Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

China’s defense budget will grow more slowly than the economy in 2018 for a third straight year, official figures suggest.

L3 TECHNOLOGIES acquired minority stake in Dallas-based PEAK NANO OPTICS, LLC (nanotechnology optics).

France’s armed forces ministry launched a program on Feb. 28 to renew the country’s fleet of electronic intelligence aircraft with three special-mission Falcon jets.

View the Aviation Week Forecasts: Western Trainer/Light Fighter Deliveries And Retirements: 2018-2027 chart in PDF format.

The Pentagon advanced research agency plans to launch a program, called Blackjack, in fiscal 2019 to leverage commercial mass-production capabilities to demonstrate a proliferated smallsat constellation in low Earth orbit that can constantly keep track of “very large numbers” of targets.

The European Space Agency's Inspector General is satisfied with the action plan ArianeGroup and Arianespace presented to correct the problems identified after the Ariane 5's trajectory mishap last month.

Government auditors are warning the NASA-led James Webb Space Telescope is exhausting schedule and cost reserves.

The general in charge of U.S. Strategic Command is calling for improved threat tracking and missile defense capabilities as Russia unveils new nuclear weapons.

The state manufacturer of China’s Long March 5 space launcher, Casc, says it has determined the fault that caused the rocket’s failure on its second flight.

The Philippines National Police air unit is expected to return to the skies in June after delivery of a Bell 429 Global Ranger light twin-engine helicopter.

British helicopter operator Babcock will become a launch customer for the Airbus H160 medium twin-engine helicopter.

A rocket that Chinese state space contractor Casc hails as a low-cost space launcher is now due to fly in 2020, a little later than previously expected.

Boeing has begun a three-year program in Australia to develop technologies for autonomous vehicles and deepen its understanding of how to satisfy regulators.

LOCKHEED MARTIN broke ground on new $350m, 266,000-sq.-ft. satellite production factory in Denver, due for completion in 2020.

Russia’s Soyuz MS-06 capsule descended to a wintry landing in Central Kazakhstan on Feb. 27 at 9:31 p.m. EST, ending a 168-day mission.

​View the Defense Market Intelligence Notes in PDF format.

GOES-S was launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral on March 1.

Airbus will build a second commercial helicopter in the U.S. to support a niche emergency medical services (EMS) market.

Lockheed Martin says its future satellite factory near Denver is on track for completion in 2020 as planned.

Terrafugia has revealed details of two hybrid vertical takeoff and landing urban mobility and cargo transport study concepts at Heli-Expo in Las Vegas.

Raytheon has been selected by Lockheed Martin to produce electro-optical distributed aperture systems (EO-DAS) for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

Lockheed Martin’s high-energy fiber laser technology has scored another success.

What if a warfighter could install an antenna on his F-16 and establish a commercial internet connection?

Darpa’s director has confirmed that the U.S. will flight test operational prototypes of a weapon similar to the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic strike missile.

Airbus has signed a strategic partnering agreement with Blade, a move it believes will help it better understand the fledgling urban air mobility business.