Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The U.S. Navy has selected Leonardo’s TH-119 training helicopter despite being underbid by Airbus by $85 million, documents released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office reveal.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Leonardo’s Osprey active electronically scanned array flat panel radar is to equip a pair of Beechcraft King Air maritime surveillance aircraft operated for the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission team is relaxing previous plans to descend to the surface of its target, called Bennu, to gather surface pebbles and soil for return to Earth, in part due to work constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Space

By Bill Carey
Commercial aviation groups and manufacturers planned to file seven petitions challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent decision to grant Ligado Networks access to radio frequency spectrum near bands used for critical aviation applications.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Tony Osborne
British satellite launcher firm Skyrora has undertaken a full static fire test of its Skylark-L rocket, the first test of this scale since the UK’s Black Arrow program 50 years ago.
Space

By Tony Osborne
LONDON—Four UK space companies have teamed up to form a consortium to secure roles in British government programs as the country looks to grow its presence in space.
Space

By Daniel Urchick
AVIATION WEEK NETWORK forecasts that over the next ten years, 706 new Western-designed attack helicopters will be built, 588 will be remanufactured
AWIN Knowledge Center

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

The U.S. Air Force has kicked off a three-way competition to re-engine the entire 76-aircraft B-52 fleet from 2021 to 2035. The request for proposals
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The latest internet entrepreneurs to put money into UAM hope to set their company apart with a safe, quiet low-cost vehicle.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Steve Trimble
Two of the U.S. Defense Department’s most advanced hypersonic programs have fallen months behind schedule, the head of the Pentagon’s Research and Engineering branch confirmed on May 20.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Navy request for information for a land-based aircraft to replace the Boeing T-45 may not represent the final requirement when the request for proposals is released, the service’s top acquisition official said on May 20.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 20 for final preparations ahead of launch next week to test SpaceX’s Crew Dragon system.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has renamed its struggling Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope in honor of the late Nancy Grace Roman, a longtime pioneering woman astronomer sometimes referred to as the “Mother of Hubble.”
Space

By Bill Carey
A new study suggests that most operators disregarded the FAA’s system for authorizing drone flights in controlled airspace when flying near a large central Florida airport.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Irene Klotz
Boeing, which was shut out of nearly $1 billion of NASA funding to develop human-class lunar landers, said it does not plan to protest the awards, which went to teams led by Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Spanish defense electronics firm Indra is taking the lead on a European Union program to develop an aircraft-mountable pod equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) for radar, communications, and electronic warfare functionality.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Mark Carreau
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s ninth resupply mission was on course to reach the three-person International Space Station (ISS) early May 25 following a May 20 liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center.
Space

By Bradley Perrett
A BAE Systems program to upgrade Australia’s three over-the-horizon radars amounts to rebuilding the sensor system, addressing parts obsolescence while providing a jump in performance.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
UK MRO firm STS Aviation Services plans to convert Boeing 737s into E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning platforms for the British Royal Air Force.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jen DiMascio
The U.S. Commerce Department on May 19 released a long-awaited new rule for the export of remote sensing services.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The concept of planetary protection—the prevention of life forms on other planets from infecting Earth and preventing terrestrial life forms from contaminating other worlds—has a long history.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Air Force F-35A crash-landed at Eglin AFB, Florida, on May 19, four days after the loss of an F-22 at the same location.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Aero-engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is looking to cut 9,000 jobs from its 52,000-strong workforce as the company restructures in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
Aircraft & Propulsion

A U.S. Air Force F-35A crash-landed at Eglin AFB, Florida, on May 19, four days after the loss of an F-22 at the same location. In the most recent
Defense