Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Bradley Perrett
China’s Avic has flown an export version of the Z-19 attack helicopter, with hopes of selling up to 150 of the tandem-seat rotorcraft over 10 years.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Despite doubts about funding for a multibillion dollar lander to seek evidence of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa, NASA is telling those interested in providing instruments for the mission not to lose hope.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Two NASA astronauts are scheduled for a spacewalk outside the International Space Station to replace a failed Multiplexer Demultiplexer.
Defense

Space Shuttle-era astronauts Ellen Ochoa and Mike Foale were inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 19.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Arconic and activist investor Elliott Management have reached a deal on the makeup of Arconic’s board of directors and will work together in Arconic’s CEO search.
Defense

By Jay Menon
The ISRO and NASA are collaborating on a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite that will help scientists study changes in climate and environment.
Defense

By Bradley Perrett
A second test of North Korea’s solid-propellant Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile has resulted in another lofted trajectory flight of about 500 km range.
Defense

Lockheed Martin and Boeing have emerged as the big winners from U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia.
Defense

The U.S. Navy’s premier submarine hunter, the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, is about halfway through replacing the 1960s-vintage Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion.
Defense

RAYTHEON has U.S. Air Force contract worth up to $49m to provide means for compliance with FAA Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast mandate for T-38A/B, A-10. SIKORSKY has $37.6m U.S. Army contract for overhaul of 381 UH-60 tail rotor blades. SPACEFLIGHT plans to purchase Electron rocket from ROCKET LAB to increase the frequency of its dedicated rideshare missions.

Rockwell Collins could see further acquisitions on the horizon, but any such deals in the next few years would be much smaller than its recent $8.6 billion takeover of interiors specialist B/E Aerospace. The supplier made a commitment to ratings agencies that it would service a portion of the debt it took on in that deal, Rockwell Collins CEO Kelly Ortberg says. Therefore, the company does not expect any big acquisitions in the near term.

View the Top 10 Western Transport Aircraft MRO Demand 2017-2026 chart in PDF format.

India’s GSAT-17 telecommunications satellite will launch at the end of June aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
NASA is in the final six months of a three-year project, called Deliver, to adapt and expand its proven rotorcraft design tools and make them applicable to novel configurations for drones or air taxis.

Boeing is chasing potential AH-64E Apache sales opportunities with 10 different defense forces around the globe as it begins work on the first 38 of 50 UK models.
Defense

RAYTHEON has $12m U.S. Army foreign military sales contract for engineering services for Israel’s Patriot weapon system.

The Israeli Air Force will replace its manned Sea Scan maritime patrol aircraft with Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) maritime Heron 1 variant.

View the Leader Spotlight: Leanne Caret, president, Boeing Defense, Space & Security in PDF format.

By Mark Carreau
NASA invested nearly twice the original $40.5 million estimate for the construction of core stage liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellant tank test stands for the Space Launch System, a NASA IG audit says.
Defense

Boeing has reached a “handshake agreement” with the U.S. Army for the development of the future CH-47 Block II Chinook.
Defense

Boeing has cautioned the U.S. Navy against getting locked into another 20-year aircraft development program as it reaches for F/A-XX, the service’s next carrier warplane.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Britain’s Conservative Party has pledged it will increase the country’s defense budget by 0.5% a year above inflation until 2022 as it seeks re-election in the upcoming snap general election on June 8.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The exercise was conducted by Aurora Flight Sciences under DARPA’s ALIAS (Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System) program to develop a drop-in kit that adds high-level automation to existing aircraft.

By Bradley Perrett
Sweden is urging Japan to consider Saab as a possible technical backer for the Future Fighter Program.
Defense

By Bradley Perrett
Australia appears to be delaying major spending on its forthcoming frigate program, potentially freeing up more than $2 billion for other programs early next decade.
Defense