Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jan. 28

Aerial logistics startup Airflow is to build a full-scale technology demonstrator for its planned electric short-takeoff-and-landing cargo aircraft. The company will modify a high-wing Cessna 210 with distributed electric propulsion to enable operation into and out of very short runways. Credit: Airflow

NASA’s efforts to address the threat of mounting orbital space debris are insufficient and need to be augmented, an agency inspector general’s (IG) audit says. The audit urges NASA-led initiatives to actively identify and remove decommissioned satellites, rocket upper stages and other man-made hardware that could explode or collide in low Earth orbit (LEO), increasing the debris risk.

Aerovel has conducted reliability testing of its Flexrotor vertical-takeoff-and-landing Group 2 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for U.S. Special Operations Command. The demonstration included accelerated cycling of the tailsitting rotary-wing UAS through complete missions from takeoff to landing. Credit: Aerovel

Tactical air services provider Draken has established a Europe-based business following its takeover of Cobham Aviation Services last September. In its first formal acknowledgment of the buyout, Draken said the former Cobham business had been renamed Draken Europe to differentiate it from its U.S.-based counterpart. Credit: Draken

Top Aces has begun the process of transferring former Israeli F-16s back to the U.S. to provide adversary air services for the U.S. Air Force. The Israeli Ministry of Defense confirmed that it had sold 29 surplus Block 10-model F-16s–known in Israel as Netz–to Top Aces. The first four of these aircraft are being delivered to the company’s facilities in Mesa, Arizona, on Jan. 28 using a chartered Antonov An-124 airlifter. Credit: USAF

The new merger of the two General Dynamics information technology (IT) business units into a new Technologies division is raising eyebrows for a potential spinoff someday, particularly as large mergers and acquisitions (M&A) continue to be announced across the military, space and intelligence services sector.

All three air chiefs of staff involved in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) are emphasizing the importance of achieving first flights of the demonstrators by 2026. Generals Philippe Lavigne of France’s Armee de l’Air et de l’Espace, Ingo Gerhartz of Germany’s Luftwaffe and Javier Salto of Spain’s Ejercito del Aire met in a video conference to discuss the program on Jan. 26. Credit: I, Mirgolth

A brief item tucked into Northrop Grumman’s annual financial filing on Jan. 28 adds another layer of mystery to the company’s backlog of classified activity.

The U.S. Navy has started an analysis of alternatives (AoA) to define possible options for the Future Vertical Lift-Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) program, which aims to replace the Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60 and Northrop Grumman MQ-8 in the mid-2030s. Credit: U.S. Navy

Private equity investor Veritas Capital significantly boosted its national security space, defense and intelligence services profile on Jan. 27 as it announced a deal to buy Perspecta for $7.1 billion and merge it into portfolio company Peraton. Credit: Perspecta

Northrop Grumman is giving up a legacy contract that supports testing of cluster bomb components after a decision to apply sustainability precepts to the work, leaders of the large defense prime said Jan. 28. Credit: Textron

Germany is restarting its heavy transport helicopter (STH) program and looking to solicit bids for competing platforms through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales process. Progress of the relaunched program was revealed in a joint press release by Rheinmetall Defense and Sikorsky. The companies announced Jan. 27 that they were further strengthening their industrial partnership to offer Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stallion. Credit: Rheinmettal