In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar. 23 2023

Credit: Amprius Technologies. Amprius Technologies has introduced a 500 Wh/kg, silicon-anode, lithium-ion battery, initially for use on solar-powered, high-altitude platform stations including the Airbus Zephyr.

Credit: Malcolm Park / Alamy Stock Photo. Still in discussion between legislative bodies, the European mandate for the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) may be too modest especially compared to the U.S. mandate, Safran CEO Olivier Andries warns.

Credit: UK Royal Air Force. Boeing has begun building new infrastructure to support the operation of the UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) new fleet of E-7 airborne early warning aircraft in Scotland.

Credit: Heart Aerospace. Heart Aerospace has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of the Åland Islands to provide the Baltic island cluster with its hybrid-electric ES-30 aircraft for use in future regional and interisland passenger transport services.

Credit: USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Forty years ago in an address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan challenged the country to develop missile defenses where “we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they have reached our own soil or that of our allies.” 

Credit: Boeing. U.S. Navy officials have delayed the initial operational capability (IOC) for the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray by another 10 months, pushing the schedule for the uncrewed, carrier-based refueling aircraft to mid-2026, a new budget document shows.

Credit: Netherlands Defense Ministry. NATO’s multinational aerial refueling unit is to receive a 10th aircraft, partner nations have agreed. 

Credit: Tony Osborne/Aviation Week. Finland has begun allowing allies to conduct surveillance flights along the country’s 1,300-km border with Russia. 

Credit: Saab. Bombardier’s long-term strategy for its Defense business unit includes evolving into a role as a prime contractor of military aircraft, CEO Eric Martel said on March 23. 

Credit: Sierra Space. Sierra Space is moving on to tests of its inflatable habitat technology with hard structures inside the pressure shell after successfully completing a key monthlong test of a one-third-scale version overinflated at a constant pressure.