In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar. 03, 2022
March 03, 2022
Trials Prove 5G Cell Phone Signals Can be Beamed From Above
UK startup Stratospheric Platforms has demonstrated the ability to transmit 5G cell-phone signals from a high-altitude.

MIT To Apply Ultra-Quiet Propulsion To Delivery Drone
In November 2018, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology flew an aircraft on a propulsion system with no moving parts.

Let L-410 Manufacturer Yet To Learn Fate Amid Sanctions Uncertainty
Aircraft Industries, the Czech manufacturer of the Let family of turboprop transport aircraft, says in an open letter that its ownership by Russian holding group Ural Mining Metallurgical Company (UGMK) “is likely to change a lot for us as a company, but we ourselves do not know what the consequences will be.”

Swiss Helicopter Developer Seeking Investors For New Rotorcraft Concept
The designer of what is now Leonardo’s AW09 helicopter is planning to unveil a new concept for a single-engine rotorcraft.

DARPA XSP Role Underlined In Boeing-NASA Lightweight Tank Tests
Boeing has confirmed that recent composite cryogenic tank tests that pave the way for future liquid-hydrogen-fueled aircraft used a reusable tank shell originally built as flight hardware for DARPA’s former Experimental Spaceplane Program.

Seven Romanian Personnel Killed In SAR Helicopter Crash
Seven Romanian military personnel were killed during a search-and-rescue mission that was looking for the pilot of a MiG-21 fighter that had crashed.

GKN Tests More Efficient Turbine Structure
GKN Aerospace has tested an advanced turbine rear structure (TRS) design which demonstrated a potential weight reduction of up to 14% compared to current commercial engine configurations.

OneWeb Pulls Satellite Launches From Baikonur

Aerojet CEO Lines Up Full Board Slate In Bid To Oust Chairman Lichtenstein
Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO Eileen Drake has recruited several more industry and military luminaries in an effort to present a full board of directors who would push off Executive Chairman Warren Lichtenstein and his dissident slate of financial sponsors ahead of the embattled propulsion provider’s annual shareholder meeting.

NASA, HeroX Crowdsources Address Mars Mission Waste Challenge
Waste and trash disposal pose a significant challenge for experts developing strategies for human deep-space exploration. Roundtrip missions to Mars, for instance, could take two-three years using current propulsion technologies.

AFRL Releases $334 Million Solicitation For Hypersonic Mayhem
A solicitation for a $334 million hypersonic demonstrator missile is now in industry hands, with responses due to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in May and contract award in December.

First B-21 Enters Ground Test; Sixth Bomber Starts Assembly
The first U.S. Air Force B-21 Raider test aircraft has started ground evaluations, and the sixth example of the next-generation bomber has started production, the service announced March 3. The surprise announcement at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium came less than six months after the service reported the fifth aircraft began assembly-line production at Northrop Grumman’s Plant 42.

Aviation Week Forecasts: Historic Boost Planned For German Defense Spending
On Feb. 27 German Chancellor Olaf Sholz announced what equates to the biggest shift in German defense and security policy since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Just three days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the Sholz outlined plans to approve a €100 billion ($112 billion) special budget, ostensibly aimed at German rearmament after decades as Europe’s most reluctant military power.

U.S., Russia Set Deconfliction Line Aimed At Avoiding Air Incidents
The U.S. military on March 1 established a deconfliction line with the Russian Ministry of Defense aimed at avoiding incidents in the airspace over Eastern Europe amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

What Kendall Wants In Unmanned Teaming Systems For NGAD, B-21

Russia Suspends RD-181 Rocket Engine Deliveries To U.S.
Russia will stop supplying RD-181 engines, which are used on Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket, to the U.S. in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed in response to the conflict in Ukraine.

Pratt & Whitney Wins Air Force Rotating-Detonation Engine Work
Long-running U.S. interest in the potential application of pressure-gain combustion to high-speed propulsion is stepping up to a new level with the award of a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract to Pratt & Whitney for a rotating-detonating engine (RDE) demonstrator.
From a UK startup demonstrating the ability to transmit 5G cell-phone signals from a high-altitude to researchers flying an aircraft on a propulsion system with no moving parts, take a look at the daily roundup of aerospace & defense news.
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