In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Jun. 22, 2022

June 23, 2022

Boeing Eyes 2023 Contract Signing For German Chinook Purchase

Boeing hopes to secure a contract early next year for Germany’s future fleet of Chinook transport helicopters as it works to finalize requirements for the rotorcraft. Berlin selected the U.S. Army version of the CH-47 tandem-rotor aircraft for its Heavy Transport Helicopter (STH) requirement on June 1, after a long-running face-off against Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stallion. Credit: Alamy stock photo

Airbus Picks Automotive Suppliers For CityAirbus NextGen

The advanced-air-mobility supply base is widening, with Airbus selecting automotive industry players KLK Motorsport and M&F Gerg to design and produce the rear fuselage of the CityAirbus NextGen electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi. The partnership with the two German companies is a continuation of their work with Airbus Helicopters on the Racer project under Europe’s Clean Sky 2 research program. Credit: CityAirbus

Spain’s Umiles Unveils eVTOL Prototype And Plans

Spanish unmanned-aircraft manufacturer Umiles has unveiled a concept prototype of an electric air-taxi and its design for a piloted two-passenger production aircraft, the Integrity3. A single-seat design, but remotely piloted, the prototype is planned to fly mid-year. The Concept Integrity electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) prototype features a “drone-of-drones” configuration originally developed by Spain’s Tecnalia research and technology center. Credit: Umiles Next

Kaman Buys Into Autonomy Developer Near Earth

Kaman has invested $10 million in autonomous flight specialist Near Earth Autonomy, securing a seat on the board in return for a minority interest. The companies are working together to develop the Kaman K-Max Titan heavy-lift and Kargo medium-lift autonomous logistics aircraft. Credit: Kaman

SpaceX Launched Four Mystery Satellites Along With Globalstar

Four mystery satellites accompanied the Globalstar FM-15 communications satellite into orbit, data posted on the 18th Space Defense Sqdn.’s Space-Track.org website show. The catalog of space objects lists four payloads, identified as USA 328-331, and one piece of space debris along with the primary Globalstar payload, which lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:27 a.m. EDT on June 19. Credit: SpaceX

SDA Issues Solicitation For T1DES Program

The Space Development Agency (SDA) has issued a solicitation for the design, development and deployment of its Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T1DES) satellite constellation. The T1DES satellites are to launch alongside the Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) satellite constellation, an early set of communication satellites in the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), the agency says in its June 21 solicitation. SDA plans to use Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for the program. It issued a draft solicitation on May 18. Credit: Northrop Grumman

U.S. Navy Ends Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator Mission

The U.S. Navy and U.S. Central Command have ended the RQ-4 Global Hawk Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator mission after 13 years in the Middle East. The BAMS-D mission used early-model Northrop Grumman RQ-4s to provide the Navy’s fleet with electro-optical and infrared-thermal imaging in addition to synthetic-aperture-radar and inverse SAR imaging for maritime patrol and surveillance. Credit: U.S. Air Force

ESA Still Coy On Details Of Ariane 6 Delay

European Space Agency
Artist's concept of Ariane 6.

USAF's NGAD Wingman Part Of New Approach To Electronic Attack

The U.S. Air Force is undertaking a new approach to electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) operations, mainly with the nascent development of an uncrewed teaming aircraft to pair with the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter that can carry jamming capabilities. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. says this new system, announced as part of a series of “operational imperatives” from service Secretary Frank Kendall, will have a modular payload capability to carry jammers along with more weapons and sensors. Credit: Northrop Grumman

NASA’s Mars InSight Team Strives For A Few Weeks Of Additional Data

NASA’s Mars Insight science team plans to extend marsquake-data gathering by the probe’s seismometer while available power dwindles daily due to dust accumulating on the lander’s solar arrays. The seismometer, the last operational science instrument aboard InSight, had been projected to shut itself down by the end of June so the lander could survive until December. Credit: NASA/JPL

Initiatives Aim To Boost Hydrogen In Aviation

Two initiatives have been unveiled in Europe and the UK to help advance the use of hydrogen to decarbonize aviation. Safran has launched a program to help hydrogen-supported startups while a UK consortium plans to create a hydrogen infrastructure in southeast England. Credit: Airbus

Japan’s Tetra Secures Funds For Personal eVTOL

Tokyo-based startup Tetra Aviation has secured ¥450 million yen ($3.3 million) to continue development of its Mk-5 personal electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The company aims to obtain amateur-built approval of the aircraft in the U.S. and begin customer deliveries by year-end. Tetra is building its fourth prototype of the Mk-5 and plans to conduct manned flight tests in Japan and the U.S. A mockup of the cockpit of the single-seat aircraft is scheduled to be displayed at the AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July. Credit: Tetra Aviation

Pentagon Details Security Assistance To Ukraine

The U.S. has committed about $6.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including $5.6 billion worth since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. On June 15, the Defense Department announced $1 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine, including a presidential drawdown valued at $350 million and $650 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds. Credit: Staff Sgt. Kristine Legate/U.S. Air Force

Germany And Lockheed Martin ‘Sprint’ For F-35 Contract Finalization

Germany is pursuing an accelerated timeline for its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter acquisition as the country looks to bring the aircraft into operation before the end of the decade. Berlin presented a letter of request to Washington to acquire the aircraft just three days after announcing on March 14 it had selected the type as part of the Tornado replacement program, J.R. McDonald, Lockheed’s head of F-35 strategy and development, told a press conference here at the ILA Berlin Air Show on June 22. Credit: Alamy

From Boeing eyes 2023 contract signing for German Chinook purchase to Airbus picks automotive suppliers for CityAirbus NextGen. Take a look at these and more in our daily roundup of aerospace & defense news.

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