Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Graham Warwick
Sweden has opened facilities to test electric and unmanned aircraft at Are Ostersund Airport under a European Union-supported cross-border project with Norway.
Aircraft & Propulsion

The test event at White Sands Missile Range makes up for a failed intercept attempt earlier this year using the same radar and interceptor systems.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Air Force has halted delivery of one KC-46A Pegasus tanker to the 157th Air Refueling Wing because of “electrical problems,” according to a U.S. senator.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Bell is completing certification testing on its Model 525 super medium helicopter, but there is no firm date on when the fly-by-wire helicopter will receive its long-awaited sign off by the FAA.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The AFRL calls the UAS chassis the “genus” system, referencing the biological taxonomy for living organisms. Each genus can produce a variety of distinct species, which, in the AFRL’s terminology, refers to subordinate aircraft types.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Switchblade 600 is designed to fly about 40 km in 20 min., then loiter in the target area for another 20 min.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Craig Caffrey
[Editor’s Note: This analysis is the first in a five-part series exploring the global legacy fighter market.] As news broke on Sept. 15 that a full
AWIN Knowledge Center

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

By Irene Klotz
The 235-ft. tall, triple-core booster was 7 sec. away from liftoff at 11:54 p.m. on Sept. 30 when the rocket’s Terminal Countdown Sequencer Rack, which controls the final 10 sec. of the countdown, identified “an unexpected condition,” and stopped the launch.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The Army ordered the Iron Dome systems in August 2019 to plug a gap in defenses against cruise missiles while it continues to shop for a permanent solution.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
The U.S. State Department has approved potential sales of F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Switzerland after a narrowly won referendum enabled the country’s fighter procurement to proceed.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
The financial impacts of COVID-19-related work delays have resulted in a one-year postponement in the launch of the Dragonfly astrobiology mission to Saturn’s intriguing moon Titan.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The DOD plans to conduct 40 flight tests over the next four years on several prototypes of hypersonic missiles now in development.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Paris is to create an urban air mobility test area, with the goal of showcasing air taxi operations during the 2024 Olympics if implementation is successful.
Maintenance & Training

By Tony Osborne
Saab has delivered a second GlobalEye airborne early warning platform to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
The UK has been marketing Airbus’ A400M airlifter to Kazakhstan as the Central Asian country looks to renew its transport fleet. A British Royal Air Force A400M visited the Kazakh capital, Astana, the UK embassy said Sept. 25 on social media.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency MCA has extended its contract with helicopter operator Bristow for two more years as the agency paves the way for a follow-on agreement.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
For the first time, the U.S. Air Force has conducted a flight test of the MQ-9A Reaper carrying eight live AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, which doubles the capacity that the unmanned aircraft was originally designed to hold.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
China’s EHang has unveiled a dedicated unmanned logistics version of its 216 electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing autonomous air taxi.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Bell has completed a demonstration of its APT 70 unmanned cargo aircraft equipped with Xwing’s detect-and-avoid system under NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the National Airspace System project.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B and KC-130J collided on September 29 during an air refueling attempt, causing the F-35B to crash and the KC-130J to make an emergency landing in a field, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said.
Aircraft & Propulsion

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

News in brief
Defense

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

By Steve Trimble
Any airframe that enters development will be built around the Autonomous Core System (ACS), which is being integrated by Leidos under a separate contract as the Skyborg Design Agent.
Aircraft & Propulsion