Defense and Space

The U.S. Defense Department’s acquisition leadership has set up a “war room” in the Pentagon to assess the industrial base for hypersonic weapons ahead of a planned production ramp-up within a few years.

The F-35 joint program office has linked a proposed multibillion dollar sustainment package to a demand for Lockheed Martin to provide access to critical data at the back end of the multiyear deal.

AE Industrial Partners, a private equity investor specializing in aerospace, defense and government services, said it has acquired Adcole Maryland Aerospace, a design, test and manufacturer of satellite parts and smallsats.

The U.S. Army will “very soon” demonstrate a ground-launched ballistic missile with a range greater than 500 km, the previous limit set by a now-defunct arms control treaty, Gen. Mike Murray said on March 4.

With thousands of satellites expected to launch in the next 10 years, the U.S. is trying to prevent orbital mayhem.

Dozens of tech demos and satellites for new networks have been launched into orbit, with hundreds more to come.

An old friend is about to crash the party in A&D manufacturing and MRO: Howmet Aerospace. But it might not be so friendly this time.

The U.S. State Department approved a pending sale of eight Boeing KC-46 tankers to Israel on March 3, moving the deal closer to signing on the day of an Israeli presidential election.

A senior lawmaker is cautioning against the Pentagon entering a five-year performance-based logistics (PBL) contract with Lockheed Martin for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Finnish procurement officials say they expect all five contenders in the country’s HX Fighter competition to remain in the race until the end.

LOCKHEED MARTIN delivered its 500th F-35: 354 F-35As, 108 F-35Bs and 38 F-35Cs to US (353), partner nations (92) and international FMS customers (55).

S7 Space Corp. has started to relocate the Sea Launch complex from Long Beach, California, to Russia’s Far East.

BOEING is developing all-new, thrust compounded single-main rotor helicopter with 6-bladed rotor system, single engine, tandem seating and fly-by-wire

Though facing a third attempt at cancellation, NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope has passed a critical milestone that clears the way for challenging hardware development and testing.

The U.S. Air Force has decided it would employ the KC-46A Pegasus in a major contingency although the aircraft still needs fixes on its Remote Vision System and boom telescope actuator.

Honeywell declared March 3 that it had achieved a “breakthrough” in quantum computing that will lead it soon to reveal the “world’s most powerful quantum computer.”

Heavy-lift helicopter operator Erickson has secured FAA certification for a composite main rotor blade for its S-64 Aircrane.

Bristow is conducting search-and-rescue trials in the UK with an unmanned helicopter as it considers how to use the technology for future search-and-rescue contracts.

One of the goals of the $2.5 billion Mars 2020 rover mission is to determine how future human explorers could exploit the Martian soil and atmosphere.

With no winner in its Launch Challenge, DARPA is now looking at the possibly of staging the demonstration of a flexible, responsive launch of a small satellite during a major military exercise.

Can Ireland continue to rely on its British neighbors to meet its air defense needs, or should it stand on its own two feet?

The service has launched the Agility Prime program with the goal of accelerating the FAA certification of commercial eVTOL cargo and passenger vehicles.

U.S. defense officials are considering a “broad set” of scramjet-powered, hypersonic cruise missiles as the U.S. Air Force focuses in the near term on preparing a follow-on program to DARPA's Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept.

President Donald Trump has nominated Gen. Charles Brown as U.S. Air Force chief of staff. If confirmed by the Senate he will be the first African-American officer to serve in the role.

The most contentious U.S. defense issue lawmakers will debate before crafting the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill is nuclear modernization, a senior lawmaker says.