Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Tony Osborne
NATO has announced a series of deployments to Eastern Europe that will bulk up its response to Russia’s continued buildup of forces near the Ukrainian border.
Budget, Policy & Operations

U.S. Patriot missile defense batteries shot down incoming missiles at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, early Jan. 24—the second time within a week that defense systems downed incoming missiles in the area.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Guy Norris
Bell’s 360 Invictus competitive prototype for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft fly-off contest is 75% structurally complete at its facility in Amarillo, Texas, and remains on track for first flight in 2023, the company says.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Navy will begin integrating F-35Cs onto the USS George Washington (CVN-73) as part of the service’s long-term plan to bring the carrier-based fighter onto its ships.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
China’s J-20 stealth fighter carrying PL-15 long-range air-to-air missiles poses many challenges for the U.S. Air Force, not least in providing realistic training against it.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Graham Warwick
Spun out by the Williams Formula 1 racing team at the end of 2019, Williams Advanced Engineering has been expanding from its motorsports roots and applying its high-performance battery and electrification expertise to new sectors, including aviation.
Emerging Technologies

By Graham Warwick
Germany’s Wingcopter has signed a contract exceeding $16 million to supply a large fleet of delivery drones to Spright, a subsidiary formed by U.S. air medical service provider Air Methods in July 2020 to service the health care market.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Bye Aerospace is studying a 12-seat high-density version of its planned all-electric twin-motor eFlyer 800 for commuter operators.
Emerging Technologies

By Graham Warwick
A NASA-funded team is working to connect airborne and cloud-based flight management systems to enable better real-time trajectory optimization and airspace management for advanced air mobility and commercial aviation.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Air Force has begun retiring its fleet of BAe 146 transport aircraft ahead of the arrival of their planned replacements.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Airbus has delivered the last production commercial model of its AS365 Dauphin helicopter, ending a 40-year production run of the twin-engine rotorcraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
ArianeGroup is studying a dual-use second stage for launches of both satellite and crew that will support the European Space Agency’s fledgling reusability strategy.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
After a two-day weather delay, SpaceX’s 24th NASA-contracted Cargo Dragon capsule departed the International Space Station (ISS) on Jan. 23 for a parachute-assisted descent, splashdown and recovery in the waters off Florida’s upper gulf coast.
Space

By Chen Chuanren, Kim Minseok
South Korea is bringing forward the maiden flight of its Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boramae fighter from July to early June following the smooth development of the first prototype aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
The additional Boeing funding will advance development of Wisk’s sixth-generation eVTOL, which is targeted to be the first autonomous all-electric passenger aircraft certified in the U.S.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Jen DiMascio
Japan will delay a planned launch of its new H3 rocket due to technical issues with the first stage engine.
Space

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Frank Rubio is likely to be the first U.S. astronaut to fly on a Soyuz spaceship under the new seat exchange agreement between Roscosmos and NASA, the Russian space corporation reported on Jan 20.
Space

By Mark Carreau
SpaceX’s 24th Dragon cargo capsule’s delayed departure from the International Space Station is planned for 10:40 a.m. EST on Jan. 22.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Finland’s government is preparing to sign a letter of offer and acceptance for its future fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35s after a decision to select the fighter went unopposed by competitors.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
The British army hopes to fly its new fleet of Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in national exercises as early as this summer as its looks to achieve an initial operating capability with the rotorcraft in 2023.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Collins Aerospace has created a new business unit, Advanced Structures, that combines the Raytheon Technologies division’s heritage aerostructures and mechanical systems groups under the growing sustainability business mandate.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Graham Warwick
Flight testing of advanced air mobility prototypes under the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program is gathering pace, with the first government remotely piloted flights of an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Klein Vision’s prototype supercar-style fly/drive AirCar has received experimental airworthiness certification from Slovakia.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Guy Norris
First studied by Bell in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the company has revived the stop/fold tiltrotor concept with new technology to meet the AFWerx call for HSVTOL vehicles for special operation missions.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
U.K.-based Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) announced plans Jan. 20 to develop an expandable module to equip the Axiom Space commercial space station with SEE-1, an entertainment studio and multipurpose arena.
Space