In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Aug. 10 2023

Credit: Archer.

Archer Aviation has raised a $215 million funding round led by automaker Stellantis.

Credit: USAF.

In early August, U.S. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center Digital Program Executive Officer Steven Wert detailed new measures that service officials hope will hasten the completion of 26 E-7 Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft. If successful, the ramped-up production will see the first Air Force tails inducted into service by 2027, with final deliveries in 2034.

Credit: Northrop Grumman.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to launch the two prototype satellites for its Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) system later this year to begin demonstrating its capability on orbit before transferring them to the Space Development Agency (SDA), the MDA’s executive of ground systems says.

Credit: Archer.

Archer Aviation has agreed to settle an intellectual property theft lawsuit filed against it by rival Wisk Aero for tens of millions of dollars worth of stock and an agreement to make Wisk its exclusive supplier of autonomy technology.

Credit: U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army is planning to globally deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems equipped with the most advanced Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhanced (MSE) missiles after standing up an operational combination in South Korea.

Credit: LIFT Aircraft.

U.S. startup LIFT Aircraft has signed a strategic agreement with Japanese general trading company Marubeni Corp., including a preorder option for up to 100 personal electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicles.

Credit: Timon Schneider/Alamy Stock Photo.

Canada-based CAE Inc. beat analysts’ expectations in the April-to-June quarter as its revenue rose 13% annually to C$1.05 billion ($780 million) and earnings per share reached 24 cents. 

Credit: Stratospheric Platforms.

A study by the European Union’s Frontex border agency has concluded that high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) aircraft would provide “real potential” for missions performed by the agency.