Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The flight management systems market will hit $3.13 billion by 2021, according to consulting company ASDReports, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 6.23%. Factors driving the market include demand for next-generation systems and required navigation performance, as well as development of glass cockpits resulting in better operational efficiency. Other contributing factors are significant growth in the airline industry worldwide and increased fleet orders.

View the Fleet Snapshot: Worldwide F-15 Fleets chart in PDF format.

Selected U.S. military contracts for Aug. 29, 2016. U.S. ARMY DATRON World Communications, Inc., Vista, California, was awarded a $495,000,000 firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales (Afghanistan) contract for DATRON family of radios and support equipment. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-16-D-5010). Selected U.S. military contracts for Aug. 30, 2016.

Three International Space Station crewmembers returned safely to Earth late Sept. 6.

Almost two years after the DOD awarded Lockheed Martin the latest F-35 contract, the firm is still waiting on the funds needed to build the next fighter jets.

The Chilean air force (FACH) has chosen Sikorsky’s S-70i International Black Hawk to fulfill a requirement for a medium-lift helicopter.

“Poland’s formal request is an important milestone toward becoming the 6th NATO Patriot country and the 14th Patriot partner nation,” Raytheon’s integrated defense systems president Wes Kremer says.

China is developing a new-generation long-range bomber, air force commander Gen. Ma Xiaotian says.

The increased frequency of Iranian and North Korean space launch and ballistic missile tests is driving investment in Boeing’s silo-based interceptors.

Raytheon will cease production of the U.S. Navy’s first networked-enabled air-to-ground weapon in mid-2017 after seven years of assembly.

India successfully conducted the first flight of it homemade Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) on Sept. 6.

NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission rolled out atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on Sept. 7.

India is preparing to launch an advanced meteorological sat this week, taking a step closer toward enhancing climate prediction and disaster warning tech.

Airbus Defense and Space has flown the first A400M for the Spanish air force.

NASA’s nine-year-old Dawn mission spacecraft began a spiraling, five-week climb above the dwarf planet Ceres on Sept. 2.

Aug. 17 marked the closing of another chapter in the life of the venerable McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, with the QF-4 full-scale aerial target drone completing its final unmanned mission over White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The Turkish air force has disbanded three F-16 squadrons following their alleged involvement in the failed July 15 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Australia will consider accelerated replacement of its Airbus Tigers after auditors questioned a planned sustainment upgrade for the unreliable attack helicopters, even though they have been fully operational for only five months.

Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye design bureau has been authorized to establish a launch base for the Cyclone 4 rocket in North America.

Lockheed Martin and Leidos are serving as the latest examples of how a business unit sale can mess up an expected government contract, just by changing owners in the middle of bidding.

India is working to engage its private sector in satellite manufacturing and double its satellite launch rate, the country’s top scientist says.

British helicopter provider Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore has been chosen as the operator of Northern Ireland’s future air ambulance helicopters.

General Electric on Sept. 6 announced plans to acquire two European suppliers of additive manufacturing for $1.4 billion.

View the U.S. Navy Submarine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Spending: FY15-FY17($K)

NASA approved spring 2018 launch of InSight Mars lander. Launch window opens May 5, 2018, with landing scheduled for Nov. 26. Launch was delayed from March 2016 due to problems with prime instrument. AEROSPACE CORP. has $844.3m U.S. Air Force contract for systems engineering and integration support for U.S. national space community. Work to be complete Sept. 30, 2017.