In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Jun. 20, 2022

June 21, 2022

Boeing Redesigns T-7 Canopy After Bird-Strike Risk Emerges

Boeing has redesigned components of the T-7A Red Hawk trainer aircraft after tests showed how a bird strike against the cockpit canopy would endanger the pilot. The Government Accountability Office in a recent report states that in June 2021 the program began tracking a risk related to protecting the pilot in the event of a bird strike, with mitigation work possibly leading to additional delays that officials say they are willing to accept to protect the pilot. Credit: Brian Everstine/Aviation Week

Canada Pledges Billions To Modernize North American Radar

Canada will spend CAN$4.9 billion ($3.8 billion) over the next six years to upgrade the radar system that defends North America, the nation’s defense minister said June 20 during a visit to Trenton air base in Ontario, marking the first upgrade to the Cold War-era system in almost four decades. In addition to this immediate investment, this plan has a total value of $40 billion over next 20 years,” Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said. Credit: USAF

Fourth SLS Tanking Test Hits Snag

Technical issues that curtailed three Space Launch System (SLS) tanking tests at the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Launch Complex 39B in April appear to have been resolved, but a new issue stymied a fourth practice countdown underway on June 20. The so-called Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) is the final integrated test of the SLS rocket and Orion capsule ahead of launch on the uncrewed Artemis 1 flight test around the Moon. NASA is aiming to launch the mission later this summer. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Cygnus Space Station Reboost Aborted

A test of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply capsule’s ability to raise the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) while docked to it was aborted quickly June 20, with the cause under review by the Dulles, Virginia-based company’s mission director. The ISS’s three NASA and one European Space Agency astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts were never in danger and continued their regularly scheduled activities, while the orbital outpost continue to orbit at an altitude of 260 mi., according to a NASA status report. Credit: NASA

Globalstar Launches Spare Satellite For IoT Constellation

Globalstar’s FM-15 spare satellite successfully reached low-Earth orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 1,543-lb. satellite is the 25th and final spacecraft in the company’s second-generation constellation, Globalstar said June 19. The launch at 12:27 a.m. EDT of the spare satellite was Globalstar’s first since 2013. Credit: Globalstar

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The Weekly Debrief: Just How Rapid Is The USAF’s E-7A Rapid Prototype?

The U.S. Air Force has announced it wants to rapidly build and begin flying Boeing’s E-7A Wedgetail to replace its beleaguered E-3 Sentry AWACS fleet, with lawmakers clamoring for the process to be accelerated and proposing to throw more money at the service’s funding request. But it is not clear how much the Air Force wants to speed up this process or if Boeing is capable of meeting the service’s original timeline. Credit: U.S. Air Force/Ashlyn K. Paulson

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U.S. Air Force Nears Selection Of New Fixed-Wing Aircrew Helmet

The U.S. Air Force is close to selecting a new helmet for its fixed-wing aircrew, based on studies that have identified problems with injuries and the integration of new technology on the current 1980s-designed model. Air Combat Command announced it has selected LIFT Airborne Technologies to continue developing a prototype of the new helmet, the latest step in a process started in 2019 by the innovation hub AFWERX that focused on nontraditional companies. Credit: U.S. Air Force

Tamarack Completes Flight Evaluation Of King Air 350 Winglets

Tamarack Aerospace says it has completed flight evaluation of its active winglets for a Beechcraft King Air 350, to provide increased endurance and payload, and high-and-hot takeoff abilities and extended loiter times. The winglets for the King Air 350, called the Performance SmartWing, provide benefits for military and civil aircraft, the company says. Certification is expected in the next 18-24 months. Credit: Tamarack Aerospace

From Boeing redesigns T-7 canopy after bird-strike risk emerges to Canada pledges billions to modernize North American radar. Take a look at these and more in our daily roundup of aerospace & defense news.

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