Defense and Space

By Irene Klotz
OneWeb and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have signed a letter of intent to fly OneWeb broadband satellites aboard Indian’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the heavier-lift Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from India beginning next year.
Commercial Space

Power to fuel; Electric fans; Satcom for autonomy; Advancing fuel cells; and Solar-powered autonomy.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The impacts of climate change will permeate all of the U.S. military’s plans and operations, and the Pentagon says it needs to make big changes not only to address those impacts but also to get ahead of its strategic competitors.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Michael Bruno
Rick Ambrose, Lockheed Martin’s executive vice president for space and a well-known industry veteran, will retire March 1, 2022, the company announced late Oct. 7.
Space

By Graham Warwick
EC Power has received a U.S. Air Force contract to develop a lithium-ion battery cell capable of extreme fast charging of electrified aircraft and ground vehicles.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
Italy has dropped plans to purchase the Piaggio P.1HH Hammerhead unmanned air system but will proceed with the buy of six P.180 Avanti turboprops.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Global Medical Response is buying single-engine H125s and H130s and twin-engine H135s.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The manufacturer said Oct. 8 it is working with the U.S. Army to develop a Modular Open Systems Approach for a proposed Increment 2 version of the medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system.
AUSA

By Tony Osborne, Steve Trimble
Turkey is reportedly looking to acquire Block 70-standard F-16s, and would upgrade around 80 of its Block 50 aircraft to the F-16V standard.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Oslo is to provide NOK365.6 million ($42.85 million) in equity and grants to Andoya Space, which aims to begin launches next year.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Transportation to the launch site, like everything with Webb, is complicated.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Pratt & Whitney expects a multiyear recovery from a growing engine availability crisis that has grounded dozens of F-35As.
Supply Chain

By Brian Everstine
The service has taken the lead on defeating small drones, looking at near-term acquisition and long-term development.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aerospace

By Irene Klotz
With more countries and companies eyeing missions to Mars, a U.S. National Academy of Science report recommends NASA develop and demonstrate a more nuanced, flexible approach toward meeting planetary protection protocols for landed missions, while still protecting potentially habitable zones from contamination by Earth microbes.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The Pentagon needs to both increase its spending on research and development of new technologies and be willing to reach out to partner nations to learn about advances they have made to improve its future force, a U.S. Air Force innovation leader said Oct. 7.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Affordable Multi-Beam Radar (AMBeR) adds another sensor option for the 165-lb. Integrator tactical unmanned aircraft system
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Jen DiMascio
Lockheed Martin says its proposal for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Next Generation Interceptor could be fielded as early as 2027.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
Aircraft contracted by the U.S. Defense and State Departments are increasing the pace of flight operations to carry Afghan evacuees from bases in Europe and the Middle East after operations stopped because of measles outbreaks.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A design change of the Bell 360 Invictus was driven by the release of the U.S. Army ’s list of requirements for mission systems, the company’s CEO said Oct. 7.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
A new U.S. Justice Department initiative unveiled this week could mean lawsuits against federal contractors that try to hide cybersecurity attacks, as well as rewards for whistleblowers.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Michael Bruno
CAES, the former Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions now under private equity, has announced construction of its new additive manufacturing (AM) operations in Exeter, New Hampshire, for the 3D-printed radio frequency (RF) products partnership that the U.S. company unveiled earlier this year with SWISSto12.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
A 12U cubesat housing a nearly 900-sq.-ft. solar sail system developed by NASA will launch on a Rocket Lab Electron rideshare mission in mid-2022 for a trial run in low Earth orbit.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The Space Development Agency’s transition to the U.S. Space Force should not add additional bureaucracy because the agency is already going as fast as companies can move to bring new systems to space and unnecessary oversight would slow down that process, the SDA’s leader said.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
Israel Aerospace Industries has provided more details about the features and capabilities of the Proteus Advanced Systems’ Blue Spear anti-surface missile, adapted from the company’s Gabriel V missile.
Missile Defense & Weapons