Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
The USAF’s bidding deadline for the $85 billion contract to develop the GBSD missile passed on Dec. 13 with no offer from Boeing, leaving Northrop Grumman as expected as the sole bidder.
Defense

By Michael Bruno
Small-sat launcher Rocket Lab will look to bring its expected first-stage booster recycling system to its new Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
The USAF's Space and Missile Systems Center was responsible for rapidly buying the medium-range, ground-launched ballistic missile that traveled more than 310.6 mi. Dec. 12 from Vandenberg AFB in California.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
The Irish Air Corps (IAC) has ordered a pair of Airbus C295 twin-turboprop airlifters for the maritime patrol mission.
Defense

By Bill Carey
German delivery drone manufacturer Wingcopter plans to enter the U.S. market.
Business Aviation

By Guy Norris
Autonomous air taxi developer Ehang is on track to begin a pioneering effort with the Civil Aviation Administration of China to develop airworthiness standards and certification methods for the new aircraft category.
Business Aviation

By Tony Osborne
The 2,500-shp Aneto 1K is the first member of Safran’s new family of engines for medium and heavy helicopters.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The demo will showcase the capability designed into the V-280’s fly-by-wire flight control system.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Johnson now can push through his vision of Brexit on Jan. 31, 2020 ending Parliamentary and legal deadlock.
Defense

Calendar
Aerospace

BOEING has $21.3m U.S. Air Force contract for Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10 sustainment.

U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) deployed one P-8A Poseidon multimission maritime aircraft to Punta Arenas, Chile, on Dec. 10.

View the Program Dossier: Leonardo C-27 Spartan in PDF format.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is suffering delays getting the threat assessments it needs to make informed acquisition decisions, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says.
Aerospace

LOCKHEED MARTIN Corp. has $18m U.S. Navy contract for maintenance and operation of the Australia, Canada, United Kingdom Reprogramming Laboratory (ACURL) for the F-35.
Aerospace

The Czech Republic signed an agreement at the Pentagon Dec. 12 to buy eight UH-1Y Venom and four AH-1Z Viper helicopters.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Recovery teams have found components of the aircraft’s landing gear.
Defense

By Irene Klotz
NASA on Dec. 12 cleared Boeing for an uncrewed trial run of its CST-100 Starliner space taxi to the ISS.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission team has selected the primary and backup collection sites on the surface of the asteroid Bennu.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. military on Dec. 12 lofted an intermediate-range, ground-launched ballistic missile traveling more than 500 km.
Defense

AVIATION WEEK NETWORK forecasts that over the next ten years, 4,257 new rotary-wing aircraft will be built and delivered to military operators and 1,453 will be remanufactured or re-engined.
Aerospace

By Lee Hudson
Although the House has OK'd a bill to set up a Space Force, the military will not be able to implement it until a fiscal 2020 approps bill is passed, the DOD says.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
Although the House has OK'd a bill to establish a Space Force, the military can't implement it until a fiscal 2020 approps bill is passed, the DOD says.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Flight operations with the Elbit-made UAVs reportedly are likely to be delayed around six months.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Ships and aircraft scouring the Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic peninsula have recovered components of the aircraft’s main landing gear and elements from the fuel system.
Defense