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Wizz Air Suspends Abu Dhabi Operations to Keep Costs in Check

Wizz Air Suspends Abu Dhabi Operations to Keep Costs in Check

Bloomberg2 days ago
Wizz Air Holdings Plc said it will suspend operations in Abu Dhabi amid persistent engine issues that have grounded aircraft, as well as geopolitical challenges and regulatory barriers as the budget carrier tries to keep costs under control.
The Hungary-based airline wants to exit from its joint venture in Abu Dhabi and will cut all local flight services from September 1, the company said on Monday in a statement. Instead, Wizz will focus on its core market in central and eastern Europe as well as the UK and Italy, it added.
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Has The U.S. Been Firing AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles In The Middle East?
Has The U.S. Been Firing AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles In The Middle East?

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time40 minutes ago

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Has The U.S. Been Firing AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles In The Middle East?

A Pentagon budget document states that the U.S. military has been firing AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) in the course of recent operations in or around the Middle East. If confirmed, it would be the first time these missiles have been employed in combat. Currently, U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers are the only aircraft known to be cleared to employ AGM-158Cs operationally. Efforts are underway to integrate LRASM onto the B and C variants, at least, of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well as Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, F-15EX Eagle IIs, and F-16C/D Vipers. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol planes are also in line to be able to employ the missiles in the future. 'Funds are required for the replacement of Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) C-3 All Up Rounds (AURS) expended in support of the DOD response to the situation in Israel,' according to a reprogramming document dated May 22, 2025, but that was only posted online recently. 'This action does not change the purpose for which the funds were originally appropriated. This is a congressional special interest item. This is an emergency budget requirement.' By law, the U.S. military must formally seek approval from Congress to reallocate funding from one part of its budget to another. This particular reprogramming action also asks to shift money around to purchase AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) Block IB anti-ballistic missile interceptors, GBU-53/B StormBreaker precision-guided glide bombs (also known as Small Diameter Bomb IIs, or SDB IIs), and 5-inch naval gun rounds. It supports a number of other ancillary funding requirements, as well. In total, 'this reprogramming action transfers $783.296 million from Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide, 24/25 appropriation, made available by division A of Public Law 118-50, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, to the specific appropriations necessary to execute funding provided for U.S. operations conducted in response to the situation in Israel,' the document explains. 'This reprogramming addresses the increased, unfunded costs incurred by DoD within the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) region in responding to the situation in Israel or to hostile actions in the region as a direct result of the situation in Israel. This reprogramming action specifically excludes requirements related to actions taken in defense of Israel during attacks by Iran in coordination with and at the request of Israel, in order to defend against attacks on Israeli territory, personnel, or vital assets.' Based on the stipulations above, the expenditures noted in the reprogramming action would have come, at least in part, in the course of U.S. operations against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. On-and-off since October 2023, the Houthis have been targeting foreign warships and commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea, as well as launching attacks at Israel, ostensibly in response to that country's intervention into the Gaza Strip. The U.S. government and the Houthis agreed to a ceasefire in May. U.S. forces are known to have employed AIM-120s, AIM-9s, GBU-53/Bs, and 5-inch naval guns against incoming Houthi missiles and drones. American warships have also fired SM-3 Block IBs in the broader context of defending Israel in the past year, including against Iranian threats. In addition, Navy Super Hornets launched from carriers in the region have been particularly active in the course of the operations. The U.S. military aircraft and warships have also used a slate of other munitions in combat operations in the Middle East since October 2023. However, the May reprogramming document is the first indication that AGM-158Cs have been expended. Restoring freedom of navigation#HouthisAreTerrorists — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 23, 2025 'To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of the use and application of specific weapons platforms in past, present or future operations,' a U.S. defense official told TWZ when asked for more information about the apparent use of LRASMs. 'We are very deliberate in our operational approach but will not reveal specifics about what we've done in past operations.' TWZ also reached out to the U.S. Navy, the service that manages the LRASM program, which redirected us to CENTCOM. What targets LRASMs would have even been employed against in recent U.S. operations in the Middle East is not clear. The Houthis operate only small watercraft, and Iran has not acknowledged any losses of major naval vessels. Other Iranian-backed proxy groups and terrorist organizations in the region that American forces could have targeted do not have maritime assets to speak of. In March, Saudi Arabian outlet Al Hadath did report, and later retracted, claims that U.S. forces had sunk the Iranian spy ship Zagros. U.S. and Iranian officials subsequently denied that report, and no evidence to the contrary has emerged since then. A U.S. defense official denied social media chatter about the targeting of Iran's Zagros ship. The official told the @dcexaminer, "it is pier side in Bandar Abbas, [Iran]." — Mike Brest (@MikeBrestDC) March 18, 2025 Update: The airstrikes in Gaza have continued overnight. At least 5 senior Hamas officials were eliminated. The IDF has sent warnings to evacuate fighting zones. Hamas is reporting hundreds of Iran, no confirmation on Zagros ship story and bizarre that even… — Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) March 18, 2025 AGM-158Cs may also have been employed against targets along the shore. We know Houthi air defenses presented risks to U.S. aircraft, which appeared to prompt an increased use of standoff munitions and stealthy platforms during a surge in operations earlier this year. LRASM would have offered a particularly capable standoff weapon. However, the extent of the AGM-158C's land-attack capabilities is unclear. The missile is designed to use a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) guidance package to get to a target area before switching over to a passive infrared seeker. The seeker then searches for targets and autonomously categorizes them using pre-programmed parameters that are stored in its built-in maritime-centric threat database. The upgraded C-3 variant of the missile was originally set to feature an explicit land-attack capability, but those plans were said to have been axed in 2023. The new version will have roughly double the range of the current standard C-1 type (around 600 miles versus 200-300 miles based on available information) and other improvements. The specific mention of the C-3 variant in the reprogramming action is itself curious since that version has not been expected to enter operational service until next year at the earliest. There have been no other indications of an early fielding. It is possible that text of the reprogramming document is in error in one or more ways. For one, the mention of the C-3 version rather than the current standard C-1 could be incorrect. In addition, reallocated funding for the purchase of any variant of the LRASM could be intended to backfill the expenditure of other older munitions. This is something that has been seen in other reprogramming actions in the past, including ones intended to help replenish stockpiles following transfers of materiel to Ukraine. 'Funds are required for the procurement of Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles as one of the current Air Force replacements for High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles transferred to Ukraine in support of the international effort to counter Russian aggression,' a separate reprogramming action dated August 13, 2024, says, as one example. 'This action does not change the purpose for which the funds were originally appropriated. This is a congressional special interest item. This is an emergency budget requirement.' With this in mind, notably absent from the May reprogramming document is any talk of making up for Navy expenditures of AGM-84H Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) cruise missiles. SLAM-ERs were employed against the Houthis earlier this year, but the U.S. military does not appear to have procured any new stocks of these munitions for its own use in years. LRASMs might be one option for replacing those missiles going forward. 1/ Aside from the launch of F/A-18E/Fs armed with JSOW C/C-1s, the video also shows F/A-18Es armed with SLAM-ER ATAs parked on the fligh deck. — Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) March 16, 2025 The AGM-158C entry in the programming document could also just be completely inaccurate and be meant to refer to something else entirely. The LRASM is notably derived from the AGM-158 Joint Air-To-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), a land attack cruise missile that has been employed in past combat operations in the Middle East. At the same time, if there was an error, especially a major one, in the language of the reprogramming action, one would imagine that it would be possible to say so, even if more specific details could not be provided for operational security reasons. For now, it remains an open question about whether or not U.S. forces have fired LRASMs in the course of recent operations in the Middle East. Howard Altman contributed to this story. Contact the author: joe@

New Fortress Energy Executes 5-year Charter for Energos Winter
New Fortress Energy Executes 5-year Charter for Energos Winter

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time4 hours ago

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New Fortress Energy Executes 5-year Charter for Energos Winter

NEW YORK, July 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NFE) ("NFE" or the "Company") via a subsidiary has executed a 5-year agreement for the deployment of the Energos Winter, a 138,250 m3 floating storage and regasification unit ("FSRU"), with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company ("EGAS"). The Winter will operate at EGAS' LNG import terminal located at Damietta, Egypt. This is NFE's second FSRU stationed in Egypt, and the Winter will join the Energos Eskimo in Egypt as early as August of this year. "We are pleased to reinforce our relationship with EGAS by way of our deployment of a second FSRU to Egypt. This deal enhances NFE's goals of providing reliable and cost-effective energy across the globe," said Chris Guinta, CFO of New Fortress Energy. "EGAS is pleased to strengthen its long-standing partnership with New Fortress Energy through the execution of a second Regasification Service Agreement. Under this agreement, NFE's second FSRU, Energos Winter, will provide regasification services at the Damietta terminal, contributing to the security of natural gas supply for the Arab Republic of Egypt over the next five years," said Yasseen Mohamed, Executive Managing Director of EGAS. About New Fortress Energy Inc. New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NFE) is a global energy infrastructure company founded to address energy poverty and accelerate the world's transition to reliable, affordable, and clean energy. The Company owns and operates natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and an integrated fleet of ships and logistics assets to rapidly deliver turnkey energy solutions to global markets. Collectively, the Company's assets and operations reinforce global energy security, enable economic growth, enhance environmental stewardship and transform local industries and communities around the world. View source version on Contacts Investorsir@

Why Joby Aviation Stock Is Flying High Today
Why Joby Aviation Stock Is Flying High Today

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time5 hours ago

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Why Joby Aviation Stock Is Flying High Today

Joby Aviation announced that it will double the size of its existing California production facility. The company is also expanding its test fleet. Mounting losses and a steep valuation suggest caution is warranted. 10 stocks we like better than Joby Aviation › Shares of Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) were flying high Tuesday, soaring as much as 10.3%. As of 3:12 p.m. ET, the stock was still up 9.1%. The catalyst that sent the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft specialist higher was an announcement that the company is expanding its manufacturing capacity. In a press release on Tuesday, Joby announced plans to increase the size of its Marina, California, manufacturing facility to 435,500 square feet of total space. This will effectively double the production capacity at that location and support the scale-up of the company's commercial operations. Joby is also ramping up manufacturing capacity at its newly renovated Dayton, Ohio, plant, which will be tasked with manufacturing and testing aircraft components. Joby is also expanding its flight test program, adding a new aircraft to its growing test fleet. It's important to remember that Joby isn't yet generating much revenue, and the company's losses are piling up. As such, a lot will have to go right for Joby to succeed, and the stock is exorbitantly expensive, currently trading for 179 times next year's expected sales. To be clear, Joby is a high-risk, high-reward investment, which could lead to something of a binary outcome. If the eVTOL specialist can win certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -- the process in ongoing -- and manufacture its aircraft at scale, the stock could fly much higher. On the other hand, if Joby isn't successful in either of these areas, the highflier could crash and burn. With that in mind, investors should size their positions with their risk tolerance in mind. Before you buy stock in Joby Aviation, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Joby Aviation wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $680,559!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,005,670!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,053% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Danny Vena has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Joby Aviation Stock Is Flying High Today was originally published by The Motley Fool

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