Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The U.S. State Department has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale of Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for Norway.

An Ariane 5 ECA launched two satellites into geostationary transfer orbit from Europe’s Kourou.

Bell Helicopter and Sikorsky/Boeing could usher in a new era for military rotorcraft in 2017 when they fly their competing V-280 Valor and SB-1 Defiant technology demonstrators.

Field Aviation has partnered with a Turkish corporation to develop a new special mission aircraft platform based on the Bombardier Challenger 605 business jet.

JAXA launched the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) satellite aboard the second Epsilon Launch Vehicle at 8:00 p.m.

Lockheed Martin has finished assembly of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite S (GOES-S) weather satellite.

The U.S. Navy is preparing for possible cancellation of the new system planned to catch incoming aircraft on its next-generation of Gerald R. Ford-class carriers after costs for General Atomics’ Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) more than doubled since 2009.

British defense firm QinetiQ has purchased the target drone manufacturing business of Meggitt for £57.5 million ($71.04 million).

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have inked a treaty that allows the joint air policing of all three nations’ airspace.

The Russian navy has received its first modernized Kamov Ka-27M antisubmarine warfare helicopter, manufacturer Russian Helicopters says.

Lockheed Martin Ventures said Dec. 19 it led a series-B investment round in San Diego-based IQ-Analog.

Raytheon Southwest Asia System Co., Andover, Massachusetts, was awarded a $7,891,848 modification (P00008) to foreign military sales (Kuwait) contract W31P4Q-16-C-0022.

Where does the world's most expensive weapon system stand as it heads into 2017?

UK-based satellite operator Inmarsat and the European Space Agency have completed a first series of test flights for Iris Precursor, a project aimed at improving air traffic management over European airspace through satellite-based datalink communications.

Embraer’s home government of Brazil is ramping up for another World Trade Organization fight against Canada’s Bombardier.

If it did jump into the race, Textron would be the sixth entrant in an already heated battle to produce 350 or more high-performance trainers.

Boeing’s next-generation T-X took off for the first time Dec. 20, making its milestone first flight just weeks before the U.S. Air Force expects to formally kick off the competition for a new trainer fleet.

Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries intends to complete the expansion of its recently introduced BlackSky global intelligence platform by the end of the decade.

A Japanese spacecraft designed to study the interaction of solar storms and Earth’s magnetic field is functioning as planned after launch early Tuesday on an Epsilon launch vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center.

India has plans to launch up to 2,500 small satellites in the next five years to cater to burgeoning space requirements.

Avic has flown the AC352 helicopter, its variant of the Airbus H175, employing a Safran engine instead of the Pratt & Whitney Canada turboshaft of the original version.

The U.S. Air Force bought the legacy presidential aircraft from Boeing for just $249 million back in 1986 but expects to spend $3.2 billion on the new Air Force One.

The Pentagon is preparing for a delay of up to seven months in the F-35s development program and projecting cost growth of $530 million.

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $181m U.S. Navy contract for recurring logistics services for F-35 aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-DOD and FMS customers. MBDA tested its lightweight Enforcer missile during guided firings at German Bundeswehr’s Technical Center for Weapons and Ammunition 91 in November.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), an unabashed liberal made famous by her investigation of the Wells-Fargo banking scandal, will join the Senate Armed Services Committee in January. Large defense companies and research institutions call Warren’s state home, including Raytheon, General Electric, General Dynamics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others.