Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The U.S. Air Force’s top general in Africa Command warned on May 26 that Russia’s next move in Libya could be to deploy permanent, long-range air defense systems.

The UK has begun firing trials of Thales Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) from the Leonardo AW159 Wildcat naval helicopter.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) ninth resupply mission completed a 4-ton cargo delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) early May 25.

Scotland’s National Health Service (NHS) is to trial deliveries by unmanned air systems to speed up logistics between remote medical centers.

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Selected U.S. military contracts for May 18 U.S. AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Redondo Beach, California, has been awarded a not-to-exceed

SpaceX is looking to shave development time for Starship crewed flights to less than half of the six years it has taken to get the Falcon 9-Dragon system ready to fly people for the first time.

Space company Virgin Orbit is reviewing telemetry data from the first LauncherOne launch vehicle orbital test flight attempt, which was terminated after an anomaly occurred shortly after launch May 25.

Work on SpaceX’s prototype Starship spacecraft has eased up while the company focuses on launching its first people into orbit, says CEO Elon Musk.

Training and simulation provider CAE believes it has plumbed the depths of the business decline it has experienced from the coronavirus pandemic

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its controversial order granting Ligado Networks access to radio frequency spectrum for a ground-based 5G network near the GPS allocation.

NASA completed a two-day Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the Demo-2 test mission, confirming a launch attempt on May 27 for SpaceX’s first human spaceflight and NASA’s first launch of astronauts on a U.S. system since 2011.

NATO and European nations have expressed regret at the Trump administration’s decision to exit the Open Skies Treaty but have said they share U.S. concerns about inconsistent flight restrictions imposed by Moscow.

British aerospace services company Marshall Aerospace and Defense Group says it withdrew from participating in a program to convert Boeing 737s into E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force because the work was not “commercially viable.”

China will increase its military budget in 2020 despite the possibility of dramatically reduced economic growth, maintaining pressure on neighboring countries to keep increasing their defense spending.

Satellite imagery obtained by Aerospace DAILY confirms the presence of MiG-29s on an airfield reportedly controlled by a faction in the Libyan civil war supported by the UAE and a Russian mercenary group.

The Space Force is moving forward in its effort to unify the Pentagon’s architecture for missile defense.

Russia’s arms export agency on May 21 announced that a radar capable of detecting hypersonic objects can be sold on the export market.

The U.S. Air Force has submitted a report to Congress on an alternative acquisition system for the Space Force.

A document published by the Italian Senate appears to confirm the sale of Leonardo AW149 and AW189 twin-engine transport helicopters to Egypt.

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Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Xwing, a startup planning to retrofit general-aviation aircraft for autonomous flight, has raised $10 million in funding and announced new hires to

Conferences and events for professionals in the aerospace community.

Leidos will design and demonstrate the autonomy platform that will be integrated into and control the U.S. Air Force’s future family of Skyborg unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has announced.