F-35 ett fiasko? Läckta Rand rapporten och annat kul

The Volvo RM8 is a low-bypass afterburning turbofan jet engine developed for the Saab 37 Viggen fighter. Basically a licensed-built version of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D with a Swedish-designed afterburner, the RM8 was produced by Svenska Flygmotor (now Volvo Aero).

There are a limited number of titanium producers in the world, and market shares are concentrated in a small number of large producers. Currently, there are four major worldwide producers of high-quality titanium for aerospace: one in Russia (Verkhnaya Salda Metallurgical Production Association) and three in the United States. These three major U.S. titanium metal producers—Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI); RTI International Metals, Inc. (RTI); and Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET)—account for 94 percent of the U.S. production capacity.12
For tactical aircraft and engines, DOD generally contracts with six prime contractors—Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce—the latter three for engines. These prime contractors generally rely on aircraft component subcontractors to produce titanium aircraft components. Prime contractors or aircraft component manufacturers generally purchase titanium from one of the four major titanium producers. As described above, when selling components to DOD, the specialty metals domestic source restriction limits the U.S. prime contractors’ and aircraft component manufacturers’ purchase of titanium to one of the U.S. or other qualifying country sources. Qualifying country aircraft component manufacturers that sell to DOD have the flexibility to source titanium from any producer, including a non-qualifying country source. Due in part to the limits of worldwide production capacity, titanium products require a long lead time to produce, and manufacturers may order titanium metal years before it is expected to be delivered in a finished product to the customer.