In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Jun. 01, 2022

Porsche To Help Eve Define eVTOL Production System

Embraer’s urban air mobility (UAM) spinoff Eve has engaged Porsche Consulting to help define the supply chain, manufacturing and logistics strategy for its electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Because the battery-powered aircraft will have limited range and cannot be ferried to customers as are Embraer’s regional and business jets, Eve is planning to manufacture vehicles in an Embraer facility in Brazil as kits that will be shipped to local plants in key markets for final assembly and delivery.

CAE Pushes Ottawa To Demand F-35 Training Center In Canada

CAE executives are lobbying the Canadian government to demand the rights to set-up local training centers for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s future Lockheed Martin F-35A fleet, seeking to preserve a domestic capability that they warn could vanish after the retirement of Boeing CF-18s. The call comes as CAE executives say they are being told by Lockheed Martin that the fighter program’s expanding list of customers faces a shortage of training capacity for new F-35 pilots and maintainers. Credit: US Air Force

Netherlands Boosts Defense Spending, Plans More F-35s, MQ-9s

The Netherlands will procure additional F-35s, MQ-9 Reapers and a new fleet of medium-lift transport helicopters as part of a dramatic uptick in the country’s defense budget. With plans to spend an extra €14.8 billion ($15.9 billion) between 2022 and 2025, and then grow the defense budget structurally by €5 billion from 2026, the Netherlands is hoping to boost its armed forces’ operational readiness, deployability and combat strength. Credit: Vincent Jannink/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

Russia Tests Turbine For Nuclear Space Tug

Roscosmos State Corp. tested a turbine on May 13 which was designed to produce electric power for ion engines on Russia’s future nuclear space tug. The tests took place at the corporation’s subsidiary Keldysh Research Center, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said on social media May 29. Credit: Roscosmos

Kleos Space Wins USN Contract For Geolocation Tracking Experiment

The U.S. Navy has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Kleos Space to provide radio frequency geolocation data as part of an experiment. The service wants to use radio frequency data provided by Kleos Space to find ways to improve its maritime monitoring. As part of the experiment, the company will provide its data for test scenarios, including tracking ships that are breaking sanctions or embargoes, smuggling illicit goods, illegally transferring goods at sea, illegally fishing, or crossing borders unlawfully. The data will also be used in search and rescue and other ocean resource monitoring scenarios. Credit: Kleos Space

NASA Selects Axiom Space, Collins For Spacesuit Development

NASA has selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace as part of a potential $3.5 billion public private partnership for the development, training and operations of a new generation of astronaut spacesuits to support the agency’s human exploration of the Moon as well as continuing maintenance and upgrades to the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030. The selections were made under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) contract solicitation and announced June 1 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC). Credit: NASA

NGAD Begins Engineering, Manufacturing Development: Kendall

The U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter has begun engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) based on progress from a previous DARPA program that demonstrated key technologies to be used in the future fighter. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said June 1 at a Heritage Foundation event that NGAD has “now started the EMD program to do the development aircraft that we’re gonna take into production.” His statement is the latest in a series of small updates to the secretive program, which first had a prototype fly in 2020 but with no other major program milestones publicly disclosed. Credit: Northrop Grumman

Leonardo Helicopters’ MD Leaves Abruptly

Leonardo Helicopters says the sudden departure of the managing director of its UK division was by “mutual agreement.” Nick Whitney abruptly left the company in mid-May, just days after the launch of the UK’s New Medium Helicopter program. Credit: Leonardo

Diverse Options Pitched For CP-140 Fleet Replacement

A diverse set of options and timelines has come forward as the Canadian government begins evaluating options for a new maritime patrol fleet to replace the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora aircraft. During a CANSEC trade show press conference on June 1, Boeing announced the Team Poseidon industry team to offer the P-8A for the newly launched Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA) acquisition program. But the U.S.-assembled variant of the 737-800ERX faces possible competition from locally assembled alternatives. Credit: Royal Canadian Air Force

NASA Adds Partners To AAM National Campaign

NASA has added more industry partners to its Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign, signing Space Act Agreements with vehicle developers Electra Aero, Overair and Supernal as well as urban transportation consultants Ellis & Associates. The agreements enable the companies to begin exchanging information with NASA in preparation for the next phase of National Campaign flight activities, NC-2, planned for 2023-24. The first phase, NC-1, is currently underway and planned to conclude in September. Credit: NASA

UK Upgrading Tomahawk Stocks

The UK is to upgrade its stock of submarine-launched Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles, improving their range and resilience against jamming threats. The £265 million ($330.8 million) contract will see the UK’s stock of Block IV Tomahawks upgraded to the Block V configuration, which the UK defense ministry says will modernize and improve inflight communications, navigation and targeting flexibility. Credit: USN

Startup Picks Jaunt eVTOL For Quebec AAM Network

Jaunt Air Mobility has signed a letter of intent (LOI) for almost 100 Journey electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxis with a Canadian startup planning to develop and service a vertiport network in Quebec. Founded in 2021, Montreal-based Vertiko Mobility is backed by a holding company and local investors. The startup plans to work with property owners who would finance construction of the vertiports and, in return, receive royalties on air taxi landings and takeoffs. Credit: Jaunt Air Mobility

L3Harris Withdraws Heron TP From RPAS Bidding In Canada

An L3Harris MAS-led team has withdrawn from a long-running competition to supply Remotely Piloted Air Systems to the Royal Canadian Air Force, leaving the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-9B Sky Guardian as the sole contender for the contract. L3’s Team Artemis, which had offered the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron TP, notified the Public Services and Procurement Canada of its decision to withdraw on May 20, according to a May 31 notice published by the agency. Credit: IAI

U.S. Sending HIMARS, More Helos In Escalation Of Ukraine Aid

The Pentagon is escalating its military aid for Ukraine with a new tranche of materiel that includes M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) for the first time, along with more Mi-17 helicopters, air surveillance radars and other equipment as part of a $700 million package. The latest tranche, first announced by President Joe Biden in an op-ed for The New York Times and detailed by Pentagon officials, is the first to be authorized under the congressionally approved $40 billion emergency aid package. Credit: U.S. Army

North Dakota Selects BVLOS Drone Uses For Operational Trials

Applications ranging from inspecting gravel roads to monitoring fence lines are among use cases to be demonstrated under projects selected by North Dakota’s Vantis statewide drone beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) network. In response to a 2021 request for proposals, Vantis has selected six companies to conduct operational testing of BVLOS flights. The goal is to have multiple aircraft flying multiple use cases on the network simultaneously. Credit: American Aerospace Technologies

Germany To Buy Boeing Chinook Helicopters

Boeing’s Chinook has won out in a face-off against Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stallion for Germany’s Heavy Transport Helicopter (STH) requirement. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said June 1 that the Chinook was selected because the tandem-rotor platform was “tried and tested. Credit: Boeing

First NASA SunRISE Constellation Smallsat Clears Ground Test

The initial Protoflight Model small satellite for NASA’s Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment mission (SunRISE) has completed functional and environmental testing at Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL). The six-satellite constellation will act as a single radio telescope in geosynchronous orbit for observations of low-frequency solar activity affecting weather, power grids and radio communications. It will launch as a rideshare with a commercial satellite no earlier than June 2023. Credit: Allison Bills/SDL

U.S. Air Force Wants 22 E-7As, IOC In 2030

The U.S. Air Force plans to field a fleet of 22 Boeing E-7A Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft to replace its 31 E-3 Sentry AWACS, with the Wedgetail having beaten out two other contenders for the program, according to a new justification document. The Air Force announced in late April that it would buy the E-7A, with two prototypes expected to be fielded before a production decision in 2025. Credit: U.S. Air Force

From Porsche to help Eve define eVTOL production system to Egypt to LCAE pushes Ottawa to demand F-35 training center in Canada. Take a look at these and more in our daily roundup of aerospace & defense news.

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