LOCKHEED MARTIN has $471m U.S. Army foreign military sales contract for guided Multiple Launch Rocket System full-rate production 12 for alternative warhead (2,868 rockets); unitary warhead (648 rockets); low-cost reduced-range practice rocket (370 pods); and integrated logistics support for Finland, France, Germany, and Singapore. ROSTEC says it may sign contract with China’s AVIC for Advanced Heavy Lifter Helicopter by year’s end.
Defense Secretary James Mattis says the Pentagon will look to grow 3-5% annually through 2023, saying it is necessary to preserve the nation’s competitive advantage. The growth started with the Trump administration’s request for a $30 billion fiscal 2017 supplemental, is included in the fiscal 2018 budget and will be supported in the years beyond by a military strategy currently in the works, Mattis says. But while the increase is music to the ears of many in the defense industry, smart companies might not want to plan on continued growth.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. For a complete list of Aviation Week Network’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) June 20-22—Earth Observation Summit 2017, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For more information go to http://www.spaceagenda.com/future-events/
The Pentagon is working to restore the deconfliction line with Russia for safer air operations over Syria in the wake of the Sukhoi Su-22 shootdown on June 18.
By leveraging advances in telescope optics and computing, the B612 Foundation’s new Asteroid Institute (AI) expects to dramatically increase the discovery of small asteroids that still pose a threat to Earth.
The U.S. Air Force is taking steps to rebuild pilots’ confidence in the F-35’s oxygen system at an Arizona Air Force base as the aircraft remains grounded through at least June 20.
The Syrian Armed Forces have warned the U.S. of “serious repercussions” after a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet belonging to the U.S. Navy shot down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22.
The Missile Defense Agency has begun exploring potential high-altitude, long-durance UAVs capable of destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles in the boost phase with an airborne laser weapon.
Russian Helicopters has not brought any of its rotorcraft to Le Bourget this year. But a few weeks before the Paris Air Show, the Russian manufacturer reported the first horizontal flight of its newest Kamov Ka-62 medium twin.
IAI MLM will supply the Israel Air Force the latest generation of EHUD air combat maneuvering instrumentation pods, to be carried on conventional fighter jets.
With the delivery by Leonardo of the 500th Eurofighter to the Italian air force, production of the multinational combat aircraft is entering its twilight years. Work is now underway to further slow production rates in a bid to be ready for potential future customers.
The FAA has granted a supplemental type certificate (STC) for an updated digital avionics and cockpit for L3 Technologies’ AT-802L Longsword surveillance/light attack aircraft.
The new position is part of USAF Secretary Heather Wilson’s push to “integrate, normalize and elevate” space within the Air Force and wider Defense Department.
NASA’s Orion program will spend several weeks assessing performance and engineering data from Orbital ATK’s Utah desert test firing on June 15 of the Launch Abort System motor.
Assembling a spacecraft in space appears to be a continuing option for China’s proposed manned lunar missions, one that would avoid the need to build an enormous Moon rocket.
The vice chief of naval operations expects U.S. Navy student pilots grounded for months due to a spate of hypoxia-like cockpit incidents in the T-45 trainer will return to flight in the next few weeks.
The clocks on the first spacecraft in India’s navigation satellite constellation have encountered technical problems, putting at risk the country’s plans to make the system available for public use by early next year.
