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Trade Wars
Lockheed Martin Unveils Baby Patriot Missile To Address Urgent Gap
With demand for Patriot PAC-3 interceptors sharpened by Russian and Iranian ballistic missile attacks, Lockheed Martin unveiled plans to build a smaller and cheaper, if less capable, version of the exquisite interceptor. The Adapted Capability Effector, or ACE, missile would use the PAC-3's launcher and command and control software, but a less expensive rocket motor, radar, and electronic brain, according to a company announcement and remarks by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control president Tim Cahil at the Farnborough International Airshow.
The ACE lacks some of the features to counter the most advanced missiles, said Cahil, but is intended to be useful against the type of lower-tech short-range ballistic missiles that Iran and Russia have used in recent destructive attacks. Lockheed, is also pitching the idea of ACE missiles to at least some of the 18 countries that already have compatible PAC-3 launchers. The company envisions “joint development and production with European partners,” according to their statement.
Read more at Defense One
TSMC To Raise Chipmaking Prices By Up To 10% In 2027, Nikkei Asia Reports
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, plans to raise chipmaking prices by up to 10% from 2027 to offset rising costs for materials, manufacturing equipment and overseas plant construction, Nikkei Asia reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources. The base price increases range from 5% to 10%, depending on the customer and product, the report said while Mature-node production, covering 12-nm, 16-nm and 28-nm technologies, faces increases of up to 10%.
Negotiations began in June and concluded in July, with new pricing set to take effect at the start of 2027, Nikkei said. TSMC does not comment on pricing, a company spokesperson said when contacted by Reuters. "Our pricing strategy is strategic, not opportunistic. We will continue to work closely with customers and sell our value to them." Last week, TSMC, widely regarded as a bellwether for AI chip demand, surpassed market expectations to post a 77% jump in second-quarter profit touching a record high of T$706.6 billion ($22 billion).
Read more at the Reuters
Honda Plans To Build One More Factory in America
While Honda operates 12 distinct manufacturing facilities in the United States, producing various components, such as separate engine, transmission, and specialized parts plants, it currently has seven primary vehicle assembly plants across the entire North American continent. Honda's CE Toshihiro Mibe revealed the automaker's plans to open vehicle assembly plant number 8 to a Japanese publication. The firm already has seven factories in North America, and they are currently running at roughly 90% of their annual capacity of 1.8 million vehicles to meet soaring vehicle demand.
North America is Honda's largest and most profitable market, accounting for approximately 40% of its global sales in 2025. Honda's current vehicle production footprint consists of four assembly plants in the U.S.: Marysville, East Liberty, Alabama, and Indiana, two in Canada, and one in Mexico. Honda currently builds eight distinct models in the United States for the local and global market. The Honda Accord sees the light of day at the Marysville Auto Plant, and the CR-V is built at the East Liberty Auto Plant, both in Ohio.
Read more at Autoevolution
Weapons Move To The Forefront At Farnborough Airshow
Geopolitical risks are fueling the aerospace and defence sector. So expect the balance between commercial and defence to skew in favour of military exhibitors at the biennial International Farnborough Air Show, which opens on Monday. It has “sold out twice over”, according to its organisers. The sixth-generation GCAP fighter programme backed by Britain, Japan and Italy, which has secured funding for the next four years, will be a star of the show. Highly valued startups, such as Germany’s Helsing and America’s Anduril, will be vying to take on established defence contractors with their autonomous air and sea uncrewed vehicles. Several Ukrainian firms offering battle-proven, low-cost drone technologies and seeking Western investment will also draw attention.
As for the civilian side, there will be less interest in the traditional contest between Airbus and Boeing for commercial-aviation order announcements. With a combined order backlog of about 17,000 airliners, delivery rather than sales is the new yardstick of success. “Orders are not our challenge. Our challenge is getting these orders delivered.” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, said in an interview ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow outside London.
Read more at Breaking Defense
Weidmann Invests More Than $500 Million To Expand Transformer Insulation Materials Manufacturing Facility In Ohio
Weidmann Electrical Technology has announced plans to expand its transformer insulation materials manufacturing operations with a new Transformerboard Production Facility in Middletown, Ohio. The company, which manufactures insulation technology and accessories for the power transformer industry, is investing more than $500 million as part of its global expansion strategy. The project is expected to create more than 100 jobs across the new Middletown facility and the company's existing Urbana, Ohio, operation. The facility will be equipped with the latest production machinery designed to support high-performance manufacturing while improving quality, efficiency and reliability.
Once operational, the investment will significantly increase the company's North American manufacturing capacity for transformer insulation materials used in electrical infrastructure. Patrik Gareus, Executive Vice President of Weidmann Electrical Technology, said, "Demand for reliable electrical infrastructure continues to grow around the world. This investment strengthens our ability to support customers with locally manufactured, high-quality insulation materials while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the regions where we operate. It is another important step in ensuring resilient supply chains for the global transformer industry."
Read more at Plant Services
Saronic Technologies picks Texas for $3.2B autonomous shipyard
Saronic Technologies has chosen Brownsville, Texas, for its $3.2 billion shipyard to manufacture medium- and large-class unmanned and autonomy-capable vessels, the Austin-based startup announced July 16. Dubbed Port Alpha, the shipyard and manufacturing facility will produce vessels up to 850 feet, with the potential to expand and manufacture vessels over 1,200 feet, according to the press release.
The shipyard will also create up to 10,000 jobs, such as welding, machining, fabrication, robotics, software engineering, advanced manufacturing and naval architecture. Construction is expected to begin this year with operations beginning in 2028. The Port of Brownsville is the only deep-water port located on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to its website. The site is one of Texas’ largest foreign trade zones that include the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport, Valley International Airport, Harlingen Industrial Park and Airpark, NAFTA Industrial Park and FINSA Industrial Park at nearby Los Indios.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
A Locomotive Built in Schenectady Named Big Boy Is Making Grown Men Cry
This summer’s tear-jerker isn’t a rom-com. It’s Big Boy 4014. The 1.2-million-pound locomotive, built in 1941 to haul heavy freight across the Wasatch Mountains between Utah and Wyoming, is traveling east of the Mississippi for the first time. At every stop of its coast-to-coast tour, grown men are welling up, said Ed Dickens, Union Pacific’s chief locomotive engineer for Big Boy. Big Boy 4014 started its tour in April in Sacramento, where the eastward construction of the transcontinental railroad began in 1863. After stops including Indiana, Ohio and New York, the train is traveling back west toward Cheyenne, Wyo., where it will park on July 29.
Big Boy 4014 and 4009 are among 25 Big Boy locomotives built in Schenectady, N.Y., for Union Pacific in the 1940s. Within two decades, railroads had replaced steam engines with diesel-electric trains, which are cheaper to maintain and operate. Only eight Big Boys exist today, and Big Boy 4014 is the only one working—making it the world’s largest operating steam locomotive. After being retired in 1961, it was on display at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, Calif., before Union Pacific brought it back in 2013 in exchange for a diesel locomotive, a caboose and a boxcar. Railroad employees finished restoring it in 2019, converting it from coal to fuel oil.
Read more at The WSJ
At Farnborough GE Aerospace Unveils Breakthrough in Hybrid-Electric Flight
GE Aerospace has carried out the world’s first high-altitude flight assisted by hybrid-electric propulsion, it said on Monday, part of an arsenal of technologies for future jet engines being showcased at this year’s Farnborough Airshow. The flight above 30,000 feet was made by a Saab 340 aircraft that has been discreetly carrying out similar trials since May, including a ground-breaking trip across the Atlantic with stopovers culminating in a debut at the aerospace event. GE's rivals Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are due to give updates on their own engine research later this week.
The research is being carried out in cooperation with NASA and electric aerospace company BETA Technologies, and comes as engine makers are designing the building blocks for engines to power potential successors to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320neo. Hybridisation is one of four key research areas for the RISE engine concept being tested by engine maker CFM, co-owned by GE and France’s Safran. That also includes a radical open-fan design, though the company is also working on a traditional enclosed alternative called AD-L or ADNB, Reuters has reported.
Read more at US News
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