Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Firefly Aerospace will develop a ceramic matrix composite rocket nozzle extension for liquid rocket engines.

The tariffs beginning to disrupt the aerospace and defense industry were the least of Hexcel’s problems in a tepid first quarter performance.

The China Manned Space Agency will select and train two Pakistani astronauts, one of whom will serve as a payload specialist onboard the Tiangong space station.

United Rotorcraft hopes to gain Transport Canada certification for its Airbus Super Puma firefighting modification package this summer.

Boeing’s beleaguered Defense and Space business made progress on several fronts in the first quarter as part of a broader turnaround plan.

Portugal’s first indigenous aircraft, the LUS-222, has passed its preliminary design review .

Turkish Aerospace Industries is adapting the design of its 10-metric-ton transport helicopter to be more like Sikorsky’s Black Hawk.

GKN Aerospace is exploring various mitigation avenues in an attempt to avoid the impact of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. remote sensing company Umbra is teaming with Germany’s Reflex Aerospace to pursue the European synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite market.

Iridium will expand work with a European partner to help navigate new tariffs that could dent operating earnings by between $3 million and $7 million this year.

South Korea has shortlisted a consortium led by KAL-ASD as the preferred bidder to upgrade 36 Sikorsky UH-60P Black Hawks for special operations.

News in brief.

LOCKHEED funded to convert three F-35s to test aircraft... HEICO makes IFE acquisition... ZENADRONE testing drone-based wildfire detection system...

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has outlined plans to raise Spain’s defense spending to 2% of GDP.

The UK’s second-ever Carrier Strike Group with Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers has set sail for the Asia-Pacific region.

Recent Peruvian Air Force shifts in recapitalization plans reflect the service’s effort to balance long-term modernization with immediate operational needs, emphasizing combat effectiveness and national emergency response as top priorities.

The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center has signed an MOU with France’s Space Command on global space security.

Super Tier 1 suppliers are dusting off their pandemic playbooks over cost escalations during that crisis in order to manage the next wave of challenges.

Lockheed Martin will not protest Boeing’s victory in the competition to build the U.S. Air Force’s next fighter.

DARPA is soliciting a lunar orbiter capable of flying in the Moon’s unstable low orbit.

Northrop Grumman is continuing to eat cost overruns on the initial production of its B-21 Raider and is changing its manufacturing process.

South Korea launched the fourth of its five military satellites into space on April 22.

The African Space Agency became operational on April 20.

Edge Group is seeking to win business for its HT-100 uncrewed helicopter system in Brazil.

German startup ATMOS Space Cargo is assessing what changes it may make to its cargo return system due to fly next year after the first test of the Phoenix.