Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Tony Osborne
The aircraft, a public service mission version for Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police), was handed over during a ceremony at the company’s facility in Verigiate, near Milan, on Sept. 20.
Defense and Space

By Irene Klotz
“There was a high possibility that the fire spread due to the static electricity generated by oxygen dripping from the engine exhaust port during the propellant filling operation,” MHI said in a statement Sept. 20.
Defense and Space

By Michael Bruno
The proposed regulations bolster the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews certain transactions involving foreign investment in America to determine the effect of such transactions on national security.
Defense and Space

By Lee Hudson
The Pentagon says a continuing resolution would delay implementation of new technology development and procurement efforts such as the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW).
Defense and Space

By Adrian Schofield
AirAsia has rolled out the first eight aircraft with a new onboard Wi-Fi system which it intends to deploy across the rest of its narrowbody and widebody fleets.
Defense and Space

By Steve Trimble
A test asset for the MQ-25 unmanned tanker completed the first test flight on Sept. 19 at an airport in Illinois, the U.S. Navy and Boeing announced.
Defense and Space

By Steve Trimble
The first MQ-4C Triton deployment overseas appears set to begin within weeks.
Defense and Space

The UK government is to provide 50% of the cost of a 30-month, £18 million ($23.3 million) demonstrator project to convert the nine-passenger Britten-Normal Islander to hybrid-electric propulsion for short-range flights such as inter-island routes.

By Jen DiMascio
The new acting director of the Space Development Agency anticipates the release of its first draft solicitation “imminently.”
Defense and Space

By Bill Carey
Alphabet company Wing has named courier and retail partners for its first drone delivery service in the U.S., scheduled to launch next month in Christiansburg, Virginia.

By Lee Hudson
The House voted 301-123 on Sept. 19 to pass a stopgap continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded through Nov. 21, and the Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week.
Defense and Space

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation Sept. 18 that would bar the federal government from purchasing Chinese-made drones.
Defense and Space

By Bill Carey
Three small U.S. drone manufacturers are mounting a buy-American campaign, arguing that widespread use of drones made in China is suppressing the domestic industry for small unmanned aircraft types and helping to develop Chinese military capabilities.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
As it seeks to steer a transition in oversight of research and development on the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit activities to the U.S. private sector, NASA is committed to avoiding a repeat of the decision to retire the space shuttle fleet without a still-absent capability to launch its own astronauts,
Space

By Michael Bruno
New Northrop Grumman Chairman, CEO and President Kathy Warden will reorganize her company into four main divisions starting next year, the company announced late Sept. 18.
Defense and Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Air National Guard received its first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at a base in Burlington, Vermont.
Defense and Space

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force has selected the Northrop Grumman B-21 to demonstrate a potentially revolutionary approach to flightworthy software.
Program Management

By Steve Trimble
U.S. Air Force intelligence officials are conducting sweeping reviews of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets from space to the subsurface domains, says Lt. Gen. Veralinn Jamieson, deputy chief of staff for ISR and Cyber Effects Operations.
Defense and Space

By Thierry Dubois
Northrop Grumman is preparing for the first launch of its Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), a spacecraft designed to supply propulsion to in-orbit satellites that would otherwise run out of fuel.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
The Italian Air Force has signed agreements with industry and academia to explore the potential of launching small satellites from Italian combat aircraft.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Airbus has reported itself to German authorities over what it calls “potential wrongdoings” concerning two German procurement projects.
Defense and Space

ROLLS-ROYCE completed early tests of F130 engine to be offered for U.S. Air Force B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program in Indianapolis.

L3Harris Technologies has showcased its Venom adversary air mission software suite integrating air-to-air capabilities using commercial-off-the shelf components.

By Molly McMillin
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Division of Aviation has received FAA authorization to conduct Unmanned Aircraft Systems test flights at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport beginning Sept. 16.

Inmarsat and its likely new owners announced that on Sept. 16, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) confirmed that its review of the proposed acquisition is complete and that there are no unresolved national security issues.