Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Graham Warwick, Guy Norris
Airbus has flown an A380 with one of its four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines running on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), produced from used cooking oil and waste fats by France’s Total Energies.
Sustainability

By Steve Trimble
A struggling U.S. Air Force hypersonic weapons program faces a potentially significant funding cut in fiscal 2023, adding to the long-term pressure on the program.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The Biden administration is requesting $813.3 billion for national defense, including a $773 billion total for the Pentagon, in an increase of defense spending aimed at more research and development of future systems at the cost of more divestments.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
The $16.8 billion fiscal 2023 budget request for the U.S. Navy’s aviation branch taps the brakes on procurement ramp-ups for several fixed-wing aircraft programs.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Of the five electric air taxi developers that have been involved in going-public mergers with blank-check companies, only two are following the tried-and-tested aerospace business model of manufacturing, selling and supporting their aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force wants to end production of its next-generation combat rescue helicopter earlier than planned, reducing the program of record by about one-third as it looks to future threats.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force, having been previously blocked by Congress from retiring MQ-9 Reapers that are heavily used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, is trying a different approach in the fiscal 2023 budget request released March 28.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2023 budget request released, March 28, is the first time the U.S. Space Force has been able to plan spending as its own independent service, and the result is a big investment in research and development aimed at making key services in orbit more protected from emerging threats.
Space Symposium

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force is planning to cut its purchase of Lockheed Martin F-35As in the short term, looking to buy more Boeing F-15EXs as the Joint Strike Fighter continues to struggle with the development of needed upgrades.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force is planning large spending increases for the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider as the bomber moves closer to its first flight and more aircraft enter production.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force plans to start cutting its Lockheed Martin F-22 fleet quickly, retiring 33 of the least-capable Raptors in fiscal 2023 as it looks to invest more in its next-generation fighter.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
Lockheed Martin F-35s being delivered today are cheaper to acquire than they’ve ever been—and even cost less than some competitors that are in some ways less capable.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The possibility of a “bridge tanker” competition to cover the gap between the end of the current KC-46 program and a future U.S. Air Force refueler is looking less likely as the service continues to refine its requirements for the future fleet.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Tony Osborne
“We must all prepare ourselves for the fact that we have a neighbor presently ready to use force to assert its interests,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a radio interview.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
Safran Helicopter Engines is proposing final assembly and testing of Aneto 1K engines for Leonardo’s AW149 in the UK if the rotorcraft and the engine are selected for the UK defense ministry’s New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Garrett Reim
Momentus is preparing its Vigoride space tug for vibration testing in advance of its targeted June launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Greece is purchasing six more Dassault Rafales from France, boosting its planned fleet to 24 aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Joby Aviation has begun building the first production prototype for certification flight testing of its S4 electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli and the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen have been selected as the first two of four astronauts planned for launch aboard the SpaceX Crew-7 Dragon no earlier than 2023 for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Airbus has selected GE Aviation’s Catalyst turboprop engine as the powerplant for the Eurodrone medium-altitude long-endurance uncrewed air system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The maintenance center for the Pratt & Whitney F135 is rebounding from a dismal performance in 2019 and 2020, which led to an engine shortage and the grounding of more than 50 U.S. F-35s.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Kim Minseok, Chen Chuanren
The South Korean military carried out kill chain training on the same day as North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test on March 24.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
Boeing has added Airbus Helicopters to its German teaming arrangements as it pushes its CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter for Germany’s military heavy lift helicopter need.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Garrett Reim
DARPA has kicked off its orbital Moon manufacturing program, naming eight research teams for the initiative.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Neuraspace, a Portuguese startup looking to use artificial intelligence for space debris and satellite collision avoidance services, has landed more than $2.7 million from Armilar Venture Partners to accelerate the commercialization of its platform.
Commercial Space