Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The Russian Air Force is preparing to seriously expand its airborne early warning capabilities, with its new A-100 AEW aircraft set to make its first flight by year’s end.

DARPA has awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a contract to demonstrate a turbine-based combined cycle engine that could power a reusable high-speed aircraft from takeoff to beyond Mach 5.

World View Enterprises Inc. has successfully demonstrated high-altitude Earth observation and communications capabilities with its Stratollite balloon and Stratocraft payload components.

Ancient hydrothermal environments on Earth have emerged as potential settings from which terrestrial life arose.

BOEING has $152.5m U.S. Navy contract for two C-40A aircraft.

U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) plans to amend his controversial bill this month.

The proposed arms package includes up to 44 Lockheed Martin Thaad launchers and 360 missiles, plus seven Raytheon TPY-2 mobile, long-range X-band radars.

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Counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) capability is seen as an urgent operational need, as cheap, off-the-shelf UAS proliferate around the globe.

The U.S. Air Force has taken the next step in its plan to transition from the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine after issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for co-investment in up to three next-generation launch vehicles.

Lockheed Martin and Rockwell Collins are beginning work on competing prototypes of the U.S. Air Force’s next intercontinental ballistic missile airborne launching system.

NASA has decided to buy three more Russian Soyuz rides for International Space Station crew ferry flights, covering missions through the fall of 2019.

The U.S. Air Force is laying the foundation for a 10-year mega contract with Raytheon Missile Systems for continued development of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile through fiscal 2032.

An Indian Air Force transport helicopter has crashed in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, killing all seven passengers and crew on board.

Safran this week inaugurated a ground testbed for a full-scale counter-rotating open-rotor engine in Istres in southeast France, marking key progress in the EU-funded demonstration program.

HEROUX-DEVTEK INC. will acquire AIRBUS subsidiary CESA (fluid mechanical and electromechanical systems) of Spain for €140m ($165m).

Russian Helicopters has delivered two Mi-35M attack helicopters to Mali under a contract with Rosoboronexport.

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An influential Washington think tank is warning of a significant deterioration of the U.S. Air Force’s fighter capacity.

Vice President Mike Pence revived the National Space Council to great fanfare at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center on Oct. 5.

“We are in early discussions with the national security community and NASA about how to certify New Glenn for their use,” company CEO Bob Smith says.

Aurora is a specialist in unmanned aircraft and autonomous systems, but also a supplier of composite aerostructures to Bell Helicopters, Sikorsky, Northrop Grumman and others.

Two spacewalkers performed maintenance on the outpost’s crucial Canadian robot arm.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) on Oct. 5 said it completed its acquisition of DigitalGlobe and announced several significant changes.

Newly established Chinese commercial space launch company Expace is using outside suppliers for much of the fabrication of its solid-propellant rockets.