Defense and Space

By Irene Klotz
Launch of the United Arab Emirates’ Mars Hope mission, already twice delayed by poor weather, has been reset for no earlier than July 20.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken all but completed a long-running series of battery replacements on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) during a 6-hr. spacewalk July 16.
Space

By Tony Osborne
NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Force (NAGSF) has taken delivery of its third RQ-4D Phoenix radar-reconnaissance unmanned aircraft system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne, Bradley Perrett
Boeing is leaning on the development of its Airpower Teaming System (ATS) in its offer for the UK’s Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) initiative.
Budget, Policy & Operations

This webinar took place July 16, 2020 and was sponsored by KPMG. The U.S., Europe and the UK are chasing future combat aircraft platforms, but the
Defense and Space

By Daniel Urchick
AVIATION WEEK NETWORK estimates that at the end of 2019, there were 11,056 Western-designed helicopters performing rotary-wing transport missions
AWIN Knowledge Center

Airbus has changed the name of its U.S. military operations to Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, to emphasize its focus on bringing a variety of space
Defense and Space

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

By Michael Bruno
L3Harris leaders say their focus remains carrying out their prior plans for their merger of equals.
Aerospace

By Bradley Perrett
Actions for this year: choose contracting arrangements, a prime contractor and foreign partners, and allocate funds.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
One of the UK’s three RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft has been upgraded with a new cockpit as part of a modernization of the fleet.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
Virgin Galactic’s founding CEO George Whitesides is relinquishing daily management of the fledgling space tourism company to focus on future programs, including point-to-point hypersonic and orbital space transportation, the company said on July 15.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Australia’s military has agreed to help the U.S. Navy develop the second electronic attack pod developed for the Boeing EA-18G under the Next Generation Jammer program, U.S. and Australian officials announced on July 13.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Irene Klotz
The first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is about halfway through an eight-part Green Run test program at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, with a full-duration static firing of the booster’s four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines expected in October, Boeing Vice President and SLS Program Manager John Shannon said on July 15.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A powerful new terrain following and avoidance radar for the Bell Boeing CV-22 has entered flight testing at Eglin AFB, Florida, the service announced on July 15.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Air Force is to test its information sharing technologies on one of its Airbus A330 Voyager tankers, turning the platform into an airborne communications node.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
New threats posed by advances in heat-seeking missiles have prompted new development efforts by the U.S. Army and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to protect helicopters and fighters.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Irene Klotz
Northrop Grumman’s Minotaur IV rocket ended a nearly three-year hiatus with a July 15 launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, to put a quartet of classified satellites into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Space

By Tony Osborne
The UK has placed a £65 million ($81.5 million) order for its first three General Atomics MQ-9B Protector medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air systems.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
With bleak weather forecast, the United Arab Emirates’ Mars Hope mission, which was slated to lift off on July 17 from Japan’s Tenegashima Space Center, faces a second launch delay.
Space

By Tony Osborne, Lee Hudson
The British Army and U.S. Army are to align modernization efforts to enable them to operate more seamlessly. The plans include creating what officials call a “closer affiliation” on the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift rotorcraft modernization initiative.
Vertical Lift

By Bradley Perrett
China has begun volume production of a second version of the Avic Chengdu J-20 fighter, one fitted with thrust vectoring, the South China Morning Post reported.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bradley Perrett
The first entirely Chinese mission to Mars may depart within two weeks, following arrival of the spacecraft at the Wenchang launch base on Hainan island.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A series of 25 flight tests with T408 engines on a CH-47 testbed was set to begin this summer, but the Army and industry demonstration team is still copping with the impact of the pandemic on a long list of pre-flight tasks.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Defense Innovation Unit’s plans call for establishing an unmanned orbital outpost in low Earth orbit initially.
Space