Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Tony Osborne
The sudden advances in North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile capability have been made possible by illicit access to the Soviet-era RD-250 liquid-propellant engine, a missile expert has claimed.
Defense

By Guy Norris
Northrop Grumman is using an X-47B unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as a flying testbed for air refueling systems in support of its proposal for the U.S. Navy’s upcoming MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling tanker contest.
Defense

AIRBUS completed testing of MetOp-C polar-orbiting meteorological satellite payload module and delivered it to Toulouse for coupling with service module. LOCKHEED MARTIN has $45.5m U.S. Air Force contract for GPS military code (M-Code) early use software enabling M-Code tasking, monitoring, and signal in space for current and future satellites. Work complete December 2019.

Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) has embarked on India’s first private-sector defense subsystems manufacturing facility. KRAS, a joint venture between Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and India’s Kalyani Group, is part of the “Make in India” initiative to increase foreign direct investment while increasing employment for Indian workers. Israel and India have long had strong defense ties. This year, India has signed deals for the purchase of almost $2 billion of missiles from Israeli companies.

View the Western Military Transport Aircraft MRO Demand by Region chart in PDF format.

The directive comes after three Marines died in an MV-22 crash off Australia’s east coast Aug. 5. Last month, 15 Marines and one sailor were killed when their KC-130T crashed.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Don't expect Boeing to let up on its Partnering for Success supply chain squeeze or vertical integration efforts.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Astronautics Corp. of America is eyeing new work on aircraft retrofits, helicopters and military transports like C-130s as it looks to double revenue.
Defense

By Irene Klotz
A Goddard-built cubesat is intended to test if a center with expertise in building large, expensive spacecraft can accomplish some big science in a small package.
Defense

The commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona, says he believes psychology has played a role in a recent spate of hypoxia-like cockpit incidents on F-35As.
Defense

The International Space Station will play a key role in deploying an experimental microsatellite for the U.S. Army over the coming weeks.
Defense

By Jay Menon
India is developing a Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) to aid in applications ranging from mineral exploration to military surveillance.
Defense

HARRIS CORP. delivered third of 10 advanced navigation payloads to LOCKHEED MARTIN, to be integrated into GPS III Space Vehicle 3 this summer. BOEING has $14.9m U.S. Navy contract to incorporate Early Warning Self Protection 6th sensor engineering change proposal into 11 P-8A Poseidon low-rate initial production Lot 4 aircraft. Work complete February 2019.

Russian-owned Rostec Corp. and Indonesia’s Enterprises State Trading Company have agreed to cooperate on the sale of Sukhoi Su-35 fighters to Indonesia, according to Rostec.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has adapted its Fencepost acoustic surveillance system to detect and locate quadcopter drones.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne report completion of ground testing of the fourth controller for the four RS-25 liquid hydrogen/oxygen rocket engines that are to power the Space Launch System core stage of the agency’s Exploration Mission-1 test launch.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Ensuring that autonomous systems that learn as they operate remain safe as they acquire knowledge through their lifetimes is the challenge to be tackled by Darpa’s new Assured Autonomy program.
Defense

Lockheed Martin remains committed to the development of its dual-stage Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) endoatmospheric interceptor.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Engineered Propulsion Systems has tested its Graflight Flat 8 diesel aero-engine at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center as it advances toward FAA certification.
Defense

The U.S. Army may be clamoring for lower-tier air defense weaponry, but Raytheon Missile Systems has something much grander in mind.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Germany has ordered an updated version of EMT’s Luna UAV for its tactical surveillance needs.
Defense

The U.S. Air Force insists the experiment is not a competition, but rivalry between the four light attack contenders was on full display.
Aircraft & Propulsion

SPACE SYSTEMS LORAL completed preliminary design review for NASA’s Restore-L satellite servicing mission to provide satellite servicing in LEO following 2020 launch. GENERAL ELECTRIC AVIATION has $13.5m U.S. Navy contract for 369 A51 Aircraft Component Power Plant Change modification kits in support of the F/A-18 C/D Hornet F404 engine Component Improvement Program.

Airbus’s nascent Voom on-demand helicopter service has partnered with ride-hailing company Cabify to provide passengers with ground transportation to and from heliports, beginning in Sao Paulo.

U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves says America’s ballistic missile defense system is ready to handle a ballistic missile raid by North Korea.
Defense