Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Feb. 11

Spring Selection For Germany’s New Heavy-Lift Helicopter

Germany will decide on the selection of a new fleet of heavy-lift helicopters before the summer of 2021, a position paper on the transformation of Germany’s armed forces states. Penned by defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and General Inspector of the German Armed Forces Gen. Eberhard Zorn, the paper also calls for the signing of a contract for the multinational Eurodrone medium-altitude/long-endurance unmanned aircraft system by the end of March. Credit: Bundeswehr/Sebastian Wilke

Two DARPA Satellites Damaged; June Launch Set

The Pentagon has disclosed that two DARPA satellites scheduled to launch on the Transporter-1 mission were damaged during payload processing. Credit: Stephen Forbes/DARPA

MDA Reopens Search For Powerful Laser Interceptor

A pulsed laser that can shoot down ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles in all phases of flight from any air, land or sea platform—as well as space-based systems—are the subject of a new open call for new ideas by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). A request for information (RFI) published on Feb. 11 reopens the MDA’s on-again, off-again search for a laser weapon to shoot down threats, particularly in the vulnerable boost phase of a missile’s flight path. Credit: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Triumph Nears End Of Aerostructures Spinoff With Arlington Capital Deal

Triumph Group announced late Feb. 10 that it had struck a deal to sell its Red Oak, Texas, operations to aerospace private equity investors Arlington Capital Partners. The agreement marks the second-to-last disposal of major aerostructures-related assets as part of a years-long restructuring by the Tier 1-2 suppliers. It also reinforces Arlington Capital’s position as a major salvager of Triumph structures work, as the supplier is already in the midst of selling composites work done in Milledgeville, Georgia, and Rayong, Thailand, to the private equity investors in a separate deal announced last August

NASA Weighing Commercial Production Of New Spacesuit

As it proceeds with the largely in-house development of a third-generation spacesuit, NASA plans to turn to a commercial provider once it has evaluated the prototype garment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and carried out Artemis III, a return to the Moon’s surface with humans. Credit: NASA

Israel Investigating Illegal Loitering Missile Export Ring

Israeli security agencies are investigating 20 people including several from the Israeli defense industry over the illegal development, production and sale of loitering weapons for an unnamed Asian country. A long-running probe, disclosed by the Israeli Security Agency—also known as Shin Bet or Shabak—and the country’s police service on Feb. 11, found that the group of 20 Israelis had developed the weapons in secret and even conducted in-country trials. Credit: Israeli Security Agency

New DOD Task Force Focuses On U.S.-China Tech Competition

U.S. GovernmentPentagon