A helicopter final-assembly plant that Airbus and Chinese partners have begun building here will have room for double its designed capacity of 18 deliveries a year.
Leonardo has formed a consortium with Canada’s IMP Aerospace and Defense to bid for the upcoming modernization of Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters.
The wreckage of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Su-30MKI fighter that went missing May 23 was found in a thick forest near Tezpur in the northeastern state of Assam on May 26. No traces were found of the two pilots. A search for the flight data recorder and missing crew will be undertaken by ground personnel after they reach the crash site, the IAF says in an official statement. The fighter had taken off from the IAF’s Tezpur air base, located about 172 km from the India-China border, for a training mission.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has $13.9m U.S. Navy contract for additional hardware to integrate Navy large aircraft infrared countermeasures on combat aircraft for the Navy and the governments of the U.K. and Australia.
In observance of the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S., Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not be publishing on Monday, May 29. The next issue of Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will be dated Wednesday, May 31.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. For a complete list of Aviation Week Network’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) May 31-June 1—ap&m Europe, Olympia London, United Kingdom. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
The U.S. Air Force is asking for $1 million to stand up the project in its fiscal 2018 budget request—the first time the new capability has appeared on paper.
A bill has been introduced in the Senate that would allow state and local governments to impose “reasonable restrictions” on drone operations below 200 ft.
BAE Systems is preparing to perform a series of test firings of MBDA’s Brimstone 2 air-to-ground missile from the Eurofighter Typhoon as it moves to integrate the weapon for use by the British Royal Air Force.
North Korea’s new Pukguksong-2 solid-propellant ballistic missile has a range of more than 1,000 km (600 mi.) but less than 2,000 km, according to the U.S. military and a South Korean defense ministry expert.
Lockheed Martin has begun flight tests of its LM-100J commercial freighter version of the C-130J Hercules military airlifter, with FAA certification planned for 2018.
The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration has awarded a contract to UltiSat to provide C- and Ku-band connectivity to the Swedish Armed Forces in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Boeing is several months behind schedule on the tanker program, which means the first aircraft won’t be delivered until after September, top Air Force officials told Congress in written testimony May 25.
The U.S. Air Force is kick-starting a potentially multibillion-dollar program to replace the E-4B “Doomsday Plane” and the U.S. Navy’s E-6B Mercury fleet with a single fleet.
Boeing has lodged a protest over the U.S. Air Force’s decision to allow L3 Technologies to choose the next EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, alleging an unfair conflict of interest.
Rocket Lab says that despite not reaching its intended orbit of between 300 and 500 km on its first test launch on May 25, the Electron vehicle performed nominally throughout most of the mission.
