Defense and Space

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) has ordered three more ATR-72MP maritime patrol aircraft.

The Dutch government has confirmed it will purchase an additional nine F-35s for its air force, making it the first European air arm to increase its F-35 order.

Thailand wants full access to the core software of the fighters it plans to buy in 3-5 years to replace some Lockheed Martin F-16s.

The Army seems to have best of both worlds—Congress backs continued Chinook Block 2 helicopter production and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft development.

NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer spacecraft is poised to launch Oct. 9 on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus XL rocket from Cape Canaveral.

With Britain once again close to a no-deal Brexit, the government has started issuing guidance to the aerospace industry to get ready.

Boeing delivered nine KC-46A tankers to the U.S. Air Force in the third quarter and 21 overall so far this year despite a series of quality control issues and a newly discovered design flaw, the company announced on Oct. 8.

A senior House Democrat has warned that U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty would only benefit Russia and be harmful to allies, partners and national security interests.

In a ceremony at Dassault Aviation’s Bordeaux, France, factory, the government of India on Oct. 8 officially received the first of 36 Rafale fighters it ordered from France under a 2016 intergovernmental agreement.

Finland has capped the procurement budget for its HX future fighter program at €10 billion ($10.95 billion) and will allow tenders to offer fewer than the specified 64 aircraft.

Elbit Systems Ltd. has been awarded a $153 million contract to supply battlefield and medium-altitude drones to “an Army of a country in Southeast Asia,” possibly Vietnam.

Spanish defense electronics firm Indra has taken the lead in a European project to develop technologies for the traffic management of unmanned air systems.

Under the deal, Boeing’s HorizonX capital investment arm will inject $20 million into Virgin Galactic in exchange for new shares.

Technology acquisition for a future Taiwanese fighter is at a very preliminary stage. Propulsion and electronic systems are seen as main areas of difficulty.

Companies that can withstand change and disruption may be best positioned to navigate the tumult of the 2020s.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for the near-term should apply existing interceptor missiles to shoot down hypersonic glide vehicles and avoid investing in a purpose-built, glide-phase interceptor until the technology matures, a Raytheon executive says.

It is high time the French and German governments launched the demonstrator phase of their joint Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, Airbus Defense and Space CEO Dirk Hoke and Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier said in an Oct. 7 joint statement.

Airbus says it has successfully performed the dispatch of 80 paratroopers in a single pass using the side doors of its A400M airlifter.

The UK defense ministry says it is considering a purchase of BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) II to equip the UK’s future fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.

AIDC was required to roll out the Advanced Jet Trainer this year; it has. It is supposed to fly the trainer next year; it says it will.

NASA astronauts on Oct. 6 successfully initiated a month-long spacewalk campaign to replace batteries on the International Space Station’s nearly 360-ft.-long solar power truss.

The campaign, which also is to include the first all-female spacewalk, likely will extend into December.

Collins Aerospace has been selected to deliver up to 3,018 ACES 5 ejection seats over the next decade to replace the escape systems in five different combat aircraft fleets, the U.S. Air Force announced on Oct 2.

Leonardo Helicopters has partnered with Italian special vehicle company Olmedo to further its work on developing more capable emergency medical service capabilities on its helicopters.

The parallel developments of Ariane 6’s components and launch facilities are progressing on time for a first launch in the second half of next year, according to design authority and manufacturer ArianeGroup.