If it takes as long to field a sixth-generation fighter aircraft as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has, the warplane “may already be irrelevant.”
Instead of large, manned, vulnerable aircraft providing command and control and ground surveillance, the USAF now wants a more survivable, networked approach.
The first Northrop Grumman RQ-4 equipped with the UTC Aerospace Systems MS-177 imaging camera has moved to Beale AFB, California, to begin operational testing.
Thales says it has found more than one customer for its Avionics 2020 flight deck, unveiled five years ago and featuring an advanced human-machine interface.
The second version of China’s Long March 5 rocket, intended for building the country’s planned space station, will fly in mid-2019, a year later than planned.
The F-35 Joint Program Office has delivered the flight clearances, simulators, threat information, and logistics system required for the Air Force’s F-35As equipped with the latest software load to employ all of its weapons throughout the full flight envelope.
Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Marilyn Hewson says she has not spoken to President Donald Trump regarding potential U.S. trade tariffs and their consequences.
Share prices of Ultra Electronics plunged around 10% after the defense supplier abandoned the acquisition of Sparton, an electromechanical parts provider.
China will conduct five missions with Long March 11 solid-propellant launchers this year, confirming the fast-response rocket is finally regarded as mature.
Famed Silicon Valley venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz has led a Series A funding round into Astranis, “a new space startup producing small satellites that are cheaper and faster to build and launch than anyone else in the game,” representatives said March 1.
Buying more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightnings is an option, the Asahi newspaper says, adding the ministry also has looked at extending the life of the F-2, which is due to retire in the 2030s.
