Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov is studying options to westernize its heavyweight An-124 airlifter to reduce its reliance on Russian suppliers.

Germany is set to join the Netherlands, Norway and Poland in the creation of a European multinational tanker force flying the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport.

Germany is considering retaining at least 24 C-160 Transall airlifters due to concerns that the defensive aids suite on its A400Ms will not be ready for service.

Certain existing U.S. Navy aircraft, Pentagon radar systems and advanced communications networks can help the DOD map out successful electronic warfare acquisitions, a CSBA report says.

The DOD must alter the way it prepares to fight with – and buy for – electronic warfare, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded M1 Support Services of Denton, Texas, a $304.9 million fixed-price, performance incentive and award fee contract with cost-reimbursable line items for Nellis Aircraft Maintenance Backshop operations and maintenance services, the Pentagon announced Nov. 30.

Selected U.S. military contracts for Nov. 23, 2015. AIR FORCE

NASA’s Journey to Mars envisions a U.S. role in a human “return to the Moon,” even if not in the same sense the agency carried out six spacecraft landings under the agency’s banner during the Apollo era.

The Air Force is considering measures to ensure that communications sent over the Wideband Global Satcom constellation are more secure.

India is on track to launch its first solar mission to study the Sun’s outermost layers and hopes it will take place in the next two years.

The Spanish government and Airbus Defense and Space have formalized an agreement to postpone the delivery of 13 of Spain’s 27 planned A400M airlifters.

Europe’s €430 million ($455 million) LISA Pathfinder mission has been postponed due to a technical issue on the Vega light launcher.

Three of XCOR Aerospace’s founders have left the company to set up a new firm – Agile Aero – offering “short schedule vehicle prototyping services.”

DYNCORP INTERNATIONAL (Texas) has $61m U.S. ARMY contract for Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command aviation program; estimated complete by January 2021. TRAX INTERNATIONAL (Nev.) has $8m U.S. ARMY contract modification for research/development/testing/evaluation at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

Boeing has closed out C-17 deliveries and seven decades of aircraft production in Long Beach, California.

Helicopter operator CHC has partnered with two Dutch companies to find a way to mitigate the effect of birds on the helidecks of offshore oil-and-gas platforms.

Capt. Richard Prest, Commander Task Force 72 and Commander Fleet Air Forward, makes sure the intelligence keeps flowing in the Western Pacific.

Likely enlargement of Australia’s frigate force will add pressure to eventually add a third replenishment ship to the Royal Australian Navy, a Canberra, Australia, think tank says.

Russian Helicopters has delivered the first prototype of an Arctic transport rotorcraft to the Russian defense ministry.

The German government plans to send Panavia Tornados for operations over Syria in response to a French request for assistance following the terror attacks on Paris earlier this month.

Poland’s new government is moving to cancel two key defense tenders agreed by the previous administration.

F-35 SUPPORT: The U.S. Navy has awarded United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney, Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, a $214.5 million

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report's Defense Market Intelligence Notes highlight the global goings-on of the aerospace industry.

The Russian defense ministry says that no warnings of airspace infringement were received by the crew of a Sukhoi Su-24 fighter bomber shot down by Turkey.

Russia plans to strengthen its forces in Syria with increased air defenses and a larger fighter jet presence, after Turkish F-16s downed a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M tactical bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border on Nov. 24.