The U.S. Air Force launched the 12th and final Boeing GPS IIF satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Feb. 5. “Today’s launch is a significant achievement in the history of GPS, as we launch the last of the GPS IIF satellites to be delivered on-orbit,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Space and Missile Systems Center commander, in an Air Force statement.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Feb. 10-11—MRO Network — Aero-Engines Americas, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information go to http://events.aviationweek.com/current/public/enter.aspx
The U.S. Navy will increase its planned future orders of the Lockheed Martin F-35C Joint Strike Fighter in the fiscal 2017 defense budget to be released tomorrow, as directed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter in a December memo to the service.
Cargo deliveries to the International Space Station with the SpaceX Dragon capsule will have the highest price of the three private vehicles chosen for the second round of Commercial Resupply Services work, but NASA has high confidence of its chances for success.
Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14’s lunar module pilot and one of only a dozen Americans to walk on the Moon as part of NASA’s initial foray into deep space nearly a half century ago, has died.
North Korea again raised tensions in the Asia-Pacific with a missile launch Feb. 6, and the U.S. Pacific Command underscored the strength of its allies in defending the region.
European missile manufacturer MBDA says it has begun delivering a batch of Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAM) to the U.S. that are ready for integration onto the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Next week’s fiscal 2017 Pentagon budget proposal will include more U.S. Navy aircraft, missiles and submarine investments, including funding for a new antiship version of the SM-6 missile.
The company says while technology demonstrations showed microwave propulsion is feasible, the technical risks and cost uncertainty were unattractive to investors so work was halted at the end of 2015.
Noting that their pilots are reporting more incidents of breathing problems in F-18-based aircraft, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are combining their resources to find causes and fixes for the problems.
The lack of aircraft and spare parts is curtailing the number of fighters and other airplanes available for proper training, cutting into surge readiness and creating other operational concerns, some of the top officers for U.S. Navy and Marine Corps air operations say.
Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington-based private equity firm focusing in part on aerospace and defense, will buy the defense and security business of iRobot “for up to $45 million,” the companies said Feb. 4.
