Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Guy Norris
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has selected Swiss-based H55 to supply battery systems for the engine maker’s regional hybrid-electric flight demonstrator program.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Airbus Helicopters believes that NATO demands for a 220-kt. cruise speed for a future medium transport helicopter could drive maximum take-off weights of up to 17 metric tons.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The UK Defense Ministry has launched its long-awaited competition to acquire a new fleet of medium helicopters consolidating several rotary-wing types currently in service.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Space Force is meeting with industry representatives in a different way, to see what will be possible for the migration of tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to orbit.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The Space Development Agency has issued a draft solicitation for its Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System, outlining plans to use an Other Transaction Authority acquisition strategy to buy 12 space vehicles.
Space

By Irene Klotz
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was rolled out to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 18 in preparation for a launch attempt at 6:54 p.m. EDT May 19.
Space

By Irene Klotz
SpaceX sent its 47th batch of Starlink satellites into orbit on May 18, marking the company’s third launch within five days.
Space

By Brian Everstine
Lockheed Martin announced another new production site for its LMXT refueling tanker it is offering to the U.S. Air Force, as it increases its pitch for the uncertain KC-Y competition.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Garrett Reim
Searching for an alternative to GPS-based timing, DARPA has launched its H6 program, an effort to develop ultra-small, low-power, fieldable clocks that can maintain their timing precision for one week.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The notional concept for the Liberty Lifter program shows a twin-fuselage design similar to the North American F-82 and the Stratolaunch Roc.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Aurora Flight Sciences has completed wind-tunnel tests of a candidate X-plane for a DARPA program to demonstrate a novel aircraft configuration enabled by active flight control.
Emerging Technologies

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force has decided to not renew an ongoing contract with Draken International for adversary air training at Nellis AFB, Nevada, because it has determined the contractor’s jets can no longer provide the effective training it needs.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Mark Carreau
Science operations aboard NASA’s Mars InSight lander are expected to stop by late summer rather than year-end due to an accumulation of dust on the lander’s two circular solar arrays.
Space

By Garrett Reim
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has granted contracts to two companies for development of two types of spacecraft nuclear propulsion: a compact fusion system and a next-generation radioisotope system.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The U.S. has entered a space race with China that rivals that of the Cold War era with the Soviet Union, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told House lawmakers May 17.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force’s abridged plan to buy just six EC-37B Compass Call aircraft is not enough to meet the mission, and service officials say they are closely watching the availability of both Gulfstream G550s and their Rolls-Royce engines to see when more could be bought to fill the gap.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
The reveal of the ColdFire system, which is driven by a 450-hp. M250 turbine engine, shines a light on a critical technology often overshadowed by new advances in laser weapons.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force now expects the first flight of the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber in 2023 as the service prepares for a public rollout later this
Defense and Space

By Chen Chuanren
China conducted the first test flights of the AVIC AC313A civil heavy-lift helicopter on May 17 and plans to certify the type within the country’s 14th five-year plan of 2021-25.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A Raytheon/Kord team has demonstrated that a Stryker combat vehicle-mounted, 50-kW laser weapon system can shoot-down 60-mm mortars and drones, during
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
The successful, hypersonic speed test at up to Mach 5 by the booster finally clears the way for the Air Force to attempt a series of tests of the high lift-to-drag, hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) at the heart of ARRW program.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
How a yearly series of experiments in the Utah desert is preparing the Army to incorporate drone swarms into future operations.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Garrett Reim
The space vehicle is schedule to launch into orbit in October via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter 6 rideshare mission, the company said May 16.
Space

Japan reportedly is considering switching the contractor providing integration support for the F-X fighter development from Lockheed Martin to BAE Systems.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force is moving forward on determining the requirements and acquisition strategy for its possible KC-Y “bridge tanker,” as the service’s top leader says a competition is looking less likely.
Multi-Mission Aircraft