The first of four Boeing KC-46A engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) aircraft made its first flight from Paine Field, Everett, Washington, on Dec. 28, starting the clock ticking toward the planned delivery of the first 18 new 767-based tankers to the U.S. Air Force by August 2017.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the intended prime contractor, may select between the two of them as early as the first quarter of 2015, but the choice will need approval from the defense ministry. The candidate base designs are the Airbus EC155 B1 and the AgustaWestland AW169.
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman successfully flew the MQ-8C Fire Scout off the DDG 109 USS Jason Dunham earlier this month off the Virginia coast, marking the first flight of the unmanned helicopter from a destroyer.
Four U.S. companies selected from an initial field of 18 will get easier access to NASA resources under unfunded Space Act agreements designed to smooth the path for development of commercial capabilities that the space agency can use as it maps a human path to Mars.
IMP AEROSPACE delivered first of three RCAF CP-140Ms upgraded with Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) satcom system. BOEING ST. LOUIS broke ground on 367,000-sq.-ft. composites center to manufacture 777X wing/empennage parts starting in 2017. ESTERLINE CORP. had $102.4m net income on $2.05b sales for year ended Oct. 31 vs. $164.7m on $1.89b a year ago.
IMP AEROSPACE delivered first of three RCAF CP-140Ms upgraded with Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) satcom system. BOEING ST. LOUIS broke ground on 367,000-sq.-ft. composites center to manufacture 777X wing/empennage parts starting in 2017. ESTERLINE CORP. had $102.4m net income on $2.05b sales for year ended Oct. 31 vs. $164.7m on $1.89b a year ago.
In observance of the year-end holiday season, the Dec. 24 issue of Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will be the last for the year. The next issue will be dated Jan. 6, 2015. In the interim, subscribers can visit the Aviation Week Intelligence Network (awin.aviationweek.com) for updates.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified the search-and-rescue (SAR) variant of the AW189 super-medium helicopter, just months before the aircraft is due to enter service with Bristow on a U.K. government contract.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has teamed with AgustaWestland in offering the AW101, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Sikorsky propose a variant of the H-60.
Littoral Combat Ship LCS 3 USS Fort Worth arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, earlier this month as part of a 16-month rotational deployment in support of rebalancing efforts for the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, marking the ship’s first tour to Southeast Asia.
The switch may not, however, change the direction of Australian defense policy, because Prime Minister Tony Abbott himself has been closely involved in determining it.
Concerned that tens of thousands Americans will receive small quadcopters as gifts this holiday season, the FAA and industry have teamed to produce educational materials in an attempt to prevent potential accidents in the air and on the ground.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Jan. 5-9 — AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech 2015), “The World’s Largest Event for Aerospace Research, Development and Technology,” Kissimmee, Florida. For more information go to www.aiaa-scitech.org/
CAE announced C$115m in new defense business that includes C295 full-flight simulator for the Polish air force, continued maintenance and support for German Army Aviation School, training needs analysis study for the German-French Tiger Helicopter Technical School, and support for the New Zealand Defense Force’s SH-2G(I) Super Seasprite synthetic training devices. EMBRAER confirmed plan to make first flight of the KC-390 in the first weeks of 2015.
“As the centerpiece of a Hunter-Killer group joined by an Arleigh Burke-class Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG 51) and a Littoral Combat Ship, DDG 1000 will provide lethal sea control,” McFarland says in a recent blog.
Mars may have hosted a collection of small seas 3.9 billion years ago, according to an isotopic assessment of carbon and oxygen locked inside the oldest known Martian meteorite to have fallen to Earth.
NASA’s experiment with space laser communications from the International Space Station, initiated in mid-2014, so far shows promise as a technology that could replace the traditional use of radio waves for accelerated high data transmissions from deep space probes as well as Earth orbiting satellites.
As part of its AW149 offer, AgustaWestland has signed agreements with four Polish companies that it says are valued at around €800 million ($980 million).
