Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Airbus and the U.S. Army discuss four options for 215 UH-72A Lakota trainers including autonomous conversion for logistics and strike missions.

Airbus Helicopters is exploring an armed loyal wingman variant of its U145 uncrewed rotorcraft to accompany attack helicopters into combat.

Twenty-seven UK and U.S. allies back the conclusion that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was behind a foiled plot targeting U.S. forces at RAF Fairford.

DBT Aero will evaluate pairing MagLev Aero's HyperDrive ducted-fan electric propulsion with its laminar-flow Double Box Tail airframe design.

SpaceX launches its 35th cargo mission to the International Space Station carrying final solar arrays, science experiments and crew supplies.

The U.S. Army recently stress-tested the use of Amazon’s nascent proliferated communications network to provide high-speed connectivity to soldiers in the field.

NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has surpassed the off-Earth driving record set by a predecessor rover, Opportunity.

Czech startup Zuri is testing a modified Rotax engine from EdgePerformance that powers its hybrid-electric eVTOL cargo aircraft.

The Week Ahead in Washington

X-BOW part of LEIDOS’ LCCM team... ASTROLIGHT announces laser satcom commissioning... Former NASA science chief joins BLUE ORIGIN...

U.S. Army and AeroVironment officials will re-open the supply chain for components and subsystems within the Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program to competition.

Sikorsky unveils Black Hawk Next upgrades including a modular nose, new engine and autonomy software to extend the helicopter's service life past 2050.

Greene Tweed and GE Unison developed a carbon fiber engine bracket that is 86% lighter than its metal counterpart.

The Pentagon announces $350 million for quantum computing, including DARPA's QBI and a $150 million conditional loan to PsiQuantum for a Milpitas, California, hub.

The Pentagon backfills $200 million for the Bell MV-75 tiltrotor program as Textron spends internal funds to keep U.S. Army development and testing on schedule.

Korea Aerospace Industries partners with Moroccan MRO providers to propose FA-50/T-50 advanced jet trainers and light combat aircraft to the Royal Moroccan Air Force.

Leonardo plans crewed-uncrewed teaming trials pairing a Eurofighter with Baykar’s Kizilelma uncrewed combat aircraft to expand European CCA capabilities.

A U.S. company has ordered a $20 million counter-drone system to protect its Middle East oil and gas facility, a Powerus executive told Aviation Week Oct. 12.

Kuwait contracts Marss Systems for £370M national counter-drone system using AI-enabled command and control to counter air and sea threats.

The U.S. Western Range supports the test of an unarmed ICBM reentry vehicle and launches the fourth batch of SDA data relay satellites from Vandenberg SFB.

KAI completes its first manned-uncrewed teaming flight with an FA-50 and the Adaptable Aerial Platform uncrewed aircraft.

Airbus completes the first flight of a Kratos Valkyrie CCA demonstrator in Sweden, targeting a 2028 weapons release test for Germany’s emerging CCA requirement.

An Australian-developed long-endurance uncrewed aircraft flew for almost 2 hr., powered by energy-dense lithium-sulfur batteries and ultra-lightweight perovskite solar arrays.

RTX-owned Raytheon unveiled a fully rocket-powered variant of the Coyote drone interceptor.

Sikorsky on Oct. 12 unveiled a containerized version of its Nomad 100 vertical takeoff and landing rotor-blown-wing uncrewed aircraft system designed to rapidly deploy the aircraft.