Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The Turkish government has signed framework agreements that will kick off the domestic development of an engine for the indigenous TF-X combat aircraft.

General Dynamics Electric Boat has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division a $197 million contract modification to purchase major components and commodity material and begin advance construction on the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN 826).

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $350m U.S. Air Force contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) production support, incl. JASSM, Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, JASSM-ER, other variants.

DASSAULT’s first Rafale fighter for India performed its debut flight Oct. 30. Despite being first built, it will be the last (36th) to be delivered, serving as a technology proofing platform.

Boeing has so far not suffered significantly from the trade war between the U.S. and China, a comment by the head of the company’s Chinese operations suggests.

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions will deliver six unmanned air systems of an undisclosed type for an unnamed, “national security” customer, the company said.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) will most likely take the reins of the House Armed Services Committee. He is unconvinced the current $716 billion defense budget should stand and opposes new spending on nuclear weapons.

A JAXA resupply spacecraft departed the ISS Nov. 7 and prepared to deploy the experimental HTV-7 Small Re-entry Capsule (HSRC).

Leonardo Helicopters has issued safety directives to operators of its AW169 helicopter to inspect tail-rotor components following a fatal crash.

Roberto Battiston, who has led the Italian Space Agency since May 2014, said he was stripped of his position, effective immediately.

Two new radars exhibited this week by electronics contractor Cetc reveal a new interest in wide-area fire control sensors for Chinese fighters.

The Avic Advanced Heavy Lifter (AHL) helicopter has grown again, to the point that it is now 40% heavier than when first described nine years ago.

Chinese launcher builder Calt is studying designs for a rocket for manned missions beyond Earth orbit.

An Avic division says the JF-17 fighter is now equipped with the world’s first air-cooled radar with an active electronically scanned array (AESA).

Australia expects its Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightnings to have a maritime strike capability by the end of 2023.

Competitors will be required to conduct two separate launches to low Earth orbit within weeks of each other from two different sites.

Another round of new, stealthy-looking unmanned aircraft systems made a biannual debut at China’s largest air show, but this time with a key difference.

Elbit Systems is expected to complete the acquisition of state-owned Israel Military Industries (IMI) next week for $520 million.

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $130.4m U.S. Navy contract in support of F35 Block 4 Pre-modernization Phase II effort.

In addition to China’s Zhuhai Airshow, this week sees a flurry of planned space activity.

JLL-Midnight Sun IFMS, LLC, Kotzebue, Alaska, is awarded a $30,408,548 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operations support services at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, and outlying areas.

Seven years after Europe signed the contract to supply the service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the system arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Nov. 6.

A Soyuz launcher operated by Arianespace in Kourou, French Guiana, is to place the MetOp-C atmospheric observation satellite into orbit in a bid to further improve weather forecasts.

Studies between the ESA and European smallsat launch firm Orbex concluded that a smallsat launch site in Portugal’s Azores would be economically and technically viable.

An AVIC-owned J-10B testbed demoed in a flying display showed China’s new mastery of extreme aerial maneuverability aided by an experimental thrust vectoring control system.