Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Graham Warwick
Australian air taxi startup AMSL Aero is to build a flight-test center at Narromine in New South Wales thanks to an A$950,000 ($660,000) grant from the state government. AMSL is developing the Vertiia, a two-passenger tandem tilt-wing electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
Interest in the human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars is on the rise—politically influenced budgets, the global economy and COVID-19 pandemic permitting.
Space

By Michael Bruno
The first half of 2020 has been brutal for the aerospace and defense (A&D) sector, and increasingly industry insiders and outside investors are trying to figure out what it means for longer-term prospects.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bradley Perrett, Kim Minseok
Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic accounts for 13% of the weight of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-X fighter, the manufacturer said.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Jens Flottau
German air taxi startup Lilium is in “detailed discussions” with major suppliers as it prepares the next stage in development and service-entry of its Lilium Jet after concluding an agreement with Toray Industries to deliver composites for the aircraft’s structure.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The British government and Bharti Global’s joint offer for the OneWeb satellite constellation has been given the nod by U.S. judges.
Space

By Bradley Perrett
The Japanese defense ministry is recommending tighter contracting arrangements for the Next Generation Fighter than applied in the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) F-2 program of the 1990s.
Budget, Policy & Operations

News in brief
Defense

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

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

By Lee Hudson
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee’s (HAC-D) mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill is encouraging the U.S. Air Force to partner with industry for a turn-key solution for undergraduate pilot training.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
Fiscal 2021 may be the last time the Pentagon will be able to circumvent its base budget caps by filtering funds through the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
The Pentagon awarded $13.4 million under Defense Production Act Title III as an investment in the U.S. small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industrial base.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
House appropriators are concerned the U.S. Army has not clearly defined the acquisition strategy for mission equipment payloads and sensors for its Future Vertical Lift family of rotorcraft.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
The Italian Army has taken delivery of the first of two commercial-model Leonardo AW169s in a move that paves the way for the wider introduction of a military version of the rotorcraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee (HAC-D) is fully funding the beleaguered F-35 logistics system in its mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill, but lawmakers are blasting the program and describing similarities between it and the troubled KC-46A tanker.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations defense subcommittee agreed to support the higher development cost for the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon in the fiscal 2021 spending bill, but the members do not “intend to approve funding for further cost increases” beyond the latest estimate of $1.364 billion.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Spain is in negotiations with Airbus to acquire at least 20 new-build Eurofighter Typhoons to replace early model F/A-18 Hornets based in the Canary Islands.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bradley Perrett
The KZ-11 solid-propellant space launcher of Chinese state company Expace failed on its first flight on July 10.
Space

Documented Combat Losses In Libya.
AWIN Knowledge Center

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

Conferences and events for professionals in the aerospace & defense community.
Defense

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. approval, as expected, clears the path for the Japan Ministry of Defense to become the largest customer for the F-35 outside the U.S. and expand the customer base for the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
More than a month after the U.S. Army secretary green lighted the use of air assets during a June 1 protest of the death of George Floyd in Washington, lawmakers will finally have access to the Pentagon’s investigation report.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
The improved version of the Klimov RD-93, which is likely a candidate to power the JF-17 Block 3, has been shipped to a Moscow-based test center.
Aircraft & Propulsion