Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
Overall FMS transactions in 2020 declined by 8% compared to the previous year’s mark of $55.4 billion, and by 8.77% from a modern peak of $55.66 billion set by the Trump administration in 2018.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
The fiscal 2021 defense policy compromise bill would require the U.S. cost assessment and program evaluation office at the Pentagon to conduct an independent assessment of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System product lines.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
France is close to finalizing a deal with Indonesia for the Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft, Defense Minister Florence Parly has disclosed.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Aerospace and defense supplier Curtiss-Wright announced Dec. 3 that Lynn Bamford, currently president of the company’s Defense and Power Segments, will become CEO on Jan. 1 under a planned transition that sees current CEO and Chairman David Adams retiring by May 2022.
Supply Chain

By Tony Osborne
Airbus has carried out a new flight test program of its Zephyr solar-powered pseudo-satellite, focusing on low-altitude flying, ascent and descent.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
Norway looks set to purchase additional helicopters to support its Army when it replaces its fleet of Bell 412s from 2024.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The German business of missile manufacturer MBDA said it has been forced to undertake a restructuring after the German government again delayed plans to contract a new ground-based air defense system.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
An autonomous control system supplied from DARPA’s Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) program commanded the live and simulated Avengers as a single, distributed system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have revised their bilateral arrangement to cover the certification of aviation innovations such as eVTOL aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Steve Trimble
A conference agreement by the House and Senate calls for a Pentagon-level review of the U.S. Air Force's strategy for the Next Generation Air Dominance program and criticizes the Navy's plans as "significantly immature."
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
The bill authorizes the procurement of 93 F-35s for $9.1 billion, an additional 14 aircraft above the budget request.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bradley Perrett
The ascent stage of China’s Chang’e 5 sample-return mission has taken off from the Moon’s surface ahead of a docking in lunar orbit.
Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. National Commission on Military Aviation Safety is recommending that Congress mandate and fund a Joint Safety Council that would report to the deputy defense secretary and coordinate the military’s safety centers risk mitigation efforts, a new report released Dec. 3 says.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
NASA has awarded four companies contracts to collect samples of lunar regolith, then transfer ownership to the agency, not for return to Earth necessarily but to expand the legal and regulatory framework for commercial space activities on the Moon and beyond.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Whether Puerto Rico’s venerable Arecibo Observatory will be replaced after being heavily damaged by multiple support cable failures rests in the hands of Congress and the space science community, according to Ralph Gaume, director of the National Science Foundation’s astronomical sciences division.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Aspiring small satellite launch service and logistics provider Aevum has unveiled an 80-ft.-long, 60-ft. wingspan unmanned aircraft system to serve as the reusable first stage of a three-stage, autonomous launch system that aims to cut costs and dramatically reduce the time needed to plan and execute missions.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
The European Investment Bank, the long-term lending institution of the European Union, announced Dec. 3 that it could invest up to €20 million ($24.3 million) in Spire Global, a Luxembourg-registered nanosatellite operator for cloud-enabled data analytics, marking the European institution’s first direct new-space venture.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
A request for information published on Dec. 2 by the U.S. Army’s product manager for Enhanced Radar, Optics and Sensors seeks payloads that can be integrated in time for the MQ-1C to participate in a Joint All-Domain Operations demonstration event.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Mark Carreau
Axiom Space, selected by NASA to berth the first element of an eventual commercial low Earth orbit-crewed free flyer at the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, has significantly upgraded the architecture of its planned Axiom Station, providing an initial four-person crew capability.
Commercial Space

By Maxim Pyadushkin
The Russian defense ministry launched a Soyuz-2.1b medium-class vehicle with a Fregat third-stage booster from its spaceport Plesetsk in northern Russia on Dec. 3, orbiting three Gonetz-M communication satellites and the ERA-1 military nanosatellite, Roscosmos State Corp. said.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Swiss startup H55 has secured CHF20 million ($22.5 million) of investor funding to complete certification of its electric propulsion system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
France has taken delivery of the second of eight Beechcraft King Air 350-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
Although President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the fiscal 2021 defense authorization bill because he disagrees with a social media provision, the House and Senate are pursing passage of the bicameral agreement.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Michael Bruno
FLIR Systems, which has re-engineered its business since last year to focus on UAVs and automotive sensors, has acquired Altavian, a privately-held manufacturer of small UAS for defense and public safety customers that used FLIR sensors.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s Defense Department transition team has just begun meetings at the Pentagon, a spokeswoman says.
Budget, Policy & Operations