Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
A Northrop Grumman-supplied cockpit upgrade for the U.S. Army’s UH-60 fleet has passed a key testing milestone ahead of a planned full-rate production decision, the company announced on April 22.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Daniel Urchick
AVIATION WEEK NETWORK estimates that at the end of 2019, there were 894 Western-designed military aircraft performing maritime missions. Over the next
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News in brief
Defense

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
After handing over distribution of its Quantix commercial drone to a Canadian specialist, AeroVironment has launched a military version of the highly automated small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for its core defense customers.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
Despite the spread of the novel coronavirus, the U.S. Navy is preparing to embark Carrier Strike Group 12 and Carrier Air Wing 8 for cyclic flight operations in May that include the first-ever movement of weapons on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Germany’s future F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet will be a “bridge” capability for a future platform, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said, after finally confirming the U.S.-built aircraft will form part of a fleet that will go on to replace the Panavia Tornado.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Thierry Dubois
Airbus has begun using an “e-Delivery” remote process for aircraft handovers as a way to ensure health and safety amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on April 22 to deliver a seventh batch of the company’s Starlink communications satellites into low Earth orbit.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
Military secrecy—not poor U.S. Air Force planning—is behind the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) critical assessment of the acquisition strategy for the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said on April 20.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
Senior U.S. defense officials raised alarms on April 22 about a two-day-old decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to grant Ligado Networks a slice of the spectrum adjacent to the military-operated GPS network.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A ground-launched hypersonic cruise missile could become part of the Pentagon’s portfolio of maneuvering weapons with speeds over Mach 5, Mark Lewis, the director of Defense Research and Engineering for Modernization, said on April 22.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Rarely have production-rate changes been so highly anticipated as the expected news from Boeing.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
The premature shutdown of one of nine Merlin engines that powered a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit last month was caused by cleaning fluid trapped inside a sensor and igniting, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on April 22.
Space

By Victoria Moores
Italian aircraft-interiors specialist Aviointeriors has unveiled two social-distancing seat designs, aimed at safeguarding against COVID-19 contamination, which could be available within a short time frame.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
When life gives you lemons, the adage goes. And when the planned kickoff of the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, was canceled because of COVID-19, the service decided to make lemonade, turning the launch into a five-day virtual event.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Molly McMillin
Textron Aviation has delivered two Cessna Citation Latitude midsize business jets configured for flight inspection missions to Kanematsu Corp., owned by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
Marketplace

By Graham Warwick
Jaunt Air Mobility hopes to begin making parts for its electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing demonstrator by year’s end.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Boeing is reorganizing top managers and their duties, the company said late April 21, in what is the first headquarters overhaul under relatively new CEO and president David Calhoun.
Aircraft & Propulsion

North America Lockheed Martin said April 3 it will double the amount of accelerated payments it makes to smaller suppliers as the world wrestles with
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Germany will order a combined fleet of Eurofighters and U.S.-made F/A-18 Super Hornets to replace its aging Panavia Tornado.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Aerospace composite provider Hexcel on April 20 scrapped its guidance for 2020 with its financial outlook marred by declining production rates at OEM customers making large commercial aircraft (LCA).
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
Airbus’ A321XLR long-range, single-aisle program is gathering momentum as the first examples of some specific components are being produced, suppliers are being chosen and detailed design activities are proceeding, according to the airframer.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Marine Corps has delivered eight newly-manufactured Lockheed Martin F-35Bs to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, replacing the original batch of short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing fighters that first arrived in 2017, the service announced on April 21.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Air Force has discovered that vertically mounted wiper blades on the KC-135 Stratotanker reduce aircraft drag by about 1% during cruise conditions, potentially saving the service $7 million annually in fuel costs.
Budget, Policy & Operations