Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Oct, 2

U.S. Air Force Col. Dale White, who formerly led surveillance and special operations acquisition programs, will lead the new Advanced Aircraft office.

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Pratt & Whitney will reduce the unit recurring flyaway (URF) cost of the F135 engine by 3% over a three-year ordering period for Lockheed Martin F-35s scheduled for delivery from 2020 to 2022, the company says. 

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Virgin Galactic and the Italian Air Force signed a contract Oct. 2 to train and carry three Italians into suborbital space aboard SpaceShipTwo to conduct research experiments in flight as soon as next year. 

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Avic is working toward flying an operational near-space, solar-powered drone in 2021, following a decision this year to proceed with a demonstrator of 50-m (164-ft.) wingspan.

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Inmarsat has signed a contract with the ESA to begin the second phase of the Iris development program to create a satellite data link capability for aircraft flying in Europe.

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China exhibited a new radar system for air and missile defense in its Oct. 1 National Day parade.

Above: Four radar vehicles, each vehicle being the fourth and last in its air-and-missile-defense radar unit in the parade: Hefei provincial government.

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The U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 is being developed as a carrier-based aerial refueler, but an intelligence agency is showing interest in the unmanned aircraft system for a maritime surveillance role.

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Helicopter component developer DART Aerospace has acquired aerial firefighting equipment developer Simplex Aerospace.

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