Andre Turcat, who died this week at 94, was the test pilot on Concorde’s first flight, the highlight of his aviation career, then chose to retire at 54, going on to excel in other fields.
Scientists prepare to save dollars for research; officials call for increased missile defense presence after North Korean test; and the FAA signs up 181,000 small UAS owners.
U.S. Air Force eyes GPS satellite options; ULA stocks up on Russian engines; Lockheed wins C-130 multiyear contract; India test-fires the Barak-8 missile.
The defense ministry’s awarding of the contract to KAI was the company’s second big win for 2015. Far more than the first, for the LCH-LAH helicopter, the KF-X should be transformative for the company.
The European launch consortium, which today lifts more than half of the world’s communications satellites, says the recent successful recovery of a Falcon 9 core stage is only the first step for SpaceX in reusing the already-low-cost rocket.
Near-to-eye display systems available to military pilots will soon be available to the civilian side in a condensed, lower-cost evolution of head-up display technology.
The Office of Naval Research’s Laser Weapon System Demonstrator will be designed to protect the U.S. Navy’s DDG-51 Flight 2 destroyers from unmanned aircraft and swarming small boats.
From the commercial-aircraft ramp-up and small-UAV explosion to U.S. defense budget pressures and Europe’s response to Russian aggression, 2016 will be a dynamic year for the aerospace and defense industry.
Humans remain at the heart of the Pentagon’s evolving strategy to restore U.S. conventional deterrence, but machines will play a key and increasing role from intelligence analysis to combat operations.
