Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-20 Avenger performed a Skyborg test flight on June 24 during the Orange Flag large force exercise at Edwards Air Force Base, California
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
For the first time in years, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee has proposed funding only the number of F-35s that the Pentagon asked for in fiscal 2022 instead of providing dollars for extra aircraft.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Chen Chuanren
With sights on lunar and deep space missions, China has firmed up its road map to develop heavy-lift rockets based on the Long March 5 and the new Long March 9.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Stratodynamics and UAVOS have completed a series of stratospheric flights with the HiDRON autonomous glider from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Advanced Air Mobility

The U.S. Navy has cleared the service’s first new standoff jamming system in more than 50 years to enter production. The Raytheon ALQ-249(V)1 Next
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
Airbus has flown its C295 turboprop airlifter with a range of precision-guided munitions as the company looks to develop an armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability for the platform.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has vowed not to kill the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent and is urging lawmakers to fully fund the Adaptive Engine Transition Program to mitigate F-35 woes.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
Northrop Grumman’s 15th Cygnus resupply mission spacecraft departed the International Space Station on June 29 filled with trash and prepared for an orbit-raising maneuver for five small satellite deployments prior to making a destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Space

By Tony Osborne
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace has suggested that the number of F-35s purchased by the UK will depend on how industry reduces operating costs and whether domestically developed weapons are integrated onto the aircraft.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Russian researchers have completed three years of study into a small single-person electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle for multiple missions.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
Ukraine’s Motor Sich is to provide a batch of engines for Turkish Aerospace’s new ATAK-2 heavy attack helicopter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Collins Aerospace has begun building a 500-kW electric motor that will power Hybrid Air Vehicles’ planned hybrid-electric Airlander 10 heavy-lift airship.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Hydrogen propulsion startup ZeroAvia has secured two Dornier 228s for use as test aircraft for development of its 600-kW fuel-cell propulsion system for 19-passenger airliners.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The Pentagon wants to begin negotiations on an administrative agreement with the European Defense Agency to further U.S. involvement in Permanent Structured Cooperation projects.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Unmanned traffic management specialist ANRA Technologies has partnered with Hyundai to begin developing the operating environment for advanced air mobility.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Steve Trimble
To meet the Air Force's schedule goal, a decision is due by the end of the year on a transition strategy for the Skyborg program. Aviation Week assesses two likely options to receive the autonomous control system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
An accident probe into the loss of a Canadian Sikorsky Cyclone anti-submarine warfare helicopter has concluded that a bias in the fly-by-wire flight control system prevented the pilot from making a corrective input, resulting in the aircraft crashing into the Mediterranean Sea.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Unions representing French workers at Airbus and Safran are urging the Eurodrone partner governments to adopt a European engine for the medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed air system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Turkish Aerospace has flown its latest prototype T625 Gokbey twin-engine medium helicopter, increasing the pace of the flight-test program for the indigenously developed platform.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Navy is looking to accelerate the development of an autonomous, heavy-lift uncrewed air system so that it can reduce its reliance on expensive-to-operate conventional rotary-wing platforms.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
The startup's modified Cessna 337H Skymaster prototype will soon start touring between midsize regional airports across France.
Emerging Technologies

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Air Force is preparing for its second Advanced Battle Management System capability release that will focus on improving command and control for U.S. Northern Command’s homeland defense mission.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Defense Department task force has data that appear to confirm cases in which unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) are able to accelerate and
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Gyroplane developer Skyworks Aeronautics has teamed with two South Korean startups in a bid to tap into the country’s ambitious plans to commercialize urban air mobility.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Lee Hudson
SpaceX has delayed its Transporter-2 mission to allow for more prelaunch checkouts, the company announced on Twitter.
Commercial Space