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Magazine Issue

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, December 17, 2020

VOL. 274 NO. 52 December 17, 2020
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Technology

article

AFRL Completes Ground Tests Of Scaled-up Scramjet Engines

Dec 16, 2020
Ten years after the X-51 first flew under scramjet power, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has completed ground tests of air-breathing hypersonic engines that could accelerate a vehicle 10 times the X-51’s size to speeds in excess of Mach 5.
article

U.S. Air Force Flies U-2 With A.I. Wingman

Dec 16, 2020
The U.S. Air Force for the first time flew a Lockheed Martin U-2 Dragon Lady with the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm on Dec. 15.

Daily Briefs

In Brief

Business

Deepwave
article

Northrop Invests in Deepwave for AI Help in Telecom, Defense RF

Dec 16, 2020
Northrop Grumman helped lead a seed-round venture capital investment in Philadelphia-based Deepwave Digital, and the companies are looking to integrate Deepwave’s edge-compute, artificial intelligence (AI) technology into an “array” of sensor systems to improve capabilities and longevity.
article

Blade UAM To Go Public Via SPAC Backed By Marquee Investors

Dec 15, 2020
Air taxi startup Blade Urban Air Mobility will be taken over by a special purpose acquisition company, setting up what could become the first publicly traded electric-powered air vehicle service provider as the technology emerges this decade.

Programs

ASAT
article

Russia Conducts Anti-Satellite Missile Test

Dec 16, 2020
Russia on Dec. 15 MST, conducted a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile test, according to U.S. Space Command (Spacecom).
article

JAXA Confirms Ryugu Sample Collection

Dec 15, 2020
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Hayabusa 2 mission scientists have confirmed the presence of a small, dark-grained material and vapor within the sample container that returned to Earth from the primitive asteroid Ryugu.
G550
article

Italy Receives FMS Approval For ISR Gulfstream G550 Purchase 

Dec 16, 2020
The U.S. State Department has approved the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Italy of two special-mission versions of the Gulfstream G550 business jet configured for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). 

Funding & Policy

BT drone
article

UK’s First Commercial UAV Corridor Set For Testing In Summer 2021

Dec 15, 2020
A consortium of companies including UK telecoms specialist British Telecom (BT) has been selected to establish and test the UK’s first commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) corridor.
article

Trump Calls For Space Nuclear Power Development

Dec 16, 2020
President Trump issued his administration’s sixth Space Policy Directive on Dec. 16, promoting the development of space nuclear power and propulsion technologies to support a permanent human presence on the Moon by the end of the 2020s and the human exploration of Mars in the decade that follows.
article

British Aerospace In Limbo As Brexit Transition Period Nears End

Dec 15, 2020
Four and half years since the Brexit referendum and aerospace is no nearer to understanding what the UK’s future trading relationship with its nearest and largest trading partner will look like.
flygvapnet
article

Plans For Expanded Swedish Defense Capability Approved By Parliament

Dec 16, 2020
Sweden’s parliament has approved plans to boost the capabilities of the country’s armed forces in the face of a growing regional threat from Russia.

Operations

article

USAF To Maintain Rivet Joint Operating Location At UK’s Mildenhall

Dec 16, 2020
Plans to move the U.S. Air Force’s UK RC-135 Rivet Joint operating location from RAF Mildenhall to RAF Fairford have been canceled after the U.S. Defense Department decided to keep RAF Mildenhall open.

DMIN

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Defense Market Intelligence Notes

Dec 16, 2020
Recent market intelligence items for aerospace & defense professionals.