Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Brian Everstine
The Royal Canadian Air Force is moving ahead on operational plans for its future Remotely Piloted Air Systems program, though it has work to do to determine how to analyze the data the future aircraft will collect.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
U.S. Air Forces Central Command is standing up a new unit and designating funding to find new, cheaper ways to incorporate small drones for broad air surveillance, following a model that the U.S. Navy is using for maritime surveillance.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Mark Carreau
Intuitive Machines LLC and Inflection Point Acquisition Corp., a New York-based special purpose acquisition company, announced a merger agreement Sept. 16.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has extended its cooperative agreement with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space for management of research aboard the U.S. National Laboratory portion of the International Space Station through 2027.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Poland has closed deals worth $3 billion with South Korea to purchase FA-50 light combat aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Brazil’s Navy and Air Force are to receive new Airbus H125 light helicopters for rotary-wing training.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Steve Trimble, Chen Chuanren
Japanese and U.S. defense officials have agreed to accelerate collaboration on manned-unmanned teaming and consider partnering on counter-hypersonic defenses, the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo says.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Guy Norris
Eviation Aircraft is set to begin high-speed taxi tests of the all-electric Alice aircraft in coming days as part of final preparations for first flight, says the company’s new CEO, Greg Davis.
Business Aviation

By Mark Carreau
Scientists are increasingly grateful for the surprises that NASA’s Perseverance rover has discovered at Jezero Crater on Mars and the prospect that samples can determine whether they supported long-ago biological activity.
Space

By Garrett Reim
AeroVironment has unveiled a visual-based navigation system for its Puma 2 AE and Puma 3 AE reconnaissance drones for situations when GPS signals are jammed or disrupted.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Electric Power System has secured another battery pack supply contract in the emerging electric aircraft market with its selection to provide the energy storage system for Ampaire’s hybrid-electric Eco Caravan conversion of the Cessna Caravan single-turboprop utility aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Jen DiMascio
It is time for the U.S. to move the management of traffic in space (STM) from the Defense Department to the Commerce Department, the three-star deputy commander of U.S. Space Command says.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The nominee to lead the U.S. military’s nuclear force repeatedly punted when pressed by lawmakers on whether he would support the new, low-yield, submarine-launched nuclear missile that has become controversial on Capitol Hill and opposed by the Biden administration.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force’s newest refueler, the Boeing KC-46, has flown its first combat refueling sortie as part of an exercise to employ the tanker downrange before it is officially operational.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
Lockheed Martin will connect its Speed Racer flight vehicle with an F-35 in flight tests as a way to demonstrate autonomy and crewed-uncrewed teaming for future Pentagon programs such as the U.S. Air Force’s and Navy’s planned collaborative combat aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Live drone flights under a European project to validate the use of autonomous aircraft for emergency medical services are planned to begin in Stavanger, Norway, on Sept. 21.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Air Force’s fast jet training output is being impacted by an engine issue on its Hawk T2 jet trainers.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Bill Carey
The FAA has awarded Raytheon Intelligence & Space an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with a ceiling of $375 million over 10 years to upgrade the Wide Area Augmentation System space-based precision navigation system.
Business Aviation

By Graham Warwick
Detroit startup Airspace Experience Technologies has completed the first hover flight of its proof-of-concept Sigma Six, a tiltwing electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle with interchangeable plug-and-play payloads for defense, emergency response, cargo and passenger transport missions.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Chen Chuanren
For its recent Mission Pegase 2022 exercise, the French Air and Space Force demonstrated its ability to reinforce New Caledonia, conduct satellite communications and engage a simulated invasion force.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Thierry Dubois
The goal of having a European constellation enter into service in late 2024 appears ambitious at best.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Air Canada has placed a preorder for 30 of the aircraft, now called the ES-30.
Aerospace

By Chen Chuanren
The high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) aircraft is the first of seven MQ-4C Triton that Australia has acquired in its drive to increase maritime domain awareness.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
The testing marks a major step toward the U.S. startup’s goal of developing a fully reusable, rapid turn-around rocket vehicle.
Commercial Space

By Garrett Reim
DARPA has announced its Steerable Optical Aperture Receivers program, an effort to identify promising new approaches to optical beam steering in miniature form for use in laser communications or LiDAR.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare