BOEING has $591m U.S. Army contract for 35 AH-64E Apaches under full-rate production Lot 5. Estimated completion date is July 31. SLOVAKIA’s proposed purchase of 9 SIKORSKY UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related systems/support for $450m was approved by U.S. State Dept. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the sale Feb. 18.
Deployed in short order last year to bolster international operations against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria, Australia’s highly modern Air Task Group (ATG) is a compact bellwether of an air force in transition.
BAE Systems is promoting the armed version of its Hawk trainer at the Aero India air show as a possible conversion for India, which has ordered 123 of the type.
The program’s Integrated Science Instrument Module team says it has overcome a series of challenges plaguing all four of the module’s instruments, as well as a cryocooler subsystem that supports the Mid-Infrared Instrument.
Upgrades to Lockheed Martin’s workhorse A2100 satellite bus are reflected in a shrinking footprint on the ground, as the company consolidates its production facilities to meet a goal of cutting the cost of the spacecraft by 35% and delivery time by 25%.
France and Russia have signed a cooperative agreement that could see France send a life-sciences experiment into space on Russia’s next Bion capsule, set for launch in 2019, and to explore the possibility of flying a French instrument on Russia’s Interhelioprobe solar mission in 2020.
Nearly three decades after its first flight – but only three months since talks between France and Egypt began – the Dassault-built Rafale has garnered its first export sale.
“I appreciate the progress made in securing funding for LPD 28, but our team will not rest until that ship is under contract,” says Michael Petters, CEO of HII, which would build the ship.
Engine manufacturer Snecma and India’s state-run airframer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) are exploring a joint venture for the production of aero-engine parts in India.
The European fleet operator plans to be the first customer to launch atop an upgraded version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which is expected to fly a more powerful Merlin 1D engine as early as the second quarter of this year.
Purdue University is expanding its propulsion laboratory for research directed at reducing fuel consumption and emissions for the next generation of jet engines.
The postponement came after the U.S.-led Mission Management Team on Feb. 19 cleared the use of spacesuits with air and cooling water circulation components similar to those that have displayed recent problems.
Lockheed Martin’s top Skunk Works official says the Air Force should consider starting a new unmanned aircraft program to formally replace the U-2 rather than pouring more money into the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk as a replacement.
The new Airbus Helicopters Polska facility at Lodz is located near the site of the Polish Military Aviation Works No. 1 - known as WZL 1 where Airbus plans to build an assembly line for the EC725 helicopter if it is successful in winning the deal for 70 new multi-mission helicopters to be used for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue and troop transport.
India’s state-owned airframer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) will soon establish a new facility to make military and civilian helicopters for the Indian and global markets.
Not only do recent U.S. Navy shipboard laser tests show the technology’s potential, but they provide a glimpse of the equipment for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), says Robert Afza, a senior fellow at Lockheed Martin specializing in directed energy.
While Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has contracts in hand and the U.S. Navy has funds requested in its fiscal 2016 spending plan for the refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) of CVN 73 USS George Washington, the fight to finish the job is far from over, HII President and CEO Michael Petters says.
RAYTHEON has $15.5m U.S. Navy contract to develop flexible application-based architecture (ABA) for P-8A to handle third-party software. AIRBUS GROUP is negotiating to sell CIMPA (PLM services) to SOPRA STERIA to refocus on core aeronautical activities.
Results from the first spaceflight test of NASA’s Orion crew capsule will drive the design of the production version of the vehicle that prime contractor Lockheed Martin hopes to build through the 2020s and beyond.
