Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Protracted negotiations between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin over the next batches of F-35s are weighing on the company’s cash flow, with Lockheed forced to use internal funding to pay suppliers that have already begun work on the lot 9 and 10 jets.
Defense

By Angus Batey
Last weekend’s NATO summit had its security provided, in part, by ground-based air-defense equipment and personnel from the Norwegian air force, which deployed Nasams (Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) teams to Poland.
Defense

LOCKHEED MARTIN is competing to build Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor for ...

Adm. John Richardson, U.S. chief of naval operations, met with People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Commander ...

View the Leader Spotlight: Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin Chairwoman, President and CEO document in PDF format.

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 4 USS Coronado proved it can fire a Harpoon over-the-horizon (OTH) missile, but the ship shot missed the target, says Cmdr. Scott Larson, vessel commanding officer.
Defense

Blue Origin has found its design for a one-chute-out landing of its New Shepard capsule worked as planned, and SpaceX is negotiating for a customer to ride a used Falcon 9 launch vehicle to orbit, as the two companies’ efforts to lower the cost of launch by reusing spacecraft gain steam.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
An asteroid at least 10 times more massive than originally estimated appears responsible for a prominent impact site on the Moon known as the Imbrium Basin.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The ninth NASA-contracted SpaceX Dragon resupply mission capsule rendezvoused with the International Space Station early July 20, moving within range of the orbiting science laboratory’s outstretched Canadian-built robot arm.
Defense

Lockheed Martin has reiterated its commitment to delivering 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Turkey after a failed coup, but several analysts warn that the country’s major defense procurement programs could be at risk.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
British parliamentarians have overwhelmingly approved the replacement of the U.K.’s fleet of ballistic missile submarines and committed to a continuous at-sea deterrent capability.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Leonardo Helicopters—formally AgustaWestland—is planning to test fly an active rotor blade system as part of a U.K.-based rotary-wing technology research program.
Defense

The U.S. and Singaporean navies are upping the sophistication ante during this year’s 22nd annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) exercise that will advanced aerial and surface-ship antisubmarine drills.
Defense

GENERAL ATOMICS AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS INC. and NLR-NETHERLANDS AEROSPACE CENTER signed agreement to ...

Washington has gone comparatively quiet, with lawmakers having left the ...

Selected U.S. military contracts for July 11, 2016 U.S. NAVY Data Intelligence LLC , Marlton, New Jersey, is being awarded a potential $33,136,935

Boeing’s Training Systems and Government Services is moving ahead with construction of a Boeing KC-46A virtual learning center at McConnell AFB in Wichita, besting five rivals to claim a $45.3 million, seven-year Pegasus maintenance training system deal.
Defense

Although Lockheed Martin is facing a gap in F-16 production starting next year, top officials say the company is keeping the line warm in anticipation of new international orders of the lightweight fighter before too long.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Russia’s Progress MS-03 cargo capsule, the first of two closely scheduled resupply missions expected to reach the six-person International Space Station this week, docked successfully with the orbiting science laboratory late July 18.
Defense

By Molly McMillin
Cirrus has received FAA approval for a special mission platform tailored for the Cirrus SR22 and SR22T aircraft models called the Cirrus Perception.
Defense

French defense procurement agency DGA has selected Dassault Aviation to renovate 55 Mirage 2000D combat jets in service with the French air force.
Defense

U.S. 7th Fleet will rotationally deploy two Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to Singapore from July 15 through Aug. 12.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Louise M. Prockter, an assistant branch supervisor in the Applied Physics Laboratory’s Space Department at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has been selected by the Universities Space Research Association to direct the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
Defense

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover passed Key Decision Point (KDP) C review, clearing way for final design and construction in anticipation of 2020 launch and February 2021 landing. LEONARDO-FINMECCANICA has contract for avionics and engine upgrade of five Lynx Mk. 95 helicopters in service with Portuguese Navy. BAE SYSTEMS and LEONARDO-FINMECCANICA entered 10-year partnership agreement on €600M ($664M) Joint Avionics Solution (JAS) for U.K. Typhoon fleet, part of overall BAE-led U.K. Typhoon support agreement worth $2.5B

Airbus is testing the use of small unmanned aircraft to perform exterior quality inspections on airliners, to reduce the time now required to find problems by manual visual inspection. The UAV, carrying a high-definition camera, follows a pre-determined flight path over the upper surface of the aircraft, flown by an automatic flight control system supervised by a human pilot. Images are collected automatically, compiled into a 3D digital model and recorded in a database for analysis. Data acquisition by drone takes 10-15 min. compared with 2 hr.