In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar 02. 2023

Credit: Royal Navy. The announcement that Singapore will place a follow-on order for eight more F-35B multirole fighters is the most recent indication of a bolstered market for the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter in an increasingly unstable world.

Credit: U.S. Air Force. U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has pushed back the planned demonstration of an amphibious MC-130J, but is continuing with the design while the command is studying other ways to conduct runway-independent missions.

Credit: GA-ASI. A renewed partnership announced on March 2 between General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) and Leidos signals that a controversial program cancellation may be reversed by the Australian government.

Credit: Honda. Honda is researching the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and its use in powerplants for its HondaJet light business jet and planned hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. 

Credit: UH. Universal Hydrogen’s De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300 flying testbed has become the largest hydrogen-electric aircraft to fly following a successful first flight from here on March 2.

Credit: Virgin Orbit. Bosses at a Welsh startup whose satellite was lost in the failed Virgin Orbit launch from the UK have spoken out against the country’s approach to satellite licensing. 

Credit: Malcolm Haines / Alamy Stock Photo. Swiss aircraft manufacturer, Pilatus has enjoyed one of best years in terms of deliveries, but its production goals have been impacted by supply chain issues, the company’s management has revealed. 

Credit: L3Harris. L3Harris is converting the first two AirTractor AT-802s to the special operations OA-1K armed overwatch aircraft ahead of planned government verification tests later this year.

Credit: GE. General Electric, which is undergoing a corporate breakup and next year will be simply GE Aerospace, said March 2 it will invest $355 million in existing aerospace-related sites in 2023 after conducting so-called lean process improvement reviews.

Credit: Airbus Defense and Space. Saudi Arabia and the UK have signed an agreement for closer collaboration concerning future combat aircraft, but confusion reigns around which programs or platforms the arrangement will influence.

Credit: NASA. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission launched at 12:34 a.m. on March 2 to deliver two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and astronaut from the United Arab Emirates to the International Space Station (ISS), marking the start of a six-month mission.

Credit: Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce has begun tests of the F130 turbofan for the U.S. Air Force B-52H re-engining program in the bomber’s distinctive twin-podded configuration for the first time.

Montreal-based startup Limosa has signed an agreement with composites specialist Airborne of the Netherlands covering manufacture of a full-scale technology demonstrator for the planned LimoConnect electric vertical and conventional takeoff and landing (eVTOL/eCTOL) air taxi.

Credit: Plana. Korean electric air taxi startup Plana and Volatus Infrastructure have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on vertiport development and explore issues related to the integration of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.