Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Thales has adopted Silicon-Germanium semiconductor technology for its new airborne surveillance radar.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

Selected U.S. military contracts from the past week.
Defense and Space

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense and Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA and the European Space Agency have signed contracts with privately owned Nanoracks to use the company’s Bishop airlock, which is due to be delivered to the International Space Station next month.
Space

By Bradley Perrett
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is proposing to use improved versions of its H3 rocket as a launcher for lunar supply.
Space

By Steve Trimble, Lee Hudson
Faced with a rapidly growing Chinese Navy, the U.S. Army is seeking to adapt a land-based targeting system for a maritime strike role.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Michael Bruno
While public investors avoid A&D as effects of COVID-19 ripple across industry, private equity is rushing in.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Tony Osborne
Ukraine has already purchased Baykar Makina Bayraktar TB2 unmanned air systems from Turkey and is a partner in the development on the company’s larger Akinci medium-altitude, long-endurance platform.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
With the arrival of 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit on Oct. 18 and another 60 due to launch this week, SpaceX intends to roll out public trials of its high-speed internet service before year’s end.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The modest sample of pebbles and soil that NASA’s Osiris-Rex sample return mission will attempt to gather from the asteroid Bennu may hold important clues to how life arose on Earth and perhaps other planetary bodies.
Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is supporting the Space Development Agency by building a hardware and software testbed for optical communications to enable interoperability between different satellites.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A National Academy of Sciences committee has been formed to study the technical feasibility of the U.S. Army's Strategic Long-Range Cannon.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
Swedish defense firm Saab has taken a 1.1 billion Swedish Krona ($130 million) charge over impacts on production of the Gripen combat aircraft due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
European missile manufacturer MBDA is developing a ground-launched variant of its MICA NG air-to-air missile.
Missile Defense & Weapons

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense and Space

Aviation Week’s virtual Defense Chain conference (defensechain.aviationweek.com) is underway this week with speakers including Shawn Barnes, deputy
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has selected Intuitive Machines to launch and deliver a drill and mass spectrometer payload to the Moon by December 2022 to seek out seek out and attempt to harvest subsurface water ice at the lunar south pole for the first time.
Space

By Mark Carreau
There is promising new science on the horizon as NASA’s nimble Osiris-Rex sample return spacecraft prepares for a daring brief encounter on Oct. 20 with its distant target, the primitive asteroid Bennu.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Leonardo tests advanced integrated radar and electronic warfare system planned for UK Tempest Future Combat Aircraft System.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Irene Klotz
Here is a look at some of the commercially developed and operated hardware on the International Space Station.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
The declaration by Iran appears to open the door to re-opening arms purchases with China and Russia, but U.S. diplomats warned any such deals would trigger a new round of sanctions.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
The lack of an appropriations bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the president is forcing the U.S. Space Force to slow down some of its work.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Airbus in Spain is proposing the development of a single-engine transonic performance jet trainer that could support pilots going on to fly the European Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A video of a missile test from the Black Sea report of Sinop on Oct. 16 drew a response from the U.S. Defense Department condemning its NATO ally, if the reports of an S-400 missile firing are accurate.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
Ask the Editors: A failed joint venture around the C-390 has left doubt about future collaboration between Boeing and Embraer.
Air Dominance