Defense and Space

Growing U.S. and international interest in low-cost counterinsurgency aircraft has prompted the development of new aircraft derivatives of existing types.

Bratislava will purchase 14 F-16Vs, the Slovak defense ministry announced July 11, making it the first European nation to operate the F-16V.

The upgraded helicopters will add new capability into the U.S. Army’s special operations fleet and mark the start of a CH-47F/MH-47G Block II production line expected to continue into the late 2020s.

Northrop Grumman hopes the Fire Scout's debut at the Royal International Air Tatoo will help build awareness of the platform’s capability as European navies consider rotary-wing UAVs for their warships.

Rocket Lab plans to add a second launch site for its small-satellite booster Electron and expects to decide from among four U.S. spaceports in August.

NASA needs to firm up contingency plans in case SpaceX or Boeing requires more time to get their commercial space taxis certified for crew ferry flights to the ISS, a GAO report says.

L3 Technologies has acquired Applied Defense Solutions, an aerospace engineering, software development and space situational awareness company for $50 million.

Kratos displayed the first three of its high-speed, highly maneuverable subsonic aerial targets at its California production facility July 11.

Cadence Aerospace will acquire Wichita-based Perfekta.

Cadence Aerospace will acquire Wichita-based Perfekta.

The Boeing-manufactured F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for Kuwait will be a “crossover” of Block III with new features like an advanced cockpit system.

The U.S. State Department cleared two potential sales to the United Kingdom and Denmark for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (Amraams).

The $58.3 million sale of a British aerospace supplier to a Chinese owner has been called off after the UK government intervened on national security grounds.

The DOD is setting up a Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and tapping the Defense Innovation Board to engage with stakeholders with a goal of producing recommended principles.

Can Europe justify two new fighter aircraft? It may have to.

A look at some of key defense contractors and the choices they are facing.

As ministers quarrel, aerospace industry is calling for clarity on Brexit deal.

The U.S. Air Force’s low-cost unmanned strike aircraft demonstrator, the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, is scheduled to fly this fall.

Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR-22 engine, built from spare space shuttle main engine components, has been test-fired 10 times in less than 10 days.

The Cygnus resupply capsule used its 100-lb. thruster July 10 to carry out a 50-sec. orbit-raising maneuver of the International Space Station.

Israel’s first lunar lander is scheduled to be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in December.

The Japanese defense ministry has penciled in the purchase of naval intelligence-gathering aircraft for the five-year defense program that will begin next year.

Russia’s Progress MS-09 cargo capsule successfully executed a two-orbit launch to docking with the International Space Station late July 9.

India’s space agency is looking at the possibility of a winged space plane.

Chinese space industry group Casc has test fired a space-launcher booster that it says has the greatest thrust of any solid-propellant motor in the country.