Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

India’s second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, will carry 13 payloads and one passive experiment instrument from NASA, the Indian Space Research Organization says.
Defense

By Jens Flottau
Airbus has appointed Antoine Bouvier and Patrick de Castelbajac to new senior executive positions in the group.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
A Dynetics-led team has been selected over Raytheon to develop a 100-kW high-energy laser weapon system for demonstration by the U.S. Army in fiscal 2022.
Defense

BAE SYSTEMS extended agreement with MAGELLAN AEROSPACE for continued production of F-35 Lightning II horizontal tail assemblies.

The Pentagon is weighing options for how to replace its most highly protected military communications satellites, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency system.

By Irene Klotz
NASA on May 16 hired 11 companies for studies and prototypes of descent modules, orbit-transfer stages and refueling capabilities.
Space

By Bill Carey
The FAA on May 16 announced changes to operating rules for recreational drones.

By Tony Osborne
Swiss officials have placed a budget cap of $5.93B on the purchase of a new fleet of fighter aircraft to replace the F-5 Tiger and F/A-18 Hornet.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
DARPA’s Alias autonomy system, under development by Sikorsky, is to be flight tested in a U.S. Air National Guard Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 30.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Japan is investigating why its Hayabusa 2 sample return mission autonomously aborted its descent to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu late May 15 U.S. time.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The first MH-139 helicopter for the U.S. Air Force has completed initial test flights at Leonardo Helicopter’s assembly plant in Philadelphia.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
After spending two years assessing light attack procurement needs, USAF Sec. Heather Wilson is defending the DOD's approach to not make a buying decision this year.
Defense

By Bill Carey
An urban air traffic management (UATM) system is needed to bridge the gap between conventional air traffic control and future autonomous ATM, EmbraerX says.

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s scheduled return to the lunar surface by 2024 promises to expand the Earth’s economic sphere, according to a small but diverse panel of experts.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Assembly of the first production AW609 civil tiltrotor has begun at Leonardo Helicopters’ plant here, but certification could slip into 2020.
Defense

By Steve Trimble
For the first time, Boeing provided details about the method it used to shock the market and impress the Air Force with its winning proposal for the T-X program.
Defense

Rising tension in the Persian Gulf region has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of Israeli intelligence-gathering aircraft over Lebanon and Syria.

By Jen DiMascio
View the Leader Spotlight: Stefan Baur, VP, Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems in PDF format.

PRATT & WHITNEY has $9m U.S. Defense Logistics Agency contract for TF-33 aircraft engine first stage turbine blades.

By Michael Bruno
Brazilian jet maker Embraer, which is spinning off most of its commercial aircraft business to Boeing, missed Wall Street’s expectations for the first quarter of 2019.

By Graham Warwick
Airbus Perlan Mission II has launched a four-flight campaign in Argentina in its bid to take a glider to an altitude of 90,000 ft.

By Tony Osborne
European missile manufacturer MBDA soon will have a new face at the top with the appointment of Eric Beranger as CEO.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Boeing has completed initial wind-tunnel tests of a compound-helicopter version of the AH-64E Apache, showing potential for increased speed and range.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
TransDigm Group may voluntarily pay back the U.S. government up to $16.1 million after the A&D supplier’s top two execs were pummeled by a House panel.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
EU officials have rebuffed U.S. threats of potential sanctions over European rules restricting U.S. defense contractors access to joint European defense programs.
Defense