Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

BOEING has $18.5m U.S. Air Force contract for aircraft guidance/navigation system repairs.

Rep. John Culberson’s (R-Texas) devotion to space exploration may have caught up with him in the 2018 midterm elections, as he lost to Democrat Lizzie Fletcher.

​View the Fleet Snapshot: Royal Australian Air Force chart in PDF format.

Germany has restarted its heavy-lift helicopter (STH) competition after Berlin approved an uptick in funding for a series of procurement programs.

Dassault and the French government have withdrawn the Rafale fighter from the competition to replace Canada’s aging CF-18s.

The Pentagon has confirmed that Defense Chief Management Officer John Gibson turned in his resignation Nov. 5.

Missile manufacturer MBDA has been awarded a long-awaited contract by the French government to develop an enhanced version of the Mica air-to-air missile.

Indonesia has contracted with Korea Aerospace Industries for three KT-1B turboprop trainers and upgrades that will take its TA-50 training jets close to the FA-50 light-attack standard.

French armament procurement agency DGA is targeting early 2019 for the start of joint Franco-German studies on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).

NASA now considers the SpaceX Falcon 9 to be a Category 3 launch vehicle, suitable for flying its most expensive and critical spacecraft.

Indonesia has not signed a contract for the purchase of Lockheed Martin C-130J transporters, despite claims of a delivery of five aircraft next year.

Leonardo Helicopters has sold 15 of its AW139 twin-engine medium helicopters in China and has signed agreements that could pave the way for sales of another 160 aircraft from its product line.

Indonesia has ordered indigenously manufactured ground-based air surveillance radars to provide better coverage of the vast archipelagic nation.

Rep. John Culberson’s (R-Texas) devotion to space exploration may have caught up with him in the 2018 midterm elections, as he lost to Democrat Lizzie Fletcher.

A gathering was held at Ellington Airport near Johnson Space Center Nov. 8 to inspect 10 flight control consoles reconditioned in a $5 million campaign to restore the Mission Control Center.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is hoping to propose its conformal airborne early warning (AEW) derivative of the Gulfstream G550 business jet to the UK RAF.

British industry officials have revealed they have begun discussions with Swedish airframer Saab on potentially joining the UK’s Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI) that could lead to the development of a sixth-generation combat aircraft.

Diamond Aircraft Industries has flown the first multi-engine hybrid-electric aircraft, a demonstrator developed jointly with electric motor supplier Siemens.

The Chinese J-31 stealth fighter program is being developed for domestic military service under government contract, an official source says.

The rocket that is intended to introduce reusability into the Chinese government space sector, Long March 8, will do so in phases, officials said.

As the U.S. races to field hypersonic strike missiles, DARPA is moving to tackle the next major problem: defending against similar hard-to-intercept weapons under development or already fielded in China and Russia.

Chinese space contractor Sast has begun development of what it presents as a larger Long March 6 launcher version.

A Czech propulsion company will launch a new small turbofan engine next year for Western-built cruise missiles, a company official told Aerospace DAILY.

The Turkish government has signed framework agreements that will kick off the domestic development of an engine for the indigenous TF-X combat aircraft.

General Dynamics Electric Boat has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division a $197 million contract modification to purchase major components and commodity material and begin advance construction on the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN 826).