Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Defense

By Graham Warwick
Airbus is to continue investing in urban air mobility despite shutting down Voom, its on-demand helicopter booking service, citing the impact of the novel coronavirus crisis.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Jen DiMascio
Recent Defense Department guidance aimed at helping federal contractors operate during the COVID-19 pandemic does not provide enough clarity for suppliers in the defense industrial base, lawmakers write in an April 1 letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and acquisition chief Ellen Lord.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Jen DiMascio
The U.S. Air Force is applying its method of drawing innovative ideas into the service to help provide aerospace suppliers struggling in the COVID-19 downturn with the cash flow they need to stay in business, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said during a wide-ranging conversation with reporters.
Supply Chain

By Tony Osborne
Some of the biggest names in UK aerospace have joined an industrial consortium with British Formula One motor racing teams to urgently manufacturer medical ventilators to treat patients suffering from COVID-19.
Marketplace

By Tony Osborne
Czech aerospace manufacturer Aero Vodochody has ramped up flight envelope testing of its new L-39NG light jet trainer as it pushes to have the aircraft certified for the third quarter of 2020.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
More than 12,000 well-educated aspirants representing every U.S. state and territory have applied for an uncertain and perhaps modest number of openings in NASA’s astronaut corps.
Space Symposium

By Tony Osborne
General Atomics has flown the first production representative MQ-9B SkyGuardian medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Victoria Moores
UK-headquartered Acro Aircraft Seating has appointed former Collins Aerospace and B/E Aerospace executive Neil Cairns as its new CEO.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The F-35 Joint Simulation Environment, used to test the fifth-generation aircraft against adversaries, is posing a “minor disruption” for the enterprise during the global coronavirus pandemic because of its classified nature and the fact it is an enclosed space.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
The global space economy showed strong momentum in 2019 but faces a significant challenge going forward due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Space Foundation cautions in the first quarterly installment of its annual economic assessment.
Space Symposium

By Bradley Perrett
Japan has set up a project office for its Next Generation Fighter program and reiterated an intention to decide on an international partner within eight months, despite a report last month that the U.S. was already preferred.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Air navigation service providers (ANSPs), particularly those that are privately owned, are taking tough steps to ensure they can survive the slump in air traffic caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has awarded two contracts worth up to $500 million each to Raytheon and L3Harris to

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

By Michael Bruno
Astronics, the already embattled provider of aircraft seat technology and other interior products, is “adjusting its workforce” to align with a dropoff in demand due to the coronavirus and sudden economic slowdown.
Interiors & Connectivity

News in brief
Defense

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

By Lee Hudson
The commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt has asked the head of U.S. Pacific Fleet to remove his 4,000-member crew from the aircraft carrier and send the sailors into quarantine on Guam as the novel coronavirus continues to spread on the ship.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Jen DiMascio
The Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has awarded two contracts worth up to $500 million each to Raytheon and L3Harris Technologies to develop and produce new, secure modems.
Space Symposium

By Michael Bruno
Avcorp returned to its financial sponsor in early March to significantly increase a credit line, company representatives acknowledged Mar. 31.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
Over the next three to six months, the Department of the Air Force is transferring 23 missions from the U.S. Air Force to the Space Force, expanding the nascent service’s responsibilities.
Space Symposium

By Irene Klotz
Veteran astronauts Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have been added to the crew of the first operational mission under SpaceX’s Commercial Crew flight services contract.
Space Symposium

By Lee Hudson
Virgin Orbit has developed a new, mass-producible bridge ventilator that is pending clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fight the novel coronavirus.
Space Symposium

By Mark Carreau
NASA has selected the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, a multiple small satellite mission to study how the Sun generates giant solar particle storms while mapping the host star’s magnetic field lines as they extend outward into the Solar System.
Space Symposium