In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar. 13 2023

Credit: Pale Blue. Pale Blue of Tokyo says it successfully demonstrated its water vapor propulsion system in low Earth orbit aboard Sony’s EYE nanosatellite.

Credit: U.S. Navy photo by General Dynamics Electric Boat. Australia will buy a trio of U.S. Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines before embarking on a trilateral submarine development under the AUKUS defense pact. 

Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA. NASA has presented a detailed version of the Biden administration’s $27.2 billion fiscal 2024 budget request for the agency, a $1.8 billion, or 7.1%, increase over 2023.

Credit: LPhot Unaisi Luke/UK MOD. The UK is further adapting its security and defense apparatus to deal with what ministers see as an “epoch-defining challenge” from China. 

Credit: L3Harris. The U.S. Army’s fiscal 2024 budget proposal confirms plans to field a new airborne surveillance and targeting system. 

Credit: Airbus. Airbus has teamed with the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation to study how the OEM’s CityAirbus electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft could handle future medical missions. 

Credit: USAF. Singapore’s ministry of defense has confirmed that the U.S. Air Force sent the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk on a “short-term deployment” to the island state earlier this year.

Credit: UK Royal Air Force. Raytheon UK has completed the critical design review (CDR) for the upcoming upgrade of the UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) secretive Beechcraft Shadow intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) fleet. 

Credit: U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy wants an increase in critical, long-range munitions and would use recently enacted congressional authorization to start multiyear procurement of several.

Credit: Brian Everstine. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps want to maintain production of the Lockheed Martin F-35B and F-35C at a steady rate over the next five years and end KC-130J production after 2024, while not requesting any F/A-18E/Fs, E-2Ds or V-22s, according to the fiscal 2024 budget request.

Credit: U.S. Navy/Boeing. Shield AI and Boeing have agreed to explore ways to deepen an existing relationship by working to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) pilots on combat aircraft.

Credit: Pratt & Whitney. The U.S. Air Force will not go ahead with a full engine replacement for its Lockheed Martin F-35A, opting instead for a Pratt & Whitney plan to upgrade the core of the F135.

Credit: U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force wants to increase its buy of Boeing F-15EXs above what was previously planned and boost interim production of the Lockheed Martin F-35A.

Credit: U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force is again asking for permission from Congress to retire hundreds of aircraft, including another attempt to cut Lockheed Martin F-22s as it hopes to free up more funding for modernization.

Credit: Northrop Grumman. The U.S. Space Force is investing in new offensive capabilities in space, though initial details are limited to the service confirming it will attempt to attack adversary satellites without creating debris on orbit.

Credit: Lockheed Martin. The U.S. Air Force is focusing heavily on maritime strike as it looks toward the Pacific and its munitions requirements, prompting the service to announce for the first time it intends to buy the Kongsberg-Raytheon Joint Strike Missile.

Credit: Boeing. Both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy would spend heavily on research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) on their secretive sixth-generation fighter programs in fiscal 2024 as the programs progress.

Credit: ZeroAvia. ZeroAvia has tested a hydrogen fuel cell that promises to be powerful enough for use in propulsion systems for regional aircraft with up to 80 seats.

Credit: Leon Neal/WPA Pool/Getty Images. The UK is to boost its defense spending by £5 billion ($6 billion) over the next two years, reflecting concerns about global volatility, threats from Russia and the rise of China.  

Credit: Tony Osborne/AW&ST. Iran has reportedly finalized a deal to acquire Sukhoi Su-35 fighters from Russia and launched serial production of the locally designed HESA Yasin-2 light jet trainer. 

Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images. France and the UK have committed to delivering a future cruise missile capability by 2030, the leaders of the two countries have declared.

Credit: U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force wants to increase its buy of Boeing F-15EXs above what was previously planned and boost interim production of the Lockheed Martin F-35A.