In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar. 01 2023

Credit: Electra.aero. Regional mobility booking platform KinectAir has announced a partnership with Electra.aero that could see it deploy up to 31 hybrid electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft across its network in the Pacific Northwest in the coming years.

Credit: Archer. A judge has denied Wisk Aero’s motion to sanction Archer Aviation for alleged intentional destruction of evidence after an employee deleted data claimed to be related to an intellectual property lawsuit. 

Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA. SpaceX will try again early March 2 to launch a multinational team of astronauts, including the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) first long-duration crewmember, to the International Space Station (ISS) following resolution of a ground equipment issue that scuttled an initial launch attempt earlier in the week. 

Credit: Brian Everstine/Aviation Week. DARPA will start a new program aimed at high-speed, runway-independent aircraft—a program that coincides with multiple other Pentagon efforts looking at future mobility concepts.

Credit: NASA. Four crewmembers aboard the International Space Station are praising the cooperation and teamwork necessary to execute their SpaceX Crew-5 mission as their time on the ISS draws to a close.

Credit: U.S. Army. Boeing has selected four Australian suppliers for the AH-64E Apache helicopter and increased the amount of local content on the MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed aircraft system (UAS). 

Credit: Sigma Additive Solutions. Sigma Additive Solutions, a publicly traded developer of quality assurance software to the aerospace, defense and commercial 3D printing markets, on March 1 announced a strategic review that could lead to a sale of part or all of the company.

Credit: Airbus. Airbus says there are no immediate plans to certify aerial refueling between its A400M and A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) side underwing refueling pods. 

Credit: Dave Jenkins. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) challenged the UK Royal Navy’s carrier strike group (CSG) during its deployment to the Pacific in 2021, including attempting to jam the group’s satcom capabilities, an Airbus official says. 

Credit: Airbus Helicopters. The new owners of Babcock’s emergency aviation businesses in Finland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden have named the new entity Avincis, restoring an industry identity that disappeared in 2014.

Credit: Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin expects to know by midyear if the F-35’s Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) program is likely to experience any challenges.

Credit: Pratt & Whitney. Pratt & Whitney says it has developed an “immediate resolution” to the F135 engine problem that caused the crash of a Lockheed Martin F-35B during a predelivery check flight at the company’s Fort Worth production site on Dec 15.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons. The South African Air Force is one of the largest air forces in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, comprising mostly Western-supplied aircraft that are often pulled in to help with natural disaster emergencies and insurgency operations in neighboring Mozambique or DRC.