Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

New Shepard's Dec. 12 test flight afforded the three minutes of microgravity needed for a dozen commercial, medical and educational experiments.

The U.S. is entering the second year of growth in its defense budget as it reorients to counter strategic threats from a nuclear-armed North Korea and challenges from China and Russia.

The FAA has granted Boeing an amended type certificate for the aerial refueling derivative of its 767 freighter aircraft, the 767-2C.

The Korea Aerospace Industries LCH-LAH civil and military helo is on track for prototype assembly in 2018 after the conclusion of the critical design review.

The owners of Piaggio Aerospace are investing $302 million in order to stabilize the business and complete the development of the P.1HH Hammerhead UAS.

BOEING has $7.7m U.S. Air Force contract for C-40B/C engineering support services.

The Airbus-built GOCI-II ocean color imaging instrument has completed four months of testing at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) test facility in Daejeon, South Korea.

The No. 1 and No. 3 makers of large commercial aircraft, Boeing and Embraer, are in talks to formally align, although the Brazilian government appears to be the main hurdle, the companies and financial analysts said Dec. 21. The basis of any combination remains “under discussion,” the companies said in a joint statement, and it would have to be approved by the Brazilian government and regulators, the two companies’ boards and Embraer’s shareholders.

Boeing’s attempt to double the range of its air-launched AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile has hit a snag after two attempted flight tests flopped.

Although the new stealth fighter is not yet ready to move to full-rate production, the Pentagon’s number two civilian is pressuring Lockheed Martin to drive efficiencies into the supply chain now.

The U.S. Air Force says the Boeing B-52H bomber’s Pratt & Whitney TF33-103 engine is “not sustainable past 2030” and must be replaced.

Leonardo has launched an AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missile from its M-346 as part of ongoing trials to prove the type’s light attack credentials.

A Japanese decision to acquire two U.S. Aegis Ashore systems will offer national coverage against North Korean ballistic missiles but not until 2022–23.

Airbus Helicopters has redelivered the first of 36 Tiger attack helicopters to be converted from HAP to HAD standard back to French Army Aviation.

Germany is set to make its Eurofighters operational in the ground-attack role beginning in January 2018.

India has lost 35 defense aircraft and 14 military pilots in crashes in the last three years, the government says.

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $73.3m U.S. Navy contract for one Aegis weapon system Mk. 7 in support of DDG 127.

The International Space Station (ISS) resumed six-person operations early Dec. 19, as Russia’s Soyuz MS-07 docked to deliver Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov, NASA’s Scott Tingle and Japan’s Norishige Kanai to conclude a five-day crew exchange.

NASA has narrowed from 12 to two the number of mission candidates under consideration for the agency’s fourth $1 billion New Frontiers class of planetary science missions.

The U.S. aerospace and defense industry celebrated a key victory in Washington on Dec. 20 as the Republican-controlled Congress passed a major tax overhaul.

The AFRL has tapped Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to produce swarms of autonomous cruise missiles capable of wreaking havoc on enemy air defenses.

The FAA will craft a proposed regulation from the recommendations of an advisory group that met to consider ways of remotely identifying and tracking drones.

The Irish Air Corps (IAC), one of Europe’s smallest air arms, has ordered a fleet of Pilatus PC-12s as part of its fleet modernization.

The Indian Air Force has issued a request for proposals for 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to be built by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

Restore-L, a NASA-initiated mission to demonstrate telerobotic satellite servicing technologies in low Earth orbit, has cleared its preliminary design review.