Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Taiwan has commissioned the Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) into the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing. becoming the world’s first command to operate the F-16 in the “V” standard.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Lockheed Martin has completed final assembly of the X-59 Low Boom Supersonic Demonstrator and is preparing to ship the experimental aircraft to Fort Worth for structural testing.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
U.S. Army soldiers controlled all phases of an MQ-1C’s flight using a laptop for the first time during the massive Project Convergence 21 experiment earlier this month, part of a special operations-led effort to reduce the logistics footprint needed for Gray Eagle operations.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Piotr Butowski
During the first foreign demonstration of the new Russian Sukhoi LTS Checkmate fighter at the Dubai Airshow, a program official confirmed that the Light Tactical Aircraft presented is a nonflying demonstrator intended for on-ground synchronization of construction components and equipment.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
China’s test of a fractional orbital bombardment system and a hypersonic glide vehicle over the summer should have created more of a sense of urgency within the Pentagon, but that has not happened, the No. 2 military officer says.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
Russia’s Nov. 15 test of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile, which destroyed a satellite and created a new field of debris, shows the U.S. needs to change its approach to space situational awareness away from simply tracking what debris is already in orbit to actively looking for what might be trying to evade detection and new threats, top U.S. space officials said.
Space

Asia Pacific Staff
Japan’s finance ministry is questioning the affordability of the F-X, a large twin-engine fighter to be developed by Mitsubishi with help from Lockheed Martin.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Italian manufacturer Tecnam Aircraft has launched a transition program to enable buyers to transition via the P2012 Traveller nine-passenger regional aircraft to the P-Volt all-electric version.
Emerging Technologies

By Graham Warwick
With the South Korean government making a proactive effort to commercialize urban air mobility by 2025, two consortiums have announced plans to develop and test the required ecosystem.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Mark Carreau
NASA has assigned Jessica Watkins to its Crew-4 mission, a planned April launch by Commercial Crew Program contractor SpaceX of four U.S. and European astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month tour of duty.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force wants to help the Japan Air Self-Defense Force with the development of its F-X fighter, to ensure it can be an active part of an effective defense network to protect against China.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A U.K. Lockheed Martin F-35B became the first foreign airframe to be lost Nov. 17 when the aircraft crashed and the pilot ejected into the Mediterranean Sea after takeoff from the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Ministry of Defense said.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Diehl Aerospace and Thales are to work with Airbus to develop the flight control system for Airbus’ electric vertical takeoff and landing advanced air mobility platform.
Advanced Air Mobility

A Royal Malaysian Air Force pilot was killed and another injured Nov. 16 when a BAE Hawk 108 aircraft crashed while conducting night training.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Mass drivers are a stock in trade in science fiction, a cheap and energy-efficient way to get payloads off a planet or Moon.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
The ability to deliver whole blood by unmanned aircraft over long distances to medics treating traumatic injuries in the field has been demonstrated by L3Harris and Near Earth Autonomy.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Michael Bruno
Xtend, an Israeli-linked UAV operator system startup that aims to use artificial intelligence to help extend the use and range of unmanned vehicles, has raised $20 million in Series A funding, the company announced Nov. 16.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
As urban air mobility leaders target congested cities such as Los Angeles as launch markets for air taxi services, efforts to secure convenient vertiport locations are accelerating.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Michael Bruno
Los Angeles-based Inversion, a space startup focusing on the return-to-Earth side of operations, has closed its $10 million seed round, the company announced Nov. 16.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
When there are space-related accidents on Earth, which there will be as the space economy grows, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board wants to be ready with codified procedures for investigating, according to a new announcement from officials.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Northrop Grumman said it will lead an industry team to design a lunar buggy to support NASA’s upcoming Artemis deep space exploration program.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force’s future refueling aircraft, beyond the KC-46 and upcoming bridge tanker, should get smaller, focus solely on refueling and rely more on automation to be more effective in a high-end, Pacific war scenario, a new think tank report argues.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The Air Force Research Laboratory recently awarded its largest-ever contract for space-related technology development, providing up to $1 billion to Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has awarded the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy a sole-source, $215 million contract extension for operational support of the Hubble Space Telescope. Meanwhile, the agency is also working to recover the orbital observatory’s full science operations.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Unmanned cargo-aircraft startup Elroy Air has partnered with humanitarian transport operator AYR Logistics to develop an autonomous aerial-delivery service.
Advanced Air Mobility