started to repeat items he'd already listed.

" The pod is still cold as ever, and the metal isn't all that nice to be pressed against."

He kept making noise. When he ran out of words he hummed, cooed in that oh-so-familiar way that always made the other boy's chest rumble when he was pleased with Kr. He did so until the screaming subsided and they moved the older clone back to his own containment unit. Kr let the humming and cooing taper off as he waited for the other to say something.

" When I was little, still a fledgling, only about 2, and I looked it too, I managed to slip away from here. I ended up somewhere far, and a little redhead girl and her parents found me."

Kr wondered what spurred this particular story, but instead of asking, he cooed and settled himself to listen.

" The redhead, Jazz, she became my older sister. A female born before you sharing the same parents. Her parents were my parents, but more than that, she was my whole world for a while. We were close, and I was safe with her. She was the first one to ask me my name, and the first to give me something so precious so freely. She gave me Daniel, Danny."

A soft rumble echoed through the halls of the facility and up through Kr's chamber, shaking nothing but Kr's bones.

" I wish you could have met her aus, she was the smartest person I ever knew, probably still the smartest person I ever met too. Maybe, when I figure out how to get out of here again one day, I'll take you home to meet her, how does that sound?"

Kr cooed, no words coming to him in the intense emotion that swelled up from his chest and clogged his throat.

Of course, getting out again was a pipe dream for Danny, afterall, he couldn't do much with the whole basement level he was kept on bathed in ectoplasm inhibitors, low level kryptonite, and blood blossoms, preventing him from regrowing his arms and legs or breaking his bonds. But his precious star child little brother didn't need to know that. He also didn't need to know about the transfer order to move him to a new facility, the order that would leave Danny trapped in the basement with his precious star none the wiser of his existence.

" Alright star, I'll let you meet Jazz one day, it'll be fun."

[probablyasocialecologist]

According to research by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), the UK has licensed more than £472 million in arms exports to Israel since 2015. This includes tank components, armour-piercing ammunition and small arms, but, in keeping with the structure of the British weapons industry, aerospace components for fighters and drones predominate. It’s difficult to get clear numbers from the arms industry. The headline figure is taken from the value of standard licences, but the UK also operates a system of open licences that permit transfers of unlimited – and unspecified – quantities of particular military goods. Since 2015, 57 such licences have been granted for export to Israel, ten of those in 2022. They include British components for the American-designed F-35 aircraft, which campaigners estimate have been worth £336 million to the companies (primarily BAE Systems) producing them. Because the quantities of goods issued under open licences are not made public, groups such as CAAT have to back-engineer their value. In recent years the government has become increasingly hostile to Freedom of Information requests on arms, but there is enough publicly available data to be certain that the planes currently flattening apartment blocks and refugee camps in Gaza rely on components engineered and manufactured in Britain. There is little appetite in Westminster for reform of the domestic arms industry. For one thing, it is a rare economic success story. The UK is the second largest exporter of defence items in the world and, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Initiative, the sixth largest exporter of major conventional weapons (which means everything short of weapons of mass destruction), primarily aircraft. The total value of standard licences issued in 2021 was £10.7 billion, and the industry depends on its aerospace sector, which accounts for 72 per cent of export business. More than half of all British defence exports go to the Middle East – but to Saudi Arabia rather than Israel. Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, accuse BAE Systems of being party to Saudi war crimes in Yemen, where BAE-supplied (and serviced) fighters have bombed schools and hospitals.

James Butler, Up in Arms

[doolallymagpie]

oh, boy, we've got another fucky, broken component!

An obvious fusion of Blakist and Society technologies, the Cortazar Enclave’s Combined EW/Command Suite blends the Society’s Nova CEWS and the Word of Blake’s C3i systems, boosting both, at the cost of being significantly more delicate and harder to manufacture.

GAME RULES:

The Combined EW/Command Suite (CEW/CS) weighs three tons and takes up two critical slots, and combines the functions of the Nova CEWS and the Improved C3 Computer, with a few upgrades. The CEW/CS can be used by any combat unit except ProtoMechs, battle armor, JumpShips, DropShips, WarShips, and Space Stations. The carrying unit must use a fusion engine of some kind. When used by fighters (conventional or aerospace) or LAMs, it can only interact with ground units, not fighters or small craft. A unit with CEW/CS can link with up to two other CEW/CS-equipped units, connecting them as if by a C3i unit, with a designated commander being able to link with other command units, similarly to a C3 Master. A single cell’s links cannot be interrupted by ECM of any kind, but command units’ links can be interfered with by a Nova CEWS or RISC Viral Jammer. A command-level unit being hit with a TSEMP will sever the link, but it can be reestablished when the unit recovers. All CEW/CS-equipped units are highly vulnerable to the Centurion Weapon System, which disables the CEW/CS entirely until it can be repaired. A CEW/CS, when active, acts as both a C3i (or C3 Master, if assigned as a commander), and as an ECM suite and active probe with a range of four hexes. When active, the CEW/CS generates four heat per turn; units that don't track heat must mount enough heat sinks to dissipate this heat. A unit equipped with a CEW/CS can be equipped with any active probe or ECM units, as well as Chameleon Light Polarization Shield, Null-Signature Suite, Void-Signature Suite, or Stealth Armor, without interfering with these systems. The CEW/CS cannot be equipped with component armor, and it is considered completely destroyed after a single critical hit despite occupying two slots, and if it is in a location with a critical slot occupied by sensor components, those sensors are destroyed as well.

tl;dr: it's actually a pretty good experimental combination of the Nova CEWS and C3i that improves on both, but it's the horse of command and stealth systems and will die if the wind's slightly wrong, and if you've got a line to RISC, you're probably going to be able to fuck with it really bad