Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

A KC-46 equipped with a reworked boom has successfully refueled a C-17 heavy cargo aircraft, a sign that Boeing’s tanker troubles may finally be coming to an end.
Defense and Space

By Thierry Dubois
Saab CEO Håkan Buskhe is betting on reactivity at development and production levels to keep its Gripen C/D and Gripen E fighters attractive to foreign buyers.
ShowNews

Industrial researchers and entrepreneurs are finding new ways to use the International Space Station (ISS) to find profit in down-to-earth sectors far removed from the vacuum of space.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
MBDA and Boeing have completed a series of launch trials of MBDA’s Brimstone missile from Boeing’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopter.
ShowNews

If the U.S. Air Force Reserve were to request more J-model C-130s, it would likely assign them to its dual-role aerial firefighting and spraying squadrons, according to the outgoing head of the Reserve, Lt. Gen. James Jackson.
Defense and Space

Selected U.S. military contracts for July 5, 2016. U.S. ARMY Camgian Microsystems Corp., Starkville, Mississippi, was awarded a $7,737,765 cost-plus-fixed-fee, incrementally funded contract for the Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict radar demonstration, integration, and advancement project. Army Contracting Command, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (W911NF-16-C-0086).

By Jen DiMascio
As Boeing looks to replicate success in maintenance and upgrades, the head of Boeing Defense’s Global Services and Support division sees growth ahead for his business, whether in the U.S. or abroad.
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SIERRA NEVADA CORP. completed ISS Integration Certification Milestone 1 for Dream Chaser Cargo System under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract, securing agency approval of plan for six space station cargo deliveries during 2019-2024. RAYTHEON has $1.1m grant from U.S. Army Research Laboratory to develop Scalable, Agile, Multimode, Front End Technology (SAMFET) for Next Generation Radar program. THALES and ELETTRONICA signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore joint initiatives and pursue business opportunities in electronic warfare.

This week all eyes are on the U.K. as the Farnborough International Airshow unfolds. Also this week, the International Space Station R&D conference gets underway in San Diego. Meanwhile in Washington, the House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) tacair subcommittee on Wednesday afternoon will discuss “Air Dominance and the Critical Role of Fifth Generation Fighters” with Gen. Herbert Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command. At the same time, the HASC oversight subcommittee will review the European Reassurance Initiative with witnesses including Maj. Gen.

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Space Launch System could become a key player in plans to develop and deploy future generations of space-based observatories equipped to unlock the mysteries of the universe and seek out Earth-like planets around other stars, according to House panel testimony.
Defense and Space

The outgoing U.S. Air Force Reserve chief says modernization of reservist Lockheed Martin 16s needs to keep pace with that of active-duty and Air National Guard fighters as the air branch embarks on a Fighting Falcon active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar upgrade and service life extension.
Defense and Space

By Molly McMillin
Cessna Aircraft Co. is offering hard point provisions for the Cessna Grand Caravan EX, which will expand the aircraft’s versatility, the company said.
Defense and Space

Unique research assets on Japan’s Kibo space station module will enable closer cooperation between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on the International Space Station.
Defense and Space

Lockheed Martin flew its new armed UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from Poland to the Farnborough International Air Show here this week in the hope of selling the versatile technology to militaries around the world.
ShowNews

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover resumed normal operations July 11, nine days after the mechanical geologist was hobbled by what ground experts at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe is a software conflict.
Defense and Space

As Lockheed Martin’s short takeoff-vertical landing F-35B defies gravity in front of thousands of spectators in the U.K., Rolls-Royce says it has reached an agreement with F-35 engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney for 13 more LiftSystems.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
A consortium of QinetiQ and Thales have chosen Textron Airland’s Scorpion light attack aircraft as the platform for its bid into a major U.K. live flying training program.
ShowNews

An international tribunal has tilted toward the Philippines in its territorial clashes with China in the South China Sea, leaving other Asia-Pacific countries to await China’s next move and the ensuing U.S. response.
Defense and Space

UTC Aerospace Systems has been contracted to integrate its long-range MS-177 reconnaissance sensor with the U.S. Air Force’s global intelligence gathering and exploitation network as the “Syers-2” successor is readied for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.
Defense and Space

As part of an effort to market its new tiltrotor technology to potential foreign customers, Bell Helicopter unveiled a full-size mockup of its V-280 Valor on the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow July 11.
ShowNews

By Graham Warwick
General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems has received an FAA experimental certificate for its Predator C Avenger, allowing routine operations of the company-owned unmanned aircraft system in the U.S. national airspace system.
Defense and Space

By Michael Bruno
A coming wave of low Earth orbit satellite constellations will force a step change in satellite manufacturing, with builders having to become more “industrial-like,” according to a July report from global business advisory firm AlixPartners.
Defense and Space

By Guy Norris
FARNBOROUGH—Lockheed Martin is marketing its LM-100J civil Hercules variant in tandem with the newly unveiled LMH-1 cargo carrying hybrid airship as part of the company’s broader strategic initiative to grow its commercial aerospace business.
ShowNews

By Joe Anselmo
A collapse in oil and gas prices that has choked off demand for commercial helicopters has been harsher than anticipated, says Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, but she stands behind the company’s $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky last year from United Technologies Corp.
ShowNews

Stratcom says the test occurred at 10:28 p.m. July 8, off the coast of Sinpo, North Korea. Tracking data indicate the missile fell over the Sea of Japan.
Defense and Space