Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The milestone was announced by the UK Defense Equipment and Support agency on Oct. 9.

The UK is expanding its military space effort with an agreement to work with Canada on an on-orbit space surveillance mission.

Arianespace says the VV25 mission will see Vega-C loft the Sentinel-1C satellite, the sixth in the European Copernicus Earth observation program.

The Norwegian government has unveiled plans to expand rocket motor and other production capacities to meet its own demand as well as that of Ukraine and allies.

Latvia says it has adjusted its air surveillance equipment and shortened decision-making processes to respond to “hybrid threats” emanating from Moscow.

The report was completed in July 2022 but not released publicly until Sept. 30.

Part of the challenge of wildfire response is detecting a fire and dispatching first responders to remote areas before it reaches an inflection point.

A subscale prototype of the e350 Flying Cargo Van is planned to fly by 2026.

Thus far in 2024, non-U.S. NATO military spending has increased 18% while Asia’s defense expenditure has grown 10%, compared to 7% in the U.S.

The nearly $250 million order follows a deployment of the Roadrunner-M last January for an operational evaluation.

The proposal is supported by NASA studies showing potential energy savings from the hybridization of the C-130.

McIntosh will replace Bridget Lauderdale, who is retiring as vice president and general manager of the F-35 after 38 years at Lockheed.

A market research effort opened by the Army on Oct. 8 proposes a revamp of the Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) flight training program at Fort Novosel, Alabama.

The three aircraft were first bought by the service in 2019 for the ill-fated Light Attack Experiment.

The joint venture company of Airbus, Leonardo and Fokker paid to strip the parts from Australia’s NH90 fleet.

First flight of the aircraft, a dedicated military variant of the company’s H160 twin-engine medium helicopter, is planned for 2025.

The German government expects the first of the 737s to be converted into its P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft to take flight in November.

Italy has been approved to acquire Electronic Attack Mission Systems to equip a small fleet of converted Gulfstream G550 business jets.

Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky is studying the technology transfer of its X2 to KAI if the CH-53K King Stallion is for South Korea’s heavy-lift helicopter program.

Multiverse Computing will work with Airbus on the European Defense Fund-supported Enhanced Pilot Interfaces and Interactions for Fighter Cockpit program.

France has conducted the first qualification launch of the Aster 30 B1NT air- and missile-defense interceptor as it targets entry into service in 2026.

Boeing and the International Association of Machinists accused each other of not being willing to move after another round of mediated negotiations collapsed Oct. 8.

Textron Aviation and IAM union leaders have agreed to return to the bargaining table from Thursday, Oct. 10.

Argentina’s defense spending has shrunk as a percentage of GDP in the last few years, requiring its operational needs to be met primarily through purchases of second-hand aircraft.

The Aurora concept includes two turbofan fan engines for horizontal thrust and four fans embedded into the blended wing body airframe for vertical lift.