Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

LOCKHEED MARTIN has $492.1m contract for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems M142 launchers and associated support/maintenance/repairs/parts/software/training/testing.

By Lee Hudson
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordered the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to get mission capable rates above 80% by the end of fiscal 2019.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
“It’s a very tough situation that they’re in, and it’s a very tough situation that we’ve been placed in the United States,” President Trump told reporters July 16. “With all of that being said, we’re working through it."
Defense

By Lee Hudson
“The committee denies the proposed $15 million increase to SDA Space Technology Development in its entirety,” HASC leaders wrote in a July 3 letter to Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist obtained by Aerospace DAILY.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Backed by $25 million in Series A investment from Hanwha, the new air taxi company will be led by Karem Aircraft CEO Ben Tigner, with Ryan Doss as chief commercial officer and Abe Karem as chief designer.

By Arie Egozi
The arrival of two new fighters brings the total number of F-35s delivered to the Israeli Air Force to 16.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates is scheduled to launch Sept. 25 as a Russian spaceflight participant.
Defense

By Arie Egozi
Despite the fact that Israel selected the Italian M-346 trainer over the South Korean T-50, Seoul has continued to show interest in Israeli systems.
Defense

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, and numerous events are scheduled in Washington commemorating the historic achievement and looking ahead to the future.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT approved $600m foreign military sale to Greece of up to seven MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopters, associated equipment and weapon systems.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $41,269,021 for modification P00002 to a previously awarded order (N00019-19-F-2474).

By Irene Klotz
The investigation into the April 20 accident remains underway, but SpaceX has closed in on the cause of the explosion.
Defense

The Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission countdown was aborted 56 min. before its scheduled liftoff at 2:51 a.m. local time July 15.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
Two squadrons of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters will be based at RAF Lakenheath during the early 2020s. Infrastructure work has begun on new hangars, maintenance and logistic support facilities and operations buildings that will look after the 54 F-35s.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
The Made In Space mission will focus on the 3D manufacture of two opposing 10-m beams aboard a small, solar-powered satellite.
Defense

By Steve Trimble
The Raytheon Advanced Airborne Sensor integrates a radar with ground moving target indication and synthetic aperture radar modes to the P-8A’s passel of onboard sensors, serving a function similar to the APY-7 radar on the Air Force’s E-8C J-Stars.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
The aircraft flew on July 12 for a shakedown flight, but still must have its mission systems installed, which will take place over the coming weeks.
Defense

By Mark Carreau
Participants from small businesses and commercial startups with skills to address a range of technology challenges in the national security arena are encouraged to apply for the 12-week gathering.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
While his nomination is being considered, Esper has officially ceased to be the acting defense secretary and is solely serving as Army secretary.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
The European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency says the outage began at 01:50 UTC on July 12, following messages July 11 that warned of potential service degradation.
Defense

MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES began production on a Legion-class geostationary satellite for Ovzon to provide mobile broadband communication capabilities, for 2021 launch.

July 15-17—Aviation Week Routes Silk Road 2019, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. For more information go to https://events.aviationweek.com/en/home.html

By Steve Trimble, Lee Hudson, Tony Osborne
“Our position regarding the F-35 has not changed,” Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters July 12 at the Pentagon.
Defense

By Irene Klotz
The management shakeup at NASA is intended to usher in a new way of doing business, Administrator Jim Bridenstine told Aerospace DAILY.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
As The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 spacecraft prepares to demonstrate solar-sail propulsion in low Earth orbit (LEO), project manager Vestigo Aerospace has received a NASA grant to study use of drag-sail technology to deorbit LEO satellites.
Defense