In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Jan. 17 2023

Credit: MIT Lincoln Laboratory. U.S. Space Systems Command has delivered the first of two space domain awareness sensors to Japan to be hosted on the country’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) spacecraft.

Credit: Bell Helicopter. The U.S. Army is arguably engaged in its most significant period of modernization in decades as it reorients its fleet towards a more contested future in which near-peer threats are again the key focus.

Credit: H3 Dynamics. Zero-emission propulsion developer H3 Dynamics has partnered with South Korea’s Hylium Industries to incorporate liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage into its distributed hydrogen-electric propulsion systems.

Credit: U.S. Air Force graphic. More than four years since it began, the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) program has undergone three leadership changes and spent $600 million in funding without a fielded acquisition, as the service tries to determine what capabilities it wants from its initial efforts that have been announced, a new government watchdog report says.

Credit: Air National Guard. When the Biden administration’s fiscal 2022 request made its way through Capitol Hill, a public disagreement emerged focusing on the U.S. Air Force’s Lockheed Martin C-130 fleet.

Credit: Department of National Defense. The Royal Canadian Air Force will continue operating a small fleet of aging DeHavilland C-138 Twin Otters in the Arctic region after indefinitely postponing a planned replacement program, Canada's Department of National Defense (DND) says. 

Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA. NASA’s Inspector General (IG) has 10 recommendations for the agency to improve the affordability and effectiveness of working with international partners to execute its Artemis lunar program, for which NASA’s share alone is projected to cost $93 billion between 2012-2025.

Ariane 6

Credit: Olaf Kosinsky. Germany’s government has named Boris Pistorius as the country’s new defense minister following the departure of Christine Lambrecht. 

Credit: Boeing. Former Boeing defense and space leader Leanne Caret has joined the board of directors of Super Tier 1 supplier and engine prime Raytheon Technologies, the latter announced late Jan. 16.

Credit: Tim Felce. The UK’s organic fast jet training capacity is facing severe shortfalls due to engine problems affecting the Royal Air Force’s Hawk T2 fleet. 

Credit: Offshore Helicopter Services UK. Offshore helicopter operator CHC plans to sell its former Babcock Offshore business to South African aviation firm Ultimate Aviation Group.