Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

In a surprise leadership change, Ursa Major has named Chris Spagnoletti as the company’s CEO effective immediately.

Airbus Helicopters has inaugurated the next final assembly line for its H125 single-engine light helicopter in India.

NASA on Feb. 19 was in the final day of a planned 49 hr., 50 min. practice countdown for the launch of the Artemis II flight test.

The orderbook for De Havilland Canada’s new Canadair DHC-515 waterbomber has been swelled by an order from the company’s home province of Alberta.

U.S. Navy officials started shopping on Feb. 19 for an air-launched, long-range, anti-radiation missile that can be acquired in the hundreds every year.

Embraer says it would establish a C-390 MRO facility in India with local partner Mahindra Group if the government there buys the airlifter.

According to its latest guidance, Airbus is finally revising downward its targets for the A320neo family, but not by much.

Airbus says it is ready for a two-fighter approach under the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project.

The DOD is stepping up investment in North American germanium producers to strengthen supply chains strained by China’s critical mineral export restrictions.

News in brief.

SwRI working on USAF product lifecycle management system... LOCKHEED gets JASSM award... GE AEROSPACE funded to repair F404 engine components...

Northrop Grumman is presenting a three-pronged approach to offer a “family of systems” for the USAF if it progresses with that plan for future refuelers.

Astrolight plans to demonstrate its new laser communications terminals in space for the first time following the launch of SpaceX’s Transporter-16 mission.

Spain’s Indra and Italy’s ELT Group have signed a strategic framework for closer collaboration on space and uncrewed aircraft systems.

Airbus has described 2026 as a “year of testing” for the latest addition to its portfolio, the H140 twin-engine light helicopter.

Hypersonic test company Stratolaunch has completed back-to-back launches of two Mach 5-plus, rocket-powered Talon-A vehicles from two different carrier aircraft in the space of just fourteen days.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants the military to do a proper requirements assessment for a potential next-generation fighter.

A proposal to increase the size of the B-21 Raider program of record depends on getting U.S. Air Force approval to accelerate deliveries.

Boeing has supplemented the dedicated 777-9 test fleet with the temporary addition of a production configured aircraft for limited specific tests.

European missile-maker MBDA has secured a backlog of orders now valued at around €44 billion ($52 billion), joint venture partner BAE Systems disclosed Feb. 18.

BAE Systems' sales growth generated in Europe is poised to accelerate after with the business there now surpassing the British defense company’s sizable Saudi Arabian activities.

Carpenter Technology's current president and chief operating officer Brian Malloy will become chief executive officer July 1.

A Senate panel has again passed the Orbital Sustainability Act, which authorizes $150 million in 2026-2030 to remediate Earth orbital debris.

Spain has added a signals intelligence capability to its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) fleet.

The U.S. Air Force is now planning for its first missile pad test launch of its next intercontinental ballistic missile next year.