Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Tony Osborne
Germany will make a split buy of Eurofighters and U.S.-made F/A-18 Super Hornets to replace its aging Panavia Tornadoes, media reports have suggested.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Britain’s Royal Air Force has suspended all flying displays as the COVID-19 pandemic hits major public events and airshows across the UK and Europe.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Daniel Urchick
AVIATION WEEK NETWORK forecasts that from 2020 to 2029, western-designed military taker aircraft will generate $60.4 billion in maintenance, repair
Defense

News in brief
Defense

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

Defense

By Lee Hudson
Bell and Sikorsky have been chosen to enter the second phase of design and testing potential replacements for AH-64 Apaches used for armed reconnaissance.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Jen DiMascio
A portion of a $2 trillion spending bill to provide relief to a nation reeling from the novel coronavirus pandemic would provide $10.5 billion in additional funding for the U.S. military.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Drone delivery service UPS Flight Forward is to collaborate with Germany’s Wingcopter on development of a longer-range unmanned aircraft to enable expanded delivery services in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
The Orion spacecraft slated to fly aboard NASA’s first Space Launch System flight test next year arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 25, as six more NASA facilities were shut down to help stem the spread of COVID-19.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Austrian aerospace parts and services provider FACC said March 25 that “a large part” of its staff is expected to apply for “short-term work” starting April 6, and that it will revise plans to ramp up a new Croatian factory, as well as suspend its dividend payment to shareholders for 2019.
Supply Chain

By Lee Hudson
Although F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test operations had to cease March 25 because of the novel coronavirus, the U.S. military has not seen “anything major” that would delay full-rate production, the Navy acquisition executive says.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Guy Norris
Amid signs that Boeing is hoping to resume production of the 737 MAX in May the company says flight tests of the three current versions of the model, the -7, -8 and -9, are continuing despite the general shutdown of its Puget Sound facilities because of the coronavirus.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
The European Space Agency is planning a public webcast on March 26 for astronauts to share their experience and techniques for living in confined spaces.
Space

By Lee Hudson
The Pentagon’s acquisition arm is tackling the military’s response to the novel coronavirus with a two-pronged approach: securing authorities for the defense industrial base to continue work while simultaneously supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a DOD official said.
Supply Chain

By Graham Warwick
NASA has renamed its urban air mobility Grand Challenge the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign, a seemingly simple name change that signals recognition that industry’s interest is in more than just downtown air transportation.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Space Force is looking forward to “voice recognizable” communications with the expected completion of the six-satellite Advanced Extremely High Frequency constellation.
Space

By Guy Norris
Preparations for Rocket Lab’s next launch, a rideshare mission of small research satellites, have been suspended because of newly announced New Zealand government restrictions designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Using the International Space Station’s robot arm, ground controllers removed Bartolomeo, the recently launched European commercial external experiment platform, from the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule late March 24.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
Regional turboprop manufacturer ATR, following a pause in its activities for four days last week, is resuming production at its Toulouse final assembly line.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
A SpaceX Dragon 2 test article was destroyed on March 24 during what was to be one of the final tests of the craft’s parachute system ahead of a
Space

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Piaggio Aerospace has extended the deadline for potential buyers to submit expressions of interest in the business from April 3 to May 4 because of

By Graham Warwick
The funds “will be used to support further development of the Lilium Jet as well as underpinning preparations for serial production," the Munich-based company says.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Irene Klotz
The four-way competition for a pair of National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts remains on track for award this year despite work restrictions stemming from concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. Air Force said on March 24.
Space