The Navy has issued a $100 million contract to General Dynamics NASSCO, the San Diego shipyard, to purchase materials for the construction of a 12th T-AKE dry cargo-ammunition ship. NASSCO is under contract to construct 11 T-AKE ships at its shipyard.
The contract enables NASSCO to place orders for the ship's engines and other components that have significant manufacturing lead times. A contract that funds construction of the 12th T-AKE ship is expected to be awarded by February, with delivery in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Toyota to unveil plug-in hybrid by 2010
Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the United States and Europe by 2010, under a widespread strategy to be green. The ecological gas-electric vehicles, which can be recharged from a home electrical outlet, will target leasing customers, Toyota Motor Corp. said. Such plug-in hybrids can run longer as an electric vehicle than regular hybrids, and are cleaner.
Lithium-ion batteries, now common in laptops, produce more power and are smaller than nickel-metal hydride batteries used in hybrids now. The joint venture that Toyota set up with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic products, will begin producing lithium-ion batteries in 2009 and move into full-scale production in 2010, Toyota said.
Associated Press
Silverjet to resume flights after buyout
The collapsed business class airline Silverjet plans to be back in the skies within weeks after its administrators accepted a buyout offer from the Swiss investment firm Kingplace Ltd. Silverjet, which had not turned a profit since it began operating in 2006, was the last business-class-only airline flying between London and New York after the collapse of U.S. peers MAXjet Airways Inc. and EOS.
Associated Press
