Pentagon Looks For Alternatives To Russian Rocket Motors | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

 Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Tue, Jun 17, 2014

Pentagon Looks For Alternatives To Russian Rocket Motors

No Concrete Decisions Made By U.S. Defense Officials

The U.S. Department of Defense is apparently feeling a bit squeamish about using rocket motors built in Russia to launch U.S. satellites ... but it doesn't have a good alternative for the immediate future.

The Pentagon's weapons acquisition chief Frank Kendall (pictured) told Reuters Friday that DoD has taken some "initial steps" towards finding a replacement, but no final decisions have been made. Kendall said that the Pentagon is "motivated, if we can do it, to remove the dependency that we have."

Several congressional committees have included funding for a new U.S. rocket engine in the 2015 military budget. United Launch Alliance (ULA) uses a Russian-made RD-180 engine in its Atlas rocket, which is used by the military to boost satellites into orbit.

Concerns were raised earlier this year then Moscow said it could end the sale of rocket engines to the U.S. over sanctions imposed following the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.

Development of a U.S. rocket engine is estimated to cost $1 billion and take five years.

FMI: www.defense.gov

Advertisement

More News

Classic Aero-TV: Up Close And Personal - The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team at Oshkosh

From 2014 (YouTube Version): One Of The Airshow World's Pre-Eminent Formation Teams Chats About The State Of The Industry At EAA AirVenture 2014, ANN News Editor Tom Patton gets th>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.13.25): Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN)

Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) An ultra-high frequency electronic rho-theta air navigation aid which provides suitably equipped aircraft a continuous indication of bearing and dis>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.13.25)

Aero Linx: Doobert Hi, we're Chris & Rachael Roy, founders and owners of Doobert. Chris is a technology guy in his “day” job and used his experience to create Doobe>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Pitts S2

The Airplane Was Spinning In A Nose-Down Attitude Before It Impacted Terrain On June 20, 2025, at 0900 eastern daylight time, a Pitts Aerobatics S-2B, N79AV, was destroyed when it >[...]

Airborne 07.09.25: B-17 Sentimental Journey, Airport Scandal, NORAD Intercepts

Also: United Elite Sues, Newark ATC Transitions, Discovery Moves?, Textron @ KOSH The Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona is taking its “Flying Legends of Victory Tour&rd>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne-NextGen 07.15.25: Jetson One Rescues, X-Plane, Sat Refueling

Airborne 07.14.25: Air India Prelim, NBAA v Eco Nuts, Sonex Highwing

Airborne 07.11.25: New FAA Bos, New NASA Boss (Kinda), WB57s Over TX

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC