Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Tony Osborne
The move is part of wider reshuffle of senior managers in Italy’s various state-controlled companies and institutions.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Planetary scientists gathered March 19 for a "town hall” to discuss the proposed science objectives of a NASA-led robotic lander mission to search for life on the Jupiter moon Europa.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Saab says it is still on target for achieving a first flight of its new JAS 39E Gripen in this year’s second quarter.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Belgium has decided to purchase new fighters to replace its aging fleet of F-16s.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Startup XTI Aircraft has switched to hybrid-electric propulsion for its planned TriFan 600 ducted-fan vertical-takeoff-and-landing business aircraft.

By Tony Osborne
Britain’s plan to reinstitute a carrier-based strike capability faces potential delays and capability limitations, the independent National Audit Office has warned.
Defense

By Bradley Perrett, Marhalim Abas
Singapore is likely to field at least five maritime patrollers in the early 2020s.
Defense

The ninth Boeing-built Wideband Global Satcom jam-resistant military communications satellite has successfully launched aboard a Delta IV rocket on March 18.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
SpaceX's 10th NASA-contracted International Space Station Dragon resupply capsule re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on March 19, descending by parachute to a Pacific Ocean splashdown and recovery.
Defense

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS will deliver first of 46 Ka-52 Alligator combat helicopters to Egypt this year.

Consultancy Visiongain estimates the global military augmented reality (MAR) market reached $1.3 billion in 2016 and will grow.

View the Forecast Friday: Worldwide Western Tanker Deliveries 2017-2026 chart in PDF format.

If the U.S. Air Force chooses to move forward with the buy, the service could use fiscal 2016 and 2017 dollars to field the notional fleet very quickly.
Defense

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) says recent delays in releasing the request for proposals for the U.S. Air Force's Huey Replacement program are “such a disappointment” and further delay would be “irresponsible” considering the importance of the mission.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Vancouver-based space startup UrtheCast is to receive C$17.6 million ($13.2 million) in Canadian government support for development of the planned OptiSAR constellation.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
U.S. defense services providers look set to prosper under President Donald Trump’s new budget priorities, several financial analysts say.
Defense

The contract provides $3.3 billion to Boeing in exchange for 244 remanufactured Echo-model aircraft and another 24 new-build AH-64Es for Saudi Arabia.
Defense

The Trump administration’s fiscal 2017 supplemental budget, known in Washington as the “hard-power” skinny budget, would add billions of dollars to the U.S. Army’s aircraft and missile procurement accounts, providing new money for helicopters, UAVs, missiles and interceptors.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Lockheed Martin is eyeing new U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force opportunities for high-power laser systems after demonstrating a 60-kw-class laser for delivery to the Army in the next few months.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Low-cost UAVs that can be launched in volleys to cooperate with each other and with manned aircraft, then be retrieved in midair and reused, have moved a step closer to becoming reality.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
A five-year development effort led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory could soon produce one of the coldest places in the known universe, a man-made high-tech lab aboard the U.S. segment of the International Space Station.
Defense

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $53.1m Missile Defense Agency contract for the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle Technology Risk Reduction (TRR) effort for a 36-month period.

An Indian air force Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter crashed March 15 while on a routine training sortie.

The proposed investment in the Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter signals the administration’s seriousness about moving quickly to modernize the service’s tactical fighter fleet beyond the stealthy F-35.
Defense

Boeing is the big winner in President Trump’s supplemental budget request for fiscal 2017, with the White House requesting more than $3 billion for 24 additional U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and six more P-8 maritime patrol aircraft.
Defense