Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Michael Bruno
Triumph Group has announced a significant step forward in shedding some aerostructures businesses, revealing a definitive agreement to sell its composites operations to private equity investor Arlington Capital Partners.
Marketplace

By Steve Trimble
Lockheed Martin has chosen a proposed new variant of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to compete for the sea-based Regional Glide Phase Weapon prototyping program.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Michael Bruno
Small satellite launcher ABL Space Systems has disclosed around $90 million in new defense contracts plus investments from Lockheed Martin and venture capitalists, powering the startup through a three-launch demonstration of the RS1 launch vehicle and GS0 deployable launch system early next year, the company said Aug. 3.
Space

By Lee Hudson
Collins Aerospace is on the brink of closing a deal with its first international customer for a next-generation air combat training device that the U.S. Navy and Air Force will use for the F-35.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Deliveries of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) unmanned combat air vehicle to the Russian military will start in 2024, the head of Russia’s United Aircraft Corp., Yury Slyusar, told President Vladimir Putin at an Aug. 3 meeting.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Once a mission prioritized mostly by the U.S. Army and Navy, the U.S. Air Force is now seeking to experiment with low-cost options to intercept cruise missiles, potentially expanding an arsenal that today consists solely of the relatively high-cost and inventory-limited AIM-120C missile
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Guy Norris
Virgin Galactic has unveiled the outline configuration of its ongoing high-speed air-breathing passenger transport study and announced Rolls-Royce as its propulsion partner for the Mach 3 design concept.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The unit price for a new AttritableONE family of low-cost, unmanned aircraft systems will fall into a gap between “expendable” and “exquisite” categories within the U.S. Air Force inventory.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bradley Perrett
Japan has begun seeking a single prime contractor for the F-X fighter program, with the end of October reported as the target for concluding a contract.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Selected U.S. military contracts from the past week.
Defense

News in brief
Defense

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

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Aviation Week & Space Technology

By Irene Klotz
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, flying as test pilots for the SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2 (Demo-2), landed in flat seas and 2 mph winds at 2:48 p.m. EDT, capping NASA’s six-year effort to restore U.S. human orbital flight capability after the space shuttles’ retirement in 2011.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The third and final phase of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule's two-month test flight will conclude Sunday with an 11-min. de-orbit burn of the capsule's Draco engines, which will be followed by an atmospheric re-entry and a parachute descent into the Gulf waters on Aug. 2.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Liftoff was scrubbed due to an out-of-limit sensor indication associated with the Ariane 5's first-stage liquid hydrogen propellant tank.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A new order for nine MH-47G Block IIs announced on July 31 raises Boeing’s overall order book for the latest version of the Chinook to 24 aircraft, the company said.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jefferson Morris
An Aviation Week panel sees significant changes coming in global military aircraft procurement over the next several years, as countries battered by the biggest global economic contraction since World War II look to simultaneously scale back defense spending and prop up their indigenous industries.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
Rocket Lab has determined the cause of the July 4 failure of an Electron rocket—a faulty electrical connection which triggered a premature shutdown of the booster’s second stage, the company said on July 31.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
Unmanned aircraft will be flown as part of search-and-rescue operations in the UK beginning on Aug. 1.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
Capitol Hill is continuing to wait for the Pentagon to submit a report proposing changes to Space Force acquisition, but the document still needs to receive a blessing from the White House.
Space

By Bill Carey
A UK Department for Transport-sponsored research program has chosen several companies to participate in the development of an open-access unmanned aircraft traffic management (UTM) system.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Graham Warwick
China’s EHang has launched an unmanned aerial firefighting version of its two-seat autonomous electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi, demonstrating its ability to fight fires in high-rise buildings.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Three separate bids based on the Boeing CF-18E/F Block III, Lockheed Martin F-35A and Saab Gripen E will be evaluated by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for the CAD$15-19 billion contract.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Mark Carreau
Two NASA Demo-2 astronauts continued preparing on July 31 for a weekend return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) and a splashdown off the Florida coast as Tropical Storm Isaias was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane.
Space