NORTHROP GRUMMAN’s MQ-4C Triton completed testing and a successful first flight of an improved software suite that enables Early Operational Capability deployment in 2018. LOCKHEED MARTIN has $129.4m U.S. Navy contract for work on the TR-3 integrated core processor and related subsystems to alleviate diminishing manufacturing sources constraints projected under F-35 production Lot 15 through March 2019.
The chief economic advisor to President Donald Trump said April 4 that air traffic control (ATC) reform—including privatizing ATC—could be a major element of the new administration’s infrastructure buildup, but that general aviation should not fear paying more for it. “We’re probably not even going to tax general aviation,” said Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council.
AVIATION WEEK NETWORK forecasts the global fleet of Western C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) aircraft will grow significantly over the next four years
Despite Russian claims, Pentagon officials say all 59 Raytheon-built Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles fired against Syria’s Shayrat airfield on April 7 reached their intended targets.
As potential adversaries develop advanced counter-space and cyber capabilities, the Pentagon appears to be accepting the reality that war will inevitably extend to space.
The U.S. Navy wants to buy 130 additional Super Hornets over the next five years for $13.6 billion as part of an effort to beef up its strike fighter fleet.
Airbus is stepping up support for partner Indonesian Aerospace as the Asian state company struggles with late deliveries and a military customer dissatisfied with product support.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has $581.8m U.S. Navy contract for air vehicle initial spares, including F-35 common spares; F-35A, F-35B and F-35C unique spares, and aloft spares packages/deployment spares packages and reprogramming lab spares required to support the fighter’s delivery schedule through April 2021. SEEMANN COMPOSITES INC. has $9.1m U.S. Navy contract for materials and manufacturing technologies for unmanned underwater vehicles through Sept. 15, 2020.
On April 5 the Senate Armed Services Committee met in executive session and favorably reported the nomination of Heather Wilson to be the next Secretary of the U.S. Air Force by a vote of 22-5. The nomination now goes to the floor of the Senate for a full vote. A former Air Force officer, Wilson also served in Congress as a Republican representing New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District from 1998 to 2009.
Despite ongoing strikes that have forced Arianespace to suspend launches indefinitely, a ViaSat executive says he is "confident we’ll have ViaSat-2 in service by the end of the year."
UNITED LAUNCH SERVICES LLC has $146.5m U.S. Air Force contract for launch vehicle production services, including support of an Atlas V 551, 5M Payload Fairing 9-ft. Plug and transportation, through Dec. 12, 2020. LOCKHEED MARTIN has $1.6b U.S. Army contract for the Counter Fire Target Acquisition Radar System full-rate production and deployment through March 29, 2022.
If the thought of a delivery UAV landing in the yard raises safety and noise concerns, Advanced Tactics Inc. has demonstrated an alternative: a small unmanned aircraft that lands and drives up to the door with no propellers turning. The Torrance, California-based company has conducted the first package-delivery test with its Panther Air/Ground Robot. The vehicle landed in an open clearing away from buildings and people, then drove along the sidewalk and up to the test customer’s doorstep. Carrying a 5-lb.
