Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jan. 21

HADES

Lloyd Austin

A mistake by the crew of a U.S. Air Force Bombardier E-11A caused a fatal crash in Afghanistan, but investigators still do not know why a likely inflight fix did not work. An investigation report released by Air Combat Command (ACC) nearly a year after the crash that killed both crewmembers definitively concludes that the pilot and co-pilot responded to an explosion that shut down the left engine by incorrectly shutting down the right engine. Credit: U.S. Air Force

Airbus Helicopters has adapted an H130 light helicopter as a flying laboratory to test technology for urban air mobility (UAM), hybrid-electric flight and new flight safety systems. Flying for the first time in April 2020, the Flightlab platform is part of an Airbus-wide research and technology initiative to speed up the development of new technologies and bring them to market. Credit: Airbus Helicopters

Artist's concept of Galileo satellite.

Heli-Expo 2021 organizers have canceled the March trade show in New Orleans after many exhibitors and attendees decided to withdraw in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Helicopter Association International organizers announced Jan. 20. Credit: Molly McMillin

On the job less than a day, the Biden administration made its first two appointments at NASA, naming Alicia Brown as associate administrator for legislative and intergovernmental affairs and Marc Etkind, former general manager of The Science Channel, as associate administrator for communications. Credit: NASA

South Korea’s defense ministry is moving ahead with development of a new light aircraft carrier, while foreign companies are offering design expertise for the program. Credit: UK Royal Navy

KC-46

MBDA has conducted demonstration firings of its MMP anti-tank missile guided to a target beyond visual line-of sight with help from a multi-copter drone. The demonstration of the LynkEUs-supported dismounted system at the Canjuers military camp in the south of France used a Novadem NX70 drone to spot and identify an armored vehicle located outside the field of view of the MMP operator. The drone transferred coordinates of the target to the MMP firing station. Credit: MBDA / Laurent Guichardon

Private equity-backed space rollup Redwire has acquired spacecraft design and engineering specialist Oakman Aerospace (OAI) of Littleton, Colorado. Credit: Oakman Aerospace

Lockheed Martin could build up to 620 units of the baseline version of the ground-launched Precision Strike Missile (PRSMs), the U.S. Army said in a newly published acquisition notice. Raytheon withdrew its DeepStrike concept from the competition for the PRSM contract last year, leaving Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control division as the only bidder. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Airbus Helicopters officials say they have secured backing from the French, Germany and Spanish governments to bid for funding from the European Defense Fund (EDF) for initial studies for a future European military rotorcraft. Airbus’ proposals for the European Next Generation Rotorcraft (ENGR) study include four work packages that could enable initial development decisions by the middle of the decade. Credit: Nigel Howarth