In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar. 28 2023

Credit: Airbus Defense and Space. 

Airbus has demonstrated autonomous control of an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) from its A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) testbed in a key milestone toward fully autonomous aerial refueling.

Credit: Thales Alenia Space. 

Thales Alenia Space has won two contracts from the European Space Agency to supply synthetic aperture radar and optical satellites for IRIDE, an Italian Earth observation constellation.

Credit: NASA. 

Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 crew transport, which experienced a disabling external coolant leak while docked to the seven-person International Space Station (ISS) on Dec. 14, departed the orbital lab early March 28 for an uncrewed, parachute-assisted descent to Earth in Kazakhstan.

Credit: Tony Osborne/AW&ST. 

Belgium has begun the process of procuring 20 new light helicopters for its armed forces and national police.

Credit: Raytheon. 

The worst performing acquisition programs in the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) portfolio are not in space.

XQ-58

Credit: Pratt & Whitney. 

While the U.S. Air Force would have wanted other services to help shoulder the cost of a full engine replacement for all variants of the Lockheed Martin F-35, it simply was not possible, the service’s top civilian official says, even as lawmakers press the service to reconsider moving ahead with the Adaptive Engine Transition Program.

Credit: U.S. Space Force. 

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) wants to continue investments in tactically responsive space, using its experimentation funding to look beyond just launch and into ways to get satellites into operations faster after reaching orbit.