Defense and Space

India’s space agency will kick off the new year on Jan. 10 by launching its Earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 series along with 30 other foreign sats.

Orbital ATK’s NGL received another boost this week, with the rocket manufacturer entering into a Crada with the USAF.

Aurora Flight Sciences is flying high after securing a $48 million contract from the USAF to develop a certifiable version of its long-endurance Orion UAV.

Modularity, reuse, flexibility and architectural evolution are essential concepts for SNC in the challenge to develop a concept for a Deep Space Gateway.

The completion of the ISS Design Certification Review for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner brings the ULA Atlas V rocket a step closer to human spaceflight.

Airbus will cut the production rate for its A400M airlifter to ensure what it calls a “sustainable future” for the aircraft.

Boeing is still working to fix three deficiencies related to the refueling process of the KC-46 that must be resolved before the tanker can enter service.

Two of the most widely used military UAVs may soon be available with new propulsion system options that will significantly extend their endurance.

Airbus is taking the Polish government to an arbitration tribunal over Warsaw’s conduct in canceling a multibillion-dollar contract for multimission helos.

India has approved the purchases of precision-guided bombs from Russia and Barak missiles from Israel in deals worth a total of about $270 million.

The Joint New Air-to-Air Missile will feature a seeker using gallium-nitride semiconductor material.

The Israeli Air Force is beginning to accept the inevitable use of tactical unmanned aircraft by the ground forces in border regions.

France pushes hard for Rafale sale to Belgium, Nigeria closes in on Super Tucano purchase, and Poland’s defense modernization continues.

At the Aviation Week Network, we’re already charging into 2018. But over the recent holiday break, I had time to reflect on some of my favorite memories from last year. Here are five of them.

While the commercial helicopter industry appears to be on a slow road to recovery, industry’s coffers are being filled with a glut of military orders.

Textron recently seized a chance to prove its Scorpion light fighter could be the right fit as a low-cost alternative to existing ISR platforms for the USAF.

The U.S. Air Force is clamping down on quality controls among its EELV suppliers after the Pentagon’s inspector general identified 181 nonconformities.

Sciaky says it sold four of its multimillion-dollar EBAM electron beam additive manufacturing machines in December.

AeroVironment has formed a joint venture with Japanese telecommunications provider SoftBank to develop “high-altitude pseudo-satellites,” or HAPS.

The abdication of TransDigm Group’s CFO may not have anything to do with the company's financial situation, but it could add to investor hesitations.

Leonardo has received European Aviation Safety Agency certification for its AW109 Trekker twin-engine light helicopter.

Turkey signed an agreement last month to buy a Russian S-400 air defense system, but Ankara is continuing joint European studies on air defense.

First there were “big-bus” satellites, then nanosats, microsats and cubesats. Now come the advent of “Microns.”

The U.S. Army has tapped Kratos subsidiary Composite Engineering to deliver a high-performance aerial target drone.

Minority- and women-owned businesses saw a drop in DOD contracting during much of the Obama administration, but the dip was far smaller than for all of the DOD's contractors.