NASA has picked five major U.S. satellite manufacturers to conduct four-month concept studies for a large Mars orbiter that would use solar electric propulsion (SEP) to reach the Red Planet after a launch as early as the planetary window in 2022.
Hundreds of senior air force officers have been arrested for their alleged role in the attempt to overthrow the Turkish government, which has left nearly 300 civilians and military personnel dead.
LEONARDO-FINMECCANICA secured two customers in Middle East and Gulf region for Falco EVO long-endurance UAV. MAHINDRA AEROSTRUCTURES has contract from AIRBUS to make airframe parts for AS565 MBe Panther offering to Indian navy. Parts to be produced in Bengaluru. LEONARDO-FINMECCANICA will provide SIT-422/5J Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system for Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) under subcontract to Japanese prime.
Adm. John Richardson, the U.S. chief of naval operations (CNO), is scheduled to visit China July 17-20 to meet with People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commander Adm. Wu Shengli, the U.S. Navy says. This is Richardson’s first visit to China as CNO and will be the first in-person meeting for the two leaders. While in Beijing, Richardson is scheduled to visit PLAN headquarters and meet with other senior Chinese defense officials.
Global Strike chief Gen. Robin Rand says switching to a new powerplant would dramatically lower the cost of fuel and tanker support while adding range.
Northrop Grumman is to help subcontractor Triumph Group with the transition to production of the composite wing for the MQ-4C Triton following manufacturing challenges.
The short-term congressional bill extending FAA funding to the end of September 2017 directs the agency to continue opening U.S. airspace to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The legislation also directs the agency to quantify and mitigate potential hazards posed by UAS in airspace around airports.
In an effort to make the V-22 more appealing to potential international buyers, the U.S. Navy is offering European countries the option to share logistics support in a joint buy of the costly tiltrotor aircraft.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter sent a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on July 14 for their consideration during a conference on the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook says.
The aviation-centric class amphibious assault ship (LHA 6) USS America is showcasing its flexibility at the Rim of Pacific (Rimpac) exercise off the Hawaiian coast.
The U.S. should stay the course with the Space Launch System exploration rocket and Orion crew capsule to underpin NASA’s human deep-space exploration ambitions, while fostering a growing commercial presence in low Earth orbit as the U.S. undergoes a transition in presidential administrations, industry and government veterans say.
U.S. Air Combat Command chief Gen. Herbert Carlisle says there is strong interest among potential and existing Lockheed Martin F-35 operators to furnish more aircraft.
BAE Systems has begun flight tests of a Eurofighter Typhoon fitted with the Captor-E active electronically-scanned array (AESA), or so-called “e-scan” radar.
The head of U.S. Air Combat Command (ACC) has called for the development of “a new counter-air aircraft” as part of a future family of air superiority weapons that would include a long-range successor to the mid-range Raytheon AIM-120 Amraam air-to-air missile.
The U.S. Air Force is estimating the cost of upgrading 36 early-model Lockheed Martin F-22As used for training at Tyndall AFB in Florida as it also seeks estimates for restarting Raptor production.
The U.S. Air Force is moving forward with production and testing of an “improved lethality” bomb body designed to rain down iron fragments as a fearsome substitute for cluster munitions.
Bell Helicopter and India’s Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) have formally agreed to work together on future potential commercial and military helicopter requirements in India.
THALES introduced catapult-launched Fulmar X carbon-fiber composite small UAV system at Farnborough, designed for military and civil surveillance missions incl. border surveillance, natural disasters, illegal traffic monitoring. NORDAM has subcontract from NORTHROP GRUMMAN to manufacture three major structural components for F-35 center fuselage. RAYTHEON and U.S. Navy have completed all operational tests for Joint Standoff Weapon C-1 guided glide weapon variant, clearing way for initial operational capability
Consultancy Visiongain forecasts the Military Augmented Reality market will reach $1.3 billion in 2016 and continue to grow. “Military Augmented Reality has been a feature of aerial vehicles in the form of Heads-Up Displays and Helmet Mounted Displays for a number of decades,” Visiongain says. “However, integrating Augmented Reality into Helmets or smart glasses for dismounted soldiers is an incredibly new and embryonic market and one that will grow considerably over the next decade.”
A Silicon Valley startup plans to send an experiment in fiber-optics manufacturing to the International Space Station next year in a bid to make to the first commercial products that require microgravity for their creation, and sell them at prices higher than the cost of launch.
