Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

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UK ROYAL NAVY’s Merlin helicopter fleet reached 200,000 flight hours.

On Jan 28 the Colombian Navy announced its intention to equip its two recently purchased AS365 Dauphins with an anti-submarine warfare capability and anti-surface warfare capability via over-the-horizon missiles.

The U.S. Air Force has started searching for ideas to improve the HGU-55/P helmet worn by F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighter pilots.

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Navy should acknowledge a new cost overrun and a schedule delay on the Sikorsky CH-53K development program to fix multiple design problems, the Pentagon’s top weapons tester says.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Navy has awarded a $14.9 billion contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding to finalize a two-ship aircraft carrier buy.
Defense

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. defense budget expert says proposals to dramatically increase the size of the USAF and Navy should be sacrificed for higher spending on modernization.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Raytheon is seeing astronomical growth in classified military orders, but it could also spur some near-term disappointment with investors and financial analysts.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Some clever repurposing of a navigational device on NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is helping scientists unravel the mysterious past of Mount Sharp.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
EASA has approved a Rolls-Royce request to transfer design authorization from Britain to Germany as a precaution against a possible no-deal Brexit.

By Guy Norris
Secretive startup Joby Aviation says its S4 five-seat eVTOL air taxi will be capable of flying at 200 mph and operate at noise levels 100 times quieter than a helicopter.

By Steve Trimble
Boeing delivered two more KC-46 tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force on Jan. 31, less than a week after handing over the first two jets, the company said.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Two pioneering U.S. and Japanese sample return missions now closely surveying two near-Earth asteroids are paying wide-ranging dividends.
Defense

By Guy Norris
Bell has begun flight tests of the largest version yet of its tail-sitting electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) Autonomous Pod Transport (APT).

By Maksim Pyadushkin
The Russian Aerospace Forces will receive the first new Tupolev Tu-160M2 strategic bomber in 2021
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Nanoracks logged five CubeSat deployments from the International Space Station’s Japanese Kibo lab module on Jan. 31.
Defense

India’s national space agency has set up a human spaceflight center as its gears up to launch the country’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, by 2022.
Defense

BOEING has $56,7.m U.S. Navy contract for program management support, engineering and integrated logistics support for the T-45 aircraft.

Mitsubishi Aircraft’s U.S. subsidiary, filing a counterclaim in the lawsuit that Bombardier has brought against it, alleged unlawful anticompetitive behavior by the Canadian company.

By Steve Trimble
Structural defects mean the earliest F-35Bs delivered by Lockheed Martin could reach a service life limit by 2026 after 2,100 flight hours, according to the Pentagon’s director for weapons testing.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Sikorsky has secured an order for its S-92 heavy commercial helicopter for use by a Mexican oil-and-gas operator in spite of the ongoing slump in demand.

By Steve Trimble
Lockheed Martin delivered the first operational F-35A to the Dutch air force in a Jan. 30 ceremony in Fort Worth.
Defense

By Jen DiMascio
Maxar Technologies’ subsidiary SSL has ended its participation in DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites program.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Finland has received proposals from fighter manufacturers vying to replace the Nordic country’s fleet of F/A-18 legacy Hornets.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
On the heels of taking over Israel Military Industries last year, Israel’s Elbit Systems has reorganized a “number” of its business lines.
Defense