In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Apr. 26, 2022

April 26, 2022

Capella Raises $97M For Analysis Software, Next-Gen Satellites

Capella Space has raised $97 million through a Series C financing round that it plans to spend on further developing its automated image analysis software and next-generation satellites. Credit: Capella Space

Poland, MBDA Sign Missile Contract For Narew Air Defense Program

Poland’s PGZ-Narew joint venture, which is developing the country’s Narew ground-based short-range air defense system, has signed agreements with MBDA to supply the missiles for its program. Credit: MBDA

Drone Deliveries Build An Experience Base For Skyports

At first sight, drone delivery and vertiport development would appear only tangentially related. But as UK startup Skyports puts $23 million raised in a recent Series B round to work in both markets, the two different businesses are synergistic–for now, at least. Credit: ST Engineering

DARPA Launches Liberty Lifter Seaplane Design Study

DARPA is seeking concepts and preliminary design proposals for a low-cost, wing-in-ground (WIG) effect seaplane that, if taken to the next stage, could lead to the development of a full-scale X-Plane version. Dubbed the Liberty Lifter, the program revives serious studies of WIG vehicles similar to the “ekranoplans” once fielded by the Soviet Union’s military and comes as the Air Force Special Operations Command plans to develop and test an amphibious variant of the Lockheed Martin MC-130J. Credit: USAF

Lockheed Part Of Venture Investment In 3D Printing Startup X-Bow

Several venture capital firms and the related office at Lockheed Martin have teamed to invest $27 million in X-Bow Systems, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based additive manufacturing startup targeting production of solid rocket energetics. The Series A round was co-led by Crosslink Capital and Razor’s Edge Ventures, with additional participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures and Broom Ventures, the April 26 announcement said. Credit: X-Bow Systems

Raytheon Addressing Supplier Weaknesses, CEO Says

Raytheon Technologies has shaved back its forecasted revenue for 2022, but the Super Tier 1 supplier reiterated the rest of its full-year profit guidance, illustrating how the wider Western aerospace and defense industry continues to encounter headwinds in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but not enough to derail momentum. Credit: U.S. Navy

VoltAero’s Cassio 1 Hybrid-Electric Testbed Near 10,000 Km Of Flight

VoltAero’s Cassio 1 hybrid-electric testbed aircraft is anticipated to surpass 10,000 km of flight en route to the AERO Friedrichshafen generation aviation trade show in Germany. The aircraft took off from the company’s Royan-Médis, France, headquarters and was to fly a 1,650-km roundtrip to Friedrichshafen, VoltAero said on April 25. Credit: VoltAero

U.S. Air Force To Buy Boeing E-7s For AWACS

Boeing

Urban-Air Port Reveals Vertiport Template

A large white tent in the middle of an English Midland town center parking lot is providing the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry with a sense of the infrastructure it may need to serve its customers. Urban-Air Port Ltd’s (UAP) Air One facility was established here and opened on April 25. Credit: Urban-Air Port Ltd

UK Negotiating For 26 More F-35s

Lockheed Martin
F-35

SpaceX Cleared For Next ISS Crew Launch

Hours after a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule returned from a privately financed sortie to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA cleared the company to proceed with a launch attempt at 3:52 a.m. EDT on April 27 to deliver the next resident crew to the orbital outpost. The 39-hr. turnaround between the 1:06 p.m. April 25 splashdown of the Axiom-1 (Ax-1) charter mission and the targeted launch of the SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts is an example of the increasingly complicated integrated operations schedule that NASA is juggling with not only its commercial partners, but also with the sister government space agencies that oversee the ISS. Credit: Kim Shiflett/NASA

U.S., Allies Commit To Long-Term Plans For Ukraine Aid

A meeting of more than 40 nations aimed at providing military support to Ukraine will become a regular event as the countries plan to both bolster Kyiv’s defense stocks and strengthen the global industrial base to meet a growing need for materiel. Representatives from dozens of nations met at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on April 26 to coordinate what equipment can be donated to Ukraine and how quickly it can flow to Ukrainian forces. Credit: Chad J. McNeeley/DOD

Lockheed Building First TPY-4 Radars For U.S. Air Force

The first two AN/TPY-4(V)1 radars are in production for the U.S. Air Force’s Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar program as Lockheed Martin is preparing to move its self-funded prototype to a range for extended testing. The service in early March selected the Lockheed Martin radar to replace its aging TPS-75 system. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Tinker Turnaround Halts Spread Of F135 Engine Shortage

A problem appeared on the floor of the F135 Heavy Maintenance Center here in late January: a late test had detected a worrisome vibration coming from a repaired power module inside an F-35A engine. The discovery meant that precious days must pass for depot employees to run another series of checks and make any fixes. Credit: U.S. Air Force

North Korea Vows Nuclear Capability Buildup, Displays Hypersonic Missile

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says his country will develop and strengthen its nuclear capabilities “at the fastest pace” in preparation for a future crisis. The comments were made at a night parade conducted to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the North Korean Army which saw the public debut of the Hwasong-8 “hypersonic” ballistic missile and another undesignated variant with a maneuverable reentry vehicle that was first tested in early 2022. Credit: KCNA

Pyka Plans Cargo Version Of Autonomous Pelican

Autonomous electric aircraft developer Pyka has closed a $37 million Series A funding round to support production of its Pelican uncrewed crop sprayer and develop a cargo version of the aircraft. The Pelican is already being used for aerial application in Central and South America. Credit: Pyka

Lockheed: New Laser Capable Of Airborne-Level Efficiency Soon

Lockheed Martin plans in the “near future” to demonstrate a high energy laser with a level of efficiency that approaches the U.S. Defense Department’s threshold for airborne applications, a company executive says. Surface-based laser weapon systems developed by the Pentagon had achieved an efficiency level of about 30 kg/kW by 2019. In effect, this means the equipment needed to generate a 100kW laser weighs at least 3,000 kg (6,613 lb). Credit: Lockheed Martin

Projected F-15EX Fleet Slashed By 44% In USAF Budget Plans

The U.S. Air Force now wants to buy 64 fewer Boeing F-15EX aircraft than in the service’s original acquisition plan and halt procurement of the twin-engined fighter after fiscal 2024. The proposed 44% reduction from a projected fleet of 144 F-15EX aircraft would leave the Air Force with 72 operational fighters, divided among three squadrons, and eight for flight test. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo, Samuel King Jr.

Taiwan To Set Up Hypersonic Missile Program Office

To keep up with hypersonic missile advancements by Russia, United States and, most importantly, China, Taiwan is reportedly standing up a hypersonic technology research and development office. To be set up by Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the office will be known as “Qingyang II,” according to Taiwanese newspaper United Daily News. Credit: NCSIST

From Capella Space raising nearly $100 million to spend on further developing its automated image analysis software and next-generation satellites to Poland, MBDA signing a missile contract for Narew Air Defense program. Take a look at these and more in our daily roundup of aerospace & defense news.

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