In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, July 03. 2023

Credit: Mariusz Burcz/Alamy Stock Photo.

Global defense demand remains robust with $252 billion worth of allied contract awards expected over the next 24 months, according to investment bank Jefferies.

Credit: LMI Aerospace.

Sonaca North America, a longtime aerostructures supplier better known to many industry players as LMI Aerospace, has announced it will close its Wichita site by year-end.

Credit: European Space Agency/S. Corvaja.

The final Ariane 5 rocket was rolled out to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) launch site in French Guiana on July 3 in preparation for a next-day liftoff to put two European government communications satellites into orbit.

Credit: Pratt & Whitney.

Aerospace engine maker Pratt & Whitney plans to invest $206 million to expand its facility in Columbus, Georgia.

Credit: Daher.

Daher expects to bolster its global reach as an industrial services provider with its acquisition of France’s Assistance Aeronautique et Aerospatiale (AAA), the company announced July 3.

Aerostructures and parts provider GKN Aerospace plans to close its manufacturing facility in the St. Louis area by the end of 2024, laying off over 700 workers, according to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) site.

Credit: Alamy Stock Photo.

Since 2015, China has deployed a weapon that out-ranges Raytheon’s most advanced air-to-air missile, beaten the U.S. military in a race to field a maneuvering, hypersonic weapon and demonstrated a fractional orbital bombardment system.

Credit: NASA.

NASA reports it has resumed communication with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter after a 63-day interruption due interference from the hilly terrain at Jezero Crater.

Credit: Tony Osborne/Aviation Week.

Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even says he is not expecting any major changes in France’s key helicopter defense acquisition plans as the country prepares to make big decisions on new defense capabilities.

Credit: Dassault Aviation.

Future versions of France’s Dassault Rafale might operate alongside an uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) derived from the nEUROn demonstrator program.