Recent tensions over Russia's move to annex Crimea have prompted some to question the reliability of U.S. access to the Russian-made RD-180 engine, which is used to power one of two rockets that loft national security payloads into orbit.
Russia is a source for these engines as well as other aerospace materials, such as titanium. The U.S. government has placed targeted sanctions on 11 Russian and Ukranian officials—the most comprehensive of such measures since the end of the Cold War—as a response to Russia's bold move into Crimea. But the dispute has thus far not affected the supply chain for the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.
“We hold a license to manufacture and deliver RD-180 engines,” says Matthew Bates, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, which formed a joint venture with Russian engine manufacturer NPO Energomash in 1997 called RD Amross. The sole purpose of RD Amross is to provide the engines to the U.S. “A deviation from the contracted, agreed-upon delivery amount would represent a contractual breech,” says Maureen Schumann, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
If Russia were to hold the RD-180 hostage, the Defense Department estimates it would need $1 billion over five years to establish production on U.S. soil.
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