In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Jan. 19 2023

Credit: Colin Throm/AW&ST. A commercial 5G network passed surveillance video and targeting data on a secure network in Northrop Grumman’s latest demonstration of a future communications architecture for the U.S. military. 

Credit: Swift Tactical Systems. A Japanese-led team is to develop a 3D spatial information infrastructure for planning drone and air taxi flights in urban environments under a research project funded by the country’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

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Credit: Dovetail Electric Aviation. Startup Dovetail Electric Aviation has received an A$3 million ($2.1 million) grant from the Australian government to support development of technology for the conversion of turbine-powered regional aircraft to electric propulsion.

Credit: Pratt & Whitney. Pratt & Whitney on Jan. 19 officially recognized its new India Engineering Center in Bengaluru, alongside Collins Aerospace and other Raytheon Technologies units that are building up Indian capabilities.

Credit: U.S. Army. A replacement for the U.S. military’s RQ-20 Puma uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) will need three times the range, more than twice the endurance, be capable of vertical takeoff and landings (VTOL) and carry “lethal payloads,” the Army says in a Jan. 19 acquisition document. 

Credit: Rotex Helicopter AG. Kaman has decided to discontinue production of its distinctive K-MAX helicopter as part of a broader restructuring of the engineering company. 

Credit: IAI. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) man-portable loitering munition that can return to a soldier’s hand if unused. 

Credit: Carsten Hoffmann/dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo. Ahead of the next Ukraine Contact Group meeting of allies on Jan. 20, European nations have further stepped up their efforts to supply lethal aid to the war-torn country in its fight against Russia.

Credit: TOOLS / Alamy Stock Photo. Turkey’s Baykar has secured its 28th export customer for its Bayraktar TB2 uncrewed air system, with an order from Kuwait.

Credit: Royal Netherlands Air Force. The Netherlands is planning to broaden the capabilities of its General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) with the purchase of additional payloads.

Credit: John Dick/Alamy Stock Photo. In recent talks with aerospace executives, they share that they are cautiously optimistic about the future of the commercial aerospace industry.

Credit: Heron Technology. Singapore-based Heron Technology has established Heron AirBridge as a stand-alone company focused on developing a software platform for drone missions and traffic management in low-altitude airspace.