Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Bradley Perrett
China has launched its new manned spacecraft with the first flight of the Long March 5B, a rocket version intended mainly for missions for building a forthcoming space station.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Airbus is developing a removable refueling boom for its A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport to meet a requirement for the European Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Fleet.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Startup Sabrewing Aircraft is to re-engine its Rhaegal-A turbo-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned cargo aircraft with Safran Helicopter Engines’ Ardiden 3 turboshaft before the technology demonstrator’s first flight, planned later this year.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bradley Perrett
Boeing expects to go into production no later than the mid-2020s with the Airpower Teaming System, a loyal wingman drone it is developing in Australia.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bill Carey
Drone operating system developer Auterion has released the reference design for a new family of unmanned aircraft systems avionics modules and announced GE Aviation as the launch manufacturer of its own high-reliability module for drone operations.
Advanced Air Mobility

News in brief
Defense

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

By Graham Warwick
The loyal-wingman program with the Royal Australian Air Force is to culminate in an operational demonstration of Boeing’s ATS.
Defense

By Steve Trimble
Leidos and Paramount Group USA have teamed up to offer a U.S.-built derivative of a South African design for a low-cost, light attack aircraft for U.S. Special Operations Command’s (SOCOM) Armed Overwatch program.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Molly McMillin
After arriving on four trucks from a U.S. Air Force Boneyard in Arizona, a retired B-1 Bomber was unloaded on May 4 here, where it will be disassembled, scanned and reassembled virtually under a six-year project with Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR).
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Turkey’s defense electronics company Havelsan has teamed up with Turkish Aerospace to support the development of software, training and maintenance systems for Ankara’s future TF-X indigenous fighter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Sean Broderick
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, the engine overhaul segment was as strong as any vertical market in commercial aviation.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Marine Corps has accepted delivery of the first CH-53K King Stallion flight simulator at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The Pentagon intends to request additional stimulus funding from Congress to support the defense industrial base in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Defense Secretary Mark Esper says.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force will host a “virtual industry day” for the Advanced Battle Management System on May 13, via the medium of the Zoom videoconferencing platform.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Mark Carreau
NASA is close—perhaps within days—of striking a deal with Russia for the purchase of another seat on a Soyuz launch to assure a continuing U.S. presence aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Space

By Bradley Perrett
Avic Guizhou is developing what may be a shipboard version of its JL-9G supersonic trainer intended for use on Chinese aircraft carriers.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
LYON, France—Arianespace is planning on resuming operations with a Vega launch in mid-June as activity at Europe’s space center in Kourou, French Guiana, gradually restarts after being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Space

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

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

Calendar of upcoming events of interest.
Defense

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

Lockheed Martin has won a $6.07 billion U.S. Army contract to produce Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors
Defense

By Michael Bruno
The largest aerostructures provider to Airbus, Boeing and other aircraft makers will lay off around 1,450 more workers at its Wichita headquarters campus.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
NASA has awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a $1.8 billion contract to manufacture 18 additional RS-25 engines to support Space Launch System flights to the Moon.
Space