Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Scaled Composites President Ben Daichun has left the company to become the president of Opener, a startup developing the BlackFly personal eVTOL vehicle.

The Pentagon has decided to halt Lockheed Martin F-35 equipment delivery to Turkey.

The U.S. Army has awarded contracts to Martin UAV and Textron Systems to support its evaluation of potential replacements for the RQ-7B Shadow.

The U.S. Army’s fiscal 2020 budget request cancels planned procurement of 542 CH-47F Block IIs for regular forces, leaving 69 special-forces MH-47Gs as the only Chinooks scheduled to undergo the upgrade.

The U.S. Army is requesting $2.3 billion in fiscal 2020 unfunded requirements.

BAE Systems has rolled out the first Hawk jet trainer to be assembled in Saudi Arabia.

The USAF will host an industry day for the management, operations, maintenance, logistical and general support services of a network of 1-m telescopes known as GEODSS.

The British defense ministry has awarded a £2.5 million ($3.2 million) contract to Blue Bear to develop drone swarming technologies.

Russia’s new Ilyushin Il-112V light military transport aircraft made its first flight April 1.

The FastCan project producing the composite canopy structure for Airbus Helicopters’ Racer high-speed rotorcraft demo is bringing automotive design and manufacturing tech into aerospace.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Nina Armagno talked with Aerospace DAILY about space threats, future capabilities, small satellites, space operators, and Blackjack.

The U.S. Navy is partnering with the Defense Digital Service to accelerate its research, development, testing, evaluation and deployment of C-UAS capabilities.

In a surprising move, Rafael is entering the business of nano- and microsatellites for defense missions.

Israel Aerospace Industries will have to immediately complete and implement its new strategy to start earning from its diversified operations, some Israeli defense sources say.

Two U.S. Marine Corps pilots died March 30 during a training mission in a Bell AH-1Z Viper as part of a weapons tactical course in southwestern Arizona.

SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING LTD. plans to acquire NEWTEC GROUP NV (satcom) of Belgium for €250m ($280m).

A full-scale prototype of the Pop.Up Next fly/drive electric VTOL concept developed by Airbus with Audi and Italdesign is planned to fly in late 2020.

View the Aviation Week Forecasts: Western Military Tanker Aircraft Deliveries/Retirements 2019-2028 chart in PDF format.

A Defense Department decision to acquire 144 F-15EX aircraft rests partly on an internal cost comparison with the F-35A that assumes a long-term 51.7% advantage for Boeing’s twin-engined fighter on cost per flying hour, a Joint Staff spokesperson confirms to Aerospace DAILY.

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Startup XTI Aircraft has completed assembly of the 65%-scale proof-of-concept model for its TriFan 600 ducted-fan hyrid-electic VTOL business aircraft.

AIRBUS DEFENSE AND SPACE completed construction of Spain-led Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) in preparation for launch later this year. its TriFan 600 ducted-fan hyrid-electic VTOL business aircraft.

U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan says the executive branch will nominate the Space Force chief of staff in “weeks, not months.”

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch teamed March 29 to advance a much-delayed International Space Station (ISS) power storage battery upgrade on the port side of the six-person orbiting science lab.

The Czech Republic could be next to sign up to the program, which already has the backing of Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway.