Defense and Space

The first half of 2020 has been brutal for the aerospace and defense (A&D) sector, and increasingly industry insiders and outside investors are trying to figure out what it means for longer-term prospects.

Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic accounts for 13% of the weight of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-X fighter, the manufacturer said.

The British government and Bharti Global’s joint offer for the OneWeb satellite constellation has been given the nod by U.S. judges.

The Japanese defense ministry is recommending tighter contracting arrangements for the Next Generation Fighter than applied in the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) F-2 program of the 1990s.

Greg Hayes took heat for merging UTC with Raytheon, but critics are silenced as defense has cushioned the company during the pandemic.

As Europe strengthens its focus on the environment, ESA prepares for massive spending on new-generation Earth observation satellites.

News in brief

Selected U.S. military contracts from the past week.

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee’s (HAC-D) mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill is encouraging the U.S. Air Force to partner with industry for a turn-key solution for undergraduate pilot training.

Fiscal 2021 may be the last time the Pentagon will be able to circumvent its base budget caps by filtering funds through the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.

The Pentagon awarded $13.4 million under Defense Production Act Title III as an investment in the U.S. small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industrial base.

House appropriators are concerned the U.S. Army has not clearly defined the acquisition strategy for mission equipment payloads and sensors for its Future Vertical Lift family of rotorcraft.

The Italian Army has taken delivery of the first of two commercial-model Leonardo AW169s in a move that paves the way for the wider introduction of a military version of the rotorcraft.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee (HAC-D) is fully funding the beleaguered F-35 logistics system in its mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill, but lawmakers are blasting the program and describing similarities between it and the troubled KC-46A tanker.

The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations defense subcommittee agreed to support the higher development cost for the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon in the fiscal 2021 spending bill, but the members do not “intend to approve funding for further cost increases” beyond the latest estimate of $1.364 billion.

INDIAN AIR FORCE took delivery of final five AH-64E Apaches as part of order for 22; it earlier received 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

TEAM NIGHTJAR was formed by Airbus Helicopters and >20 Australian partners to propose H145M for multi-role helicopter requirement for Australian

Spain is in negotiations with Airbus to acquire at least 20 new-build Eurofighter Typhoons to replace early model F/A-18 Hornets based in the Canary Islands.

The KZ-11 solid-propellant space launcher of Chinese state company Expace failed on its first flight on July 10.

Documented Combat Losses In Libya.

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Conferences and events for professionals in the aerospace & defense community.

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston says in an interview how the RAF is adapting to COVID-19 and looking ahead to transformative initiatives such as ASTRA.

The UK is preparing to advance to the next stage of its Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft technology demonstrator project.