Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Lee Hudson
For the first time, Raytheon Technologies subsidiary Collins Aerospace and the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency have agreed to a performance-based contract structure that allows the team to forecast future gearbox repair parts and spares needed for U.S. Air Force B-2 and F-16 aircraft.
Supply Chain

By Tony Osborne
Thirty years since the U.S. Army retired the Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe, Erickson is looking to offer a more capable version of the helicopter for use by the U.S. military.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Russian Helicopters is on its way to securing the first foreign investment in its VTR500 light single rotorcraft program run through its VR-Technologies subsidiary.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Army has made an unspecified investment in an Air Force Research Laboratory-developed high power microwave weapon against drone swarms, AFRL
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
The move activates the final assembly line nearly 29 months after the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $9.2 billion contract to supply 351 jets and 46 simulators to replace the Northrop T-38C Talon.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Irene Klotz
The buildup of Launch Complex 36 (LC36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for Blue Origin’s upcoming New Glenn reusable orbital booster is nearing completion, Scott Henderson, vice president of test and flight operations, said Feb. 23.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Asked during an event by the Center for Strategic and International Studies about the Next Generation Interceptor, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff cited the program as a growing concern about competitiveness and resilience in the defense industry.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
Aireon’s space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is to be used to monitor helicopter operations off Norway’s coastline.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
A yearlong study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) stresses an urgency for assessing two nuclear propulsion options if the U.S. is to lead a multiyear human expedition to Mars in the late 2030s.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The 41-kg (90-lb.) N-Raven is advertised with the ability to carry 10-15 kg payloads for up to 250 km at a cruise speed of 180 km/hr.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Redwire, a busy private equity funded space rollup, announced Feb. 23 it had acquired Deployable Space Systems, a provider of deployable solar arrays, structures and mechanisms for space applications.
Commercial Space

By Thierry Dubois
After delays due to a launch failure and the COVID-19 crisis, Avio is proceeding with the development of an upgraded version of its light launcher, Vega C, planning on a three-year transition over 2021-24.
Commercial Space

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Russia intends to accelerate launch trials for its new Angara rockets.
Space

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Navy is to use Saab’s remote air traffic control tower technology to manage a remote satellite airfield in Cornwall.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
A trial to use cargo drones to carry medical supplies and samples in western Scotland has been extended and expanded.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Irene Klotz
NASA has delayed the planned Feb. 25 full-duration hot fire of the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage due to a faulty valve in the system that supplies liquid oxygen to one of the vehicle’s four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and pediatric cancer survivor, will fly along with entrepreneur and pilot Jared Isaacman on a chartered SpaceX Crew Dragon flight.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
“This is the first time we’ve been able to actually capture an event like the landing of a spacecraft of Mars,” JPL Director Michael Watkins said at a Feb. 22 news conference.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A decade of durability and fatigue testing revealed that 30 parts on the F-35B could fail between 2,000 and 4,000 flight hours, or far short of the 8,000 flight hour service life required in the original development contract awarded to Lockheed in 2001.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The Defense Department inspector general is launching a probe into the U.S. Air Force’s decision to select Alabama as the home of U.S. Space Command headquarters.
Space

By Tony Osborne
European missile manufacturer MBDA and Emirati defense firm Tawazun have signed agreements that could lead to the joint design and development of the SmartGlider family of glide bombs.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Bill Carey
Transport Canada has issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring Bell 505 operators to conduct a one-time inspection of the helicopter’s collective stick to detect evidence of cracking.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The Israeli government has confirmed it will acquire a third squadron of Lockheed Martin F-35s as well as heavy-lift helicopters and advanced munitions as part of its new arms procurement program to update the Israeli Defense Forces.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
Northrop Grumman’s 15th NASA-contracted Cygnus resupply mission successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) early Feb. 22, enabling astronauts on board to grapple the freighter and its 8,400 lb. cargo with the orbiting lab’s Canadian robot arm.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Emirati defense company Edge Group has unveiled a range of indigenously developed loitering munitions and a surface-launched anti-ship missile, demonstrating local advances in weapons development.
Missile Defense & Weapons