Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Jay Menon
An Indian air force (IAF) An-32 aircraft with 29 people on board went missing over the Bay of Bengal on July 22.
Defense and Space

By Graham Warwick
A full-scale prototype of Facebook’s stratospheric solar-powered unmanned aircraft, designed to provide Internet access in remote regions, has entered flight testing in South Africa.

The F-35 fighter jets operated by partner nations and international customers, including Turkey, will eventually be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a top Air Force general confirmed July 21.
Defense and Space

The Obama administration’s recapitalization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal could grow to consume 6-7% of annual defense spending in the early 2020s as the Pentagon retools its strategic force, including a replacement cruise missile and intercontinental ballistic missile.
Defense and Space

More Rafale export contracts are in the offing but are taking time to materialize, causing Dassault Aviation to strive to adjust the fighter’s production rate.
Defense and Space

By Marhalim Abas
Malaysia will stage two simultaneous separate exercises with the U.S. military, apparently for the first time. The two exercises are Cope Taufan 2016 and Keris Strike 2016.
Defense and Space

The fixed-price development contract Boeing offered to win the KC-X competition over Airbus in 2011 continues to haunt the company as its pre-tax losses for development top $2 billion.
Defense and Space

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $241.8m U.S. Navy contract for procurement of diminishing manufacturing sources electronic components for ...

Adm. John Richardson, U.S. chief of naval operations (CNO), visited Chinese North Sea Fleet headquarters on July 20 to meet with ...

By Michael Bruno
Boeing late July 21 announced after-tax charges totaling $2.1 billion, including $393 million on the U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker and $847 million on the 787.
Defense and Space

By Jay Menon
India is getting ready to test launch a scramjet engine next week—the second in a series of trials aimed at developing a reusable launch vehicle.
Defense and Space

The U.S. Air Force is contemplating pursuing a low-end, light attack “OA-X” aircraft to augment the A-10 Warthog in a close-air support role, while simultaneously aiming for a more robust replacement, dubbed “A-X2,” down the line.
Defense and Space

By Graham Warwick
A full-scale prototype of Facebook’s stratospheric solar-powered unmanned aircraft, designed to provide Internet access in remote regions, has entered flight testing in South Africa.
Defense and Space

The first aircraft equipped with the Advanced Display Core Processor II took to the skies over Eglin AFB in Florida for the first time on July 8, successfully completing a 2-hr. 53-min. test flight.
Defense and Space

By Angus Batey
The U.S. Marine Corps has taken an unusual approach to backfilling their front-line squadrons to cover delays to the F-35B: the Corps is raiding the boneyard to bring some retired fighters back into service.
Defense and Space

Lockheed Martin says it recently conducted a successful controlled flight test of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (Lrasm) surface-launch variant from the Self Defense Test Ship at Point Mugu Sea Range, California.
Defense and Space

Protracted negotiations between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin over the next batches of F-35s are weighing on the company’s cash flow, with Lockheed forced to use internal funding to pay suppliers that have already begun work on the lot 9 and 10 jets.
Defense and Space

By Angus Batey
Last weekend’s NATO summit had its security provided, in part, by ground-based air-defense equipment and personnel from the Norwegian air force, which deployed Nasams (Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) teams to Poland.
Defense and Space

LOCKHEED MARTIN is competing to build Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor for ...

Adm. John Richardson, U.S. chief of naval operations, met with People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Commander ...

View the Leader Spotlight: Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin Chairwoman, President and CEO document in PDF format.

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 4 USS Coronado proved it can fire a Harpoon over-the-horizon (OTH) missile, but the ship shot missed the target, says Cmdr. Scott Larson, vessel commanding officer.
Defense and Space

Blue Origin has found its design for a one-chute-out landing of its New Shepard capsule worked as planned, and SpaceX is negotiating for a customer to ride a used Falcon 9 launch vehicle to orbit, as the two companies’ efforts to lower the cost of launch by reusing spacecraft gain steam.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
An asteroid at least 10 times more massive than originally estimated appears responsible for a prominent impact site on the Moon known as the Imbrium Basin.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The ninth NASA-contracted SpaceX Dragon resupply mission capsule rendezvoused with the International Space Station early July 20, moving within range of the orbiting science laboratory’s outstretched Canadian-built robot arm.
Defense and Space