Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Aug. 26

The U.S. Navy has approved Northrop Grumman to launch production of the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile - Extended Range (AARGM-ER) for Boeing F/A-18E/Fs, EA-18Gs and Lockheed Martin F-35B/Cs. The Milestone C decision on Aug. 23 also keeps the program on track to achieve an initial operational capability in September 2023. Credit: U.S. Navy

Cambridge University has launched the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), an international group of experts who will develop a modeling tool to help decision makers understand the complete aviation system and explore potential pathways to net-zero flight. Credit: Airbus

The Royal Norwegian Air Force is preparing to equip a third search-and-rescue (SAR) base with the Leonardo AW101 SAR Queen helicopter. Norway has already introduced the three-engine rotorcraft into service on SAR duties from Sola, near Stavanger, and from Orland near Trondheim. In the coming months it will also introduce the aircraft into service at Banak, in the country’s Far North. Credit: Leonardo Helicopters

Finalists in a U.S. Air Force challenge to identify potential high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing concepts for special operation missions are expected to be announced by the end of September. Bidders anticipate multiple small contracts for rapid prototyping efforts will be awarded. Credit: Advanced Tactics

Call them letters of interest, pre-orders or some other term, electric aircraft startups are persuading potential customers to make early commitments of different forms to their products. In return, customers are gaining an ability to influence the design and investors are receiving votes of confidence in the aircraft. Credit: Electra.aero

Startup Dawn Aerospace has completed initial test flights of a reusable suborbital spaceplane demonstrator in New Zealand. The Mk-II Aurora completed five flights for Glentanner Aerodrome on South Island in late July. Credit: Dawn Aerospace

A second stage motor for a hypersonic missile in development by the U.S. Army and Navy has completed a ground test, Lockheed Martin said on Aug. 26. The test comes three months after a ground test of the first stage motor for a single missile called the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon by the Army and the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike by the Navy. Credit: DOD

The Qatar Emiri Air Force named the Boeing F-15QA “Ababil” during a closed roll-out ceremony on Aug. 25 in St. Louis, the manufacturer announced. Boeing also re-affirmed plans to deliver the first set of F-15QA jets to Qatar later this year. Credit: Boeing

C-130

ISS

Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard suborbital rocket successfully boosted 19 experiments to the fringes of space on Aug. 26. Among them are an external NASA lunar landing technology experiment which was upgraded for a second flight demonstration. Credit: Blue Origin

Two experimental satellites built for the Space Development Agency (SDA) are “tumbling” in orbit, the agency director said. The Laser Interconnect and Networking Communication System (LINCS), made by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, are 12U cubesats that are supposed to demonstrate a connection from space to a General Atomics Aeronautical System’s MQ-9 Reaper in 2022. LINCS, which each host a C-band dual-wavelength full duplex Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) and an Infrared (IR) payload, are described by Tournear as a risk-reduction backup to the SDA’s two Mandrake II satellites that were also launched on a Space X Falcon 9 in June that will demonstrate optical crosslinks. Credit: SDA

Russia has said that deliveries of Pantsir ground-based air defense systems to Myanmar are on track despite February’s military coup in the Southeast Asian country. Russian news agency RIA cited Dmitry Shugayev, head of the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, who said the Pantsir delivery remained “in line with the terms and conditions stipulated in the contracts.” Credit: Rosoboronexport

The FAA and U.S. Defense Department (DOD) are seeking solutions from industry to display certain special-use airspace areas to comply with congressional direction to make that information available to pilots in real time. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps

A furious air evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan, continued hours after a bomb and rifle attack by suspected terrorists killed 12 U.S. service members and scores of Afghan civilians, U.S. Central Command’s top officer said on Aug. 26. “We’re still committed to flowing people out until we wrap up operations toward the end of the month,” said Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, speaking to reporters by video conference. Credit: Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/USMC

A Japanese interception of a Chinese-developed uncrewed air system (UAS) over the East China Sea has prompted questions about whether the platform has entered service with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Credit: Japan's Ministry of Defense