Lockheed Martin is expecting to propose its Legion pod for a forthcoming U.S. Air Force solicitation to put an infrared search-and-track (IRST) sensor on its legacy F-15C/D fleet.
India has moved a step closer to being able to orbit heavy satellites with another test of its most powerful, indigenously created cryogenic rocket engine.
The Russian air force continues to upgrade its fleet, receiving a total of seven fixed-wing and six rotary-wing aircraft in the second quarter of this year.
The demo took place during the annual Remote Area Medical clinic in Wise, Virginia, on July 17 and was overseen by the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership using its certificate of authorization as an FAA-designated UAV test site.
The planned $9 billion purchase could be more defining for Lockheed, the Pentagon’s leading prime contractor, than helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky or even the rotorcraft market.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah James says SpaceX’s failed Falcon 9 mission on June 28 bolsters the service’s argument to get access to more RD-180 engines from Russia, but she adds that it should not hurt the company’s chances of winning U.S. Air Force work.
Sikorsky's technology work could add to Lockheed Martin’s portfolio, but also could overlap, forcing internal decisions on which of various competing approaches to pursue going forward.
Without new orders, the F-16’s production run — more than 4,500 aircraft, second only to the F-4 Phantom among Western supersonic fighters — will end in 2017.
Egypt accepted the first three of 24 Rafale combat jets from Dassault Aviation July 20 during a handover ceremony at the company’s Istres flight-test facility in France.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is once again advancing closer to the large asteroid Ceres, following a 17-day hiatus during which ground controllers identified and responded to a mechanical issue with the gimbaling of the No. 3 ion propulsion engine.
In choosing FHI and the well-established Bell 412 for the army’s UH-X program over a Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) offer, the defense ministry has minimized spending and risk in development.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) July 28-30— Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management Convention (UTM) 2015, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. For more information go to aviationsystems.arc.nasa.gov/utm/utm2015.shtml or svc-auvsi.org/attendee-information
WGS LAUNCH: The U.S. Air Force is preparing to launch the seventh Boeing Wideband Global Satcom satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station July 22. Once lofted on the Delta IV M+ (5,4) configuration rocket, the satellite will take roughly 62 days to get into a test orbit. Boeing is expected to turn it over to the government for testing Oct. 13, says Robert Tarleton, director of Milsatcom systems at the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. Boeing has built 10 of the satellites; the final WGS is set to be in the constellation in 2018.
INTERTRADE (Rockwell Collins) was selected by Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) to provide avionics repair chain management services for its Pilatus PC-7 trainer fleet. AIRBUS completed flight-testing aerodynamic upgrade package for Eurofighter Typhoon, which includes new fuselage strakes and leading edge root extensions.
Demonstrations showing how an unmanned “Loyal Wingman” could help a manned fighter operate in highly contested environments are being planned by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory for fiscal 2020-22.
