This is hardly new. Back during the cold war, the CIA set up shell companies that owned shell companies in order to buy Soviet titanium that they used to build the A-12 and SR-71.
The OEMs are getting exemptions because they’re the only ones using titanium at a level where it’s no longer an annoyance, but actually a significant issue.
Second, this is bullishit.
> In a statement issued to CBC News, the defence department sidestepped the question of the impact of the sanctions, acknowledging only the fact that some components are made of titanium without pointing to a source.
> “Both the Airbus CC-295 Kingfisher and CC-330 Husky likely contain titanium and titanium alloy components ranging from rivets, nuts and fasteners to engine components to furnishings and structures,” said the statement.
There are no titanium rivets. If you are riveting titanium or steel, you use Monel rivets. If you made a titanium rivet, it would crack to ratshit when you drove it.
Also, there are also hardly any titanium nuts, and those that do exist are not on these aircraft. Titanium is a very “smearable” material and threading titanium into titanium causes galling that’ll damage the fastener and bind the nut onto the fastener threads.
The biggest uses are engines and spec hardware (i.e. titanium hi-loks, bolts, etc.)
Those are delivered products. The DND does not make their own engine guts or manufacture their own spec hardware. When it comes to other titanium things like scuff plates or heat shielding, the DND’s contractors would be doing repairs.
For what the DND needs for the mentioned aircraft, all they need is standard sheet stock which is still widely available. Expensive but available.
This is what happens when someone pens a press release and then gives it to a Major who doesn’t have a sweet tweet clue about what they’re doing because they’ve only been in that position for 4 months and are going to be rotated out in another 20 or less.
1 Comment
A few things.
This is hardly new. Back during the cold war, the CIA set up shell companies that owned shell companies in order to buy Soviet titanium that they used to build the A-12 and SR-71.
The OEMs are getting exemptions because they’re the only ones using titanium at a level where it’s no longer an annoyance, but actually a significant issue.
Second, this is bullishit.
> In a statement issued to CBC News, the defence department sidestepped the question of the impact of the sanctions, acknowledging only the fact that some components are made of titanium without pointing to a source.
> “Both the Airbus CC-295 Kingfisher and CC-330 Husky likely contain titanium and titanium alloy components ranging from rivets, nuts and fasteners to engine components to furnishings and structures,” said the statement.
There are no titanium rivets. If you are riveting titanium or steel, you use Monel rivets. If you made a titanium rivet, it would crack to ratshit when you drove it.
Also, there are also hardly any titanium nuts, and those that do exist are not on these aircraft. Titanium is a very “smearable” material and threading titanium into titanium causes galling that’ll damage the fastener and bind the nut onto the fastener threads.
The biggest uses are engines and spec hardware (i.e. titanium hi-loks, bolts, etc.)
Those are delivered products. The DND does not make their own engine guts or manufacture their own spec hardware. When it comes to other titanium things like scuff plates or heat shielding, the DND’s contractors would be doing repairs.
For what the DND needs for the mentioned aircraft, all they need is standard sheet stock which is still widely available. Expensive but available.
This is what happens when someone pens a press release and then gives it to a Major who doesn’t have a sweet tweet clue about what they’re doing because they’ve only been in that position for 4 months and are going to be rotated out in another 20 or less.