Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Mark Carreau
Startup Venus Aerospace plans to proceed with the development, testing and production of a small hypersonic aircraft capable of transporting a dozen passengers or time-critical payloads between major continental destinations in an hour.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
NASA plans an industry day on March 9 for the Electrified Power train Flight Demonstration project to flight test megawatt-class electric aircraft propulsion systems.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Space Force is “another week or so away” from releasing its new acquisition and sustainment command blueprint, the service’s chief says.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Similar to the electric flying car-focused Agility Prime program, the purpose of Vector Prime is to establish a vehicle for the Air Force to support commercial companies working on supersonic and hypersonic transports.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A memorandum of understanding announced jointly by Israel Aerospace Industries and Korea Aerospace Industries on March 3 expands on cooperation between the two companies.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Guy Norris, Molly McMillin
Fractional ownership provider NetJets and training specialist FlightSafety International have signed a broad ranging agreement with Aerion which includes purchase rights on 20 AS2 supersonic business jets and the establishment of a training academy for operators of the Mach 1.4 aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
German urban air mobility startup Volocopter has raised €200 million ($241 million) to complete development and launch services with its Volocopter electric air taxi.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
Italy’s aircraft carrier Cavour has embarked F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the first time in a milestone towards qualifying the ship to support the combat aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
With the first flight of the Airpower Teaming System under its belt, Boeing Australia is producing more of the unmanned aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force’s Loyal Wingman demonstration program, the U.S. Force’s Skyborg autonomy initiative, and other customers.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Kelly Ortberg, the former head of Collins Aerospace who was a key leader in the supplier’s melt-up into Raytheon Technologies, has left its executive ranks, company representatives confirmed.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
U.S. Army aviation leadership intends to go before the Army Requirements Oversight Council in the “coming weeks” to approve the requirements for the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System that is envisioned to replace the Textron RQ-7B.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
HyPoint has unveiled a functional laboratory prototype of a hydrogen fuel-cell power system for electric aircraft that the startup says will have three times the specific power of existing fuel cells and five times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s largest contractor by annual sales, will close its Middle River factory near Baltimore, affecting 465 employees and shuttering a facility whose roots date to 1929.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Molly McMillin
Flint Hills Solutions has partnered with UAV Navigation to integrate their joint technologies into the FH-900 Series autonomous Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial System helicopter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
A successful first flight on March 1 has triggered additional investment of $90 million from the Australian government to build another three Boeing Airpower Teaming System aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
TransDigm Group announced March 1 that it will sell two businesses it acquired from Esterline Technologies, ScioTeq and Treality Simulation Visual Systems, to private equity investor OpenGate Capital in a deal worth around $200 million.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Molly McMillin
Bye Aerospace has begun assembly of its eFlyer 2, a two-seat all-electric aircraft, the Denver-based company reports.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jen DiMascio
To maintain its technological lead over China in artificial intelligence, the U.S. needs to improve its leadership, train a new generation of digital experts by creating a new university, and invest in research on microelectronics and AI, according to the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Michael Bruno
Spire Global, a Luxembourg-registered nanosatellite operator for cloud-enabled data analytics, will become a publicly traded company after a reverse-merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that has been hunting for aerospace and defense targets, NavSight Holdings.
Space

On April 24, the Air Education and Training Command published a series of requests for information to industry as part of a preliminary market research process on a radical proposal to create a privatized track for pilot training.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Michael Bruno
Canadian pilot training and simulator leader CAE has announced its fourth acquisition in as many months, marking a major move into the U.S. military market with the purchase of rival L3Harris Military Training for $1.05 billion, the companies said March 1.
Supply Chain

By Tony Osborne
The European arm of General Atomics is studying adapting the Dornier 228 twin-turboprop into an unmanned cargo aircraft. The company says an unmanned Dornier 228 could open up new prospects for growth for the platform, following its purchase of the rights to produce the aircraft from Switzerland’s RUAG International.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Lee Hudson
For the first time, the U.S. Navy has successfully delivered an F-35C power module to an aircraft carrier.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bill Carey
U.S. drone manufacturer Skydio announced March 1 that it has raised $170 million in a Series D funding round led by the Andreessen Horowitz Growth Fund.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The UK’s Royal Navy has called on industry to provide information on electromagnetic catapults and arrestor wire systems that could launch and recover aircraft weighing 20 metric tons.
Aircraft & Propulsion