Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Aug. 10
August 11, 2020![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-08/356446-web_hero-v-280_valor_10-1c601a-large-1591386156_0.jpg?itok=Sp0DRT3S)
Bell Plans New Facility For Future Vertical Lift In Fort Worth
Bell Textron Inc. unveiled plans for a new 140,000-ft.² manufacturing technology center Aug. 10 to support the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift effort. Aircraft will not be produced at rate in the facility, which will function more like a test bed and proving ground, a company spokesman told Aerospace DAILY.
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USAF Names Three Bidders For Hypersonic Cruise Missile
A future hypersonic cruise missile will be competed between Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the U.S. Air Force has announced. The Aug. 5 selection revives Boeing’s role as a competitor for the Air Force’s offensive hypersonic weapons. The company had lost previous bids for the Air Force’s rocket-boosted, hypersonic glider contracts, but was previously a pioneer in hypersonic flight experiments with the scramjet-powered X-43 and X-51 demonstrator programs.
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Modernized Ka-52M Helicopter Makes First Flight
Russian Helicopters announced Aug. 10 that the modernized Kamov Ka-52M attack helicopter made its first flight, taking off from Russian Helicopters’ subsidiary Progress in Arseniev in Russia’s Far East.
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New U.S. Navy Radar Jammer Achieves First Flight
A U.S. Navy EA-18G test aircraft flew on Aug. 7 with the first flight-worthy Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) pod to launch a flight test program. The Raytheon-built radar jammer confirmed safety-of-flight characteristics during the sortie by the VX-23 flight test squadron at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, according to Naval Air Systems Command.
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Netherlands Resumes NH90 Flight Operations
The Netherlands has restarted flights of its NHIndustries NH90 naval helicopters after a three-week hiatus prompted by a crash in the Caribbean. Two of the four crewmembers onboard the helicopter died when it crashed into the Caribbean Sea off Aruba on July 19. The aircraft had been on a coastguard patrol flight.
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Credit: USAF
U.S. Space Force logo.
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Wireless Charging System For Drones Wins Approval
Wireless charging system developer WiBotic on Aug. 6 announced Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorization of its line of transmitters and receivers for charging drones, mobile robots and industrial automation devices.
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Credit: USAF
F-35B
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Second MRTT Delivered For NATO Tanker Fleet
NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) has taken delivery of its second Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT).
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The Weekly Debrief: Evolving Threat Sparks New Arctic Radar Plans
A short item tucked into the version of the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate on July 23 quietly calls on the U.S. Defense Department to come up with a plan that some experts say will cost more than $10 billion to implement.
USAF names three bidders for hypersonic cruise missile, U.S. Space Force releases initial guiding principles, Israel stands up second F-35 Squadron, first flights and more. A roundup of aerospace, space and defense news powered by Aerospace Daily & Defense Report.
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