Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
A major upgrade for the Air National Guard's F-16s has reached full operational capability status a month after a jet equipped with a new radar demonstrated a new cruise missile defense role.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Craig Caffrey
For more information about the 2020 Forecast and other Aviation Week data products, please see: http://pages.aviationweek.com/Forecasts
AWIN Knowledge Center

By Bill Carey
The Streamlined Launch and Reentry Licensing Requirements final rule allows commercial space operators to acquire a single license to conduct multiple launches from multiple sites.
Commercial Space

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Introduced in April, the “Honey, I shrunk the NASA payload” global crowdsourcing competition is moving on to “Honey, I Built the NASA Payload, The Sequel.”
Space

By Graham Warwick
The experimental aircraft would be one of a suite of demonstration projects to mature key technologies for a next-generation subsonic commercial transport by the mid-2020s.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Sweden hopes to keep part of its C/D-model Saab Gripen fighter fleet in service beyond 2030 as it looks to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities against what it sees as a growing regional threat from Russia.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
Fourteen U.S. companies are to receive an estimated $370 million in NASA “Tipping Point” agreements intended to advance technologies needed to achieve a sustained human presence on the Moon during the 2020s and support the human exploration of Mars thereafter.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Industry partners involved in the development of the UK’s Tempest Future Combat Air System claim the initiative will pump £25 billion ($32 billion) into the UK economy over its first 30 years and secure 20,000 jobs between 2026 and 2050.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Having incubated Embraer’s involvement in the nascent urban air mobility (UAM) market since 2017, the Brazilian manufacturer’s EmbraerX innovation unit has spun off Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions as an independent company.
Business Aviation

By Graham Warwick
Perseverance is an essential quality for anyone trying to bring a new aircraft configuration to aviation. After 30 years of trying, VOX Aircraft co-founder Brian Morgan believes that goal may at last be within sight.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Bradley Perrett
Airbus will develop and partly deliver a communications and mission-system upgrade for Australia’s seven A330 MRTTs.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bradley Perrett
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) hopes to begin developing an upgrade for the H3 medium space launcher in 2022, only a year after the first flight, with the aim of driving payload up and unit costs down.
Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Navy is stepping up plans to integrate into Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), which is the Defense Department’s concept to connect sensors from all the military services into a single network.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
“Aether Spy will enable significant improvements in surveillance and battle management missions in the future battlespace,” AFRL technical advisor for sensor subsystems Thomas Dalrymple said.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
GE’s Future Affordable Turbine Engine (FATE), which jointly funded by the Army, is not planned to transition into an aircraft, but component technologies could be inserted into the 7,500 shp-class T408 turboshaft engine.
AUSA

By Steve Trimble
The new speed level by coaxial-compound rotor with a pusher propeller was achieved at about two-thirds prop torque and engine power.
AUSA

By Thierry Dubois
Both companies will serve as prime contractors for the definition phase of the European Large Logistics Lander, supporting NASA's Artemis human lunar missions.
Space

By Tony Osborne
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, signed a statement of intent on Oct. 14 to strengthen the bilateral defense relationship.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
The first countries to sign bilateral Artemis Accords agreements with the U.S. are Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Stockholm is planning to make investments in the planned launch site, near Kiruna in the north of the country, that would enable smallsat launch as early as 2022.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Electric-powered multi-copters could supplement traditional helicopters in the emergency medical service role, a study by Germany’s ADAC motoring association has detailed.
Advanced Air Mobility

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
Although the U.S. Marine Corps is retiring the AH-1W Super Cobra aircraft, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is contemplating what the aircraft’s post-operational life will look like.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The new partnership combines Boeing's expertise in beam directing with General Atomics' distributed gain laser technology.
AUSA