Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

News in brief
Defense

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

By Mark Carreau
Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken praised the NASA/SpaceX team behind their test flight and expressed hope the public/private partnership continues to thrive.
Space

By Lee Hudson
Gen. Charles Brown will be the 22nd Air Force chief of staff and the first African-American to hold the post.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
As it incorporates lessons learned from the abbreviated debut flight of its LauncherOne small satellite rocket, Virgin Orbit said Aug. 3 it is planning for a second demonstration mission before year’s end, with NASA agreeing to use the launch to put 11 experimental cubesats into orbit.
Space

By Molly McMillin
Textron Aviation has unveiled the Beechcraft King Air 360 and 360ER, an upgrade of the iconic twin turboprop with new autothrottles, avionics upgrades and other enhancements to the cockpit plus a redesigned, more open cabin.
Flight Deck

By Mark Carreau
Bartolomeo, an external platform developed to commercially support scientific research and technology development payloads outside the International Space Station Space (ISS), should be ready to host its first projects by mid-2021, according to developer Airbus Defense and Space.
Space

By Lee Hudson
After one year of preparation, the U.S. Navy and Air Force are using innovative technology to collaborate remotely on an F135 propulsion test.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bill Carey
Airline MRO Barfield now repairs unmanned aircraft systems components at its facility in Louisville, Kentucky.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Molly McMillin
Embraer has launched a Medevac version of its Phenom 300 light jet called the Phenom 300MED for civil and government applications.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

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

By Michael Bruno
Triumph Group has announced a significant step forward in shedding some aerostructures businesses, revealing a definitive agreement to sell its composites operations to private equity investor Arlington Capital Partners.
Marketplace

By Steve Trimble
Lockheed Martin has chosen a proposed new variant of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to compete for the sea-based Regional Glide Phase Weapon prototyping program.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Michael Bruno
Small satellite launcher ABL Space Systems has disclosed around $90 million in new defense contracts plus investments from Lockheed Martin and venture capitalists, powering the startup through a three-launch demonstration of the RS1 launch vehicle and GS0 deployable launch system early next year, the company said Aug. 3.
Space

By Lee Hudson
Collins Aerospace is on the brink of closing a deal with its first international customer for a next-generation air combat training device that the U.S. Navy and Air Force will use for the F-35.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Maksim Pyadushkin
Deliveries of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) unmanned combat air vehicle to the Russian military will start in 2024, the head of Russia’s United Aircraft Corp., Yury Slyusar, told President Vladimir Putin at an Aug. 3 meeting.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Once a mission prioritized mostly by the U.S. Army and Navy, the U.S. Air Force is now seeking to experiment with low-cost options to intercept cruise missiles, potentially expanding an arsenal that today consists solely of the relatively high-cost and inventory-limited AIM-120C missile
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Guy Norris
Virgin Galactic has unveiled the outline configuration of its ongoing high-speed air-breathing passenger transport study and announced Rolls-Royce as its propulsion partner for the Mach 3 design concept.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The unit price for a new AttritableONE family of low-cost, unmanned aircraft systems will fall into a gap between “expendable” and “exquisite” categories within the U.S. Air Force inventory.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bradley Perrett
Japan has begun seeking a single prime contractor for the F-X fighter program, with the end of October reported as the target for concluding a contract.
Aircraft & Propulsion

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

News in brief
Defense

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

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Aviation Week & Space Technology

By Irene Klotz
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, flying as test pilots for the SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2 (Demo-2), landed in flat seas and 2 mph winds at 2:48 p.m. EDT, capping NASA’s six-year effort to restore U.S. human orbital flight capability after the space shuttles’ retirement in 2011.
Space