Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, July 1, 2016

Textron Systems hopes to complete end-to-end testing of its Fury small precision-guided munition against a moving target by late summer or early fall as it looks to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) as the closest step toward widespread integration of the mini weapon with remotely piloted and light attack aircraft.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has entered Jupiter’s magnetosphere as it prepares to go into orbit around the gas giant July 4. “We’ve just crossed the boundary into Jupiter’s home turf,” Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute said in a June 30 NASA announcement.

Unexpected effects of undercarriage on aircraft balance were the reason for the slow start in testing the F-35B’s “ski-jump” takeoff capability.

India has successfully test launched a new medium range surface-to-air missile in a latest effort to secure the country’s skies from enemy fighter aircraft and neutralize aerial attacks.

THALES has £80m ($106m) contract to support British army Watchkeeper UAV. RAYTHEON has $118.5m U.S. Air Force contract for Lot 9 Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer (MALD-J) vehicles, support equipment. Work complete June 30, 2020. BAE SYSTEMS has $9.5m U.S. Navy cost reimbursement contract for airborne prototype to detect buried mines/improvised explosive devices at altitudes up to 2,000 ft. RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS delivered first two Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters to Serbian ministry of defense June 29.

Airbus Group and Safran say they will conclude a merger of their space business units June 30 under the new Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) joint venture.

Materials and special manufacturing giant Alcoa will be the sole supplier of proprietary wing skins and fuselage sheet to Embraer for its E2 family of jet airliners under a multiyear $470 million contract unveiled June 30.

The British government needs to be “relatively bold” in order to attract investment from business and stabilize the uncertainty caused by the country’s “Brexit” decision to leave the European Union, according to U.K. aerospace trade organization ADS.

The Canadian government has abandoned the idea of fielding a dual-mission satellite system covering the Arctic region and instead will pursue a dedicated communications constellation with a similar coverage footprint and a price tag of nearly $2 billion.

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