Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Graham Warwick
Against a background of U.S. government opposition to using small drones produced in China, Texas-based Windhover Labs has unveiled a domestically developed flight computer designed to make it easier to develop and certify drones in the U.S.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
In the ongoing thorny negotiations with Dassault Aviation on the Future Combat Air System program, Airbus appears to be willing to make concessions in governance, intellectual property and work sharing for the program to remain on track.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
A U.S. Army AH-64E successfully fired a Spike Non-Line-of-Sight missile from 32 km (20 mi.) away, hitting a stationary vessel target.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
In an era of likely declining or stagnate defense budgets, the U.S. Army believes it is a “false choice” to choose between its vertical lift modernization efforts, although a service official acknowledged the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft is the top priority.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
High-rate composites manufacturing technology for the aerospace, automotive and air mobility industries is at the heart of a £90 million ($125 million) UK government-industry investment in five research and development projects.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
The FAA has renewed two launch operator licenses for Northrop Grumman for its aircraft-launched Pegasus rocket system from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, and Cape Canaveral, the agency said March 17.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
Aerovel is to begin ramping up production of the Flexrotor vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft system after securing $2.5 million in Series B capital.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
European missile manufacturer MBDA is to develop a new generation anti-ship missile for Italian Navy warships.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
The UK is facing scathing international criticism over its decision to increase its stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
Though the Martian surface is now cold and dry, imagery dating back to the 1960s reveals a planet where large amounts of water once flowed and pooled, perhaps contributing to an environment amenable to life.
Space

By Irene Klotz
SpaceX continues to expand the operational envelope of its Falcon 9 fleet, with a successful ninth launch and landing of a first-stage booster, setting the stage to meet its goal of 10 launches per rocket with minimal refurbishment between flights.
Commercial Space

Gen. Glen VanHerck’s testimony, which was submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee, adds another detail into the public domain about the U.S. intelligence community’s analysis of China’s nuclear modernization plans.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
Austria has taken delivery of the first of nine modernized Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawks.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Maxar Technologies has selected European companies TTTech Aerospace and RUAG Space to provide the backbone of the fault-tolerant communications network for the foundational Power and Propulsion Element of NASA’s lunar-orbiting Gateway.
Space

By Lee Hudson
Relativity Space has secured its first contract with the Pentagon, through the Defense Innovation Unit, to provide responsive launch capability for the military.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Stepping up to the established industry role of propulsion system suppler, hybrid-electric startup VerdeGo Aero has unveiled its first product.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The UK will tilt power projection towards the Indo-Pacific region in response to the growing threat posed by China, a review of the UK foreign and defense policy has outlined.
Budget, Policy & Operations

Aviation Week Staff
Eight Japanese companies are now working to design the nation’s F-X fighter: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Subaru, IHI, Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Airbus Helicopters is teaming with Draken Europe to bid in the tender for the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) upcoming second-generation search and rescue program known as UKSAR2G.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Air Force has used Storm Shadow cruise missiles launched from Eurofighter Typhoons during combat for the first time, striking insurgents in Iraq.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei has endorsed his March 9 assignment to lift off aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 on April 9 to help ensure a continuous U.S. presence aboard the International Space Station.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A mass attack by land-based ballistic missiles, air-launched cruise missiles and surface- and submarine-launched cruise missiles against Guam poses a significant defensive challenge for the U.S. military.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Bill Carey
U.S.-based OneSky and Australian company Nova Systems completed trials in March of a proposed system for managing low-altitude drone traffic in Singapore.
Business Aviation

By Steve Trimble
The Philippines Navy has confirmed interest in acquiring the Indian/Russian Brahmos cruise missile as a shore-based, anti-ship weapon, according to a local report.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Maxim Pyadushkin
China orbited another trio of Yaogan-31 Earth remote sensing satellites using a Long March 4C rocket launched from the country’s oldest and most northern spaceport in Jiuquan, Inner Mongolia on March 13, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).
Space