Defense

The UK Royal Navy has launched unmanned air systems from the flight deck of its new carrier HMS Prince of Wales.

Germany is the third European nation to choose the P-8 following the UK and Norway after awarding a $756 million contract to Boeing for five of the maritime patrol aircraft.

New data and trends indicate private-sector U.S. A&D employment topped out on the eve of pandemic and MAX crises.

As the service makes progress on its pilot shortage, it still faces racial disparities in the flying ranks.

North Korea says that it successfully launched a hypersonic missile, designated Hwasong-8, on the morning of Sept. 28.

Airbus Helicopters has been extolling the virtues of its H175 super-medium helicopter as a platform for the UK’s New Medium Helicopter with a series of demonstration flights.

RE2 Robotics has received U.S. Air Force funding to develop an autonomous system to automate certain flight line maintenance tasks during aircraft turnarounds.

CRESTVIEW AEROSPACE acquired KEMCO AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING, MO (machined components); KAL Capital advised.

KAMAN COMPOSITES-WICHITA delivered its 1,500th inlet unit for the CH-47.

The U.S. Navy recently flew its first exercise using a new Collins Aerospace-produced air combat training system, combining real-world aircraft and ships with virtual threats.

BOEING has US Navy contract to manufacture five P-8A Poseidon aircraft for GERMANY for delivery starting in 2024.

Aerospace and defense electronics specialist Mercury Systems, which is rejiggering its operations after a string of bolt-on acquisitions, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Avalex Technologies.

Griffon of New York City is looking to sell its defense electronics division, Telephonics, the company announced late Sept. 27.

Three International Space Station crewmembers inaugurated spacecraft dockings at the orbital lab’s new Russian segment Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module on Sept. 28 as they separated from the 11-year-old Rassvet Mini Research Module-1 in their Soyuz MS-18 to redock at Nauka.

China has again flexed its domestic fighter-development capabilities at the Zhuhai Airshow, this time flying the Chengdu J-20 with the locally built WS-10C turbofan as well as rolling out the Shenyang J-16D electronic warfare aircraft.

China unveiled its new Cai Hong-6 jet-powered high-altitude long-endurance (UAS, along with a number of other unmanned technologies at the 2021 Zhuhai Airshow on Sept. 28.

Requests for Quotation (RFQs) for major military aircraft program parts for the week of September 19 - September 25.

U.S. Air Force leaders signal new interest in F-35 reengining, as Pratt & Whitney and GE Aviation start testing adaptive turbofans.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out a long-term strategy for the UK to become a leading nation in space.

The U.S. Space Force is investing $24.35 million in Rocket Lab’s new medium-lift Neutron booster, with emphasis on the rocket’s upper stage for possible use in the National Security Space Launch program.

Blue Origin plans to fly its second group of passengers to suborbital space on Oct. 12.

Privately owned Terran Orbital plans to invest $300 million to build a factory at Kennedy Space Center capable of producing 1,000 small satellites per year.

Landsat 9, the latest satellite in a long-running Earth observation collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey, was successfully launched on Sept. 27 from a foggy Vandenberg Space Force Station, California.

The so-called “production smoothing” agreement establishes the likely ceiling for annual F-35 deliveries at 156 aircraft after 2023.

Isotropic Systems, a British flat-panel satellite antenna systems maker backed by Boeing and venture capitalists, says it has landed $37 million in fresh funding, enough to fully fund development of its multibeam ground antenna through expected product launch in 2022.