The United States acquire its missile engines instead of Russian

The US Air Force announced a competition for the development of a new prototype of missile motor plants. According to Reuters, the commander of the Center for Space and Air Force missile systems, Lieutenant General Samuel Grivz announced that applications should be submitted by June 23.

The US government will share $ 160 million by contracts among the participants in the competition. The program of private-state partnership provides that the competition participants will cover a third expenses to create a prototype from their own funds. SPACEX is already certified to participate in the competition, it will compete with United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Aerojet Rockketdyne Holdings.

It is planned that by 2019 the United States will abandon Russian engines. Thus, a ban on military-technical cooperation with Russia, introduced by Washington after the annexation of Crimea, will be carried out. In May, the Pentagonturned to the Congress for permission to use Russian engines, since the current ban led to difficulties with space launches. This ban was temporarily lifted. Now the monopolist in the missile region is ULA, the joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co. Russian RD-180 missiles are used to launch ATlas 5 missiles.

In May 2014, American military experts prepared a report in which they estimated the losses from the ban-180 of $ 180. According to experts, the full ban on the Import of the RD-180 in the United States will ultimately “leave Atlas-5 on Earth, one of the two main types of missiles used by the American military.