Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jun. 23
June 24, 2020
Textron Aviation Issues 60-Day Layoff Notices To 250 Workers
Longitude Credit: Textron Aviation
About 250 Textron Aviation employees received 60-day layoff notices June 23, including 70 in Wichita, as the company adjusts to the economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company told employees.

U.S. Navy Delivers First CMV-22 To Operational Squadron
Artist's concept of CMV-22. Credit: U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy on June 22 delivered the first Bell Boeing CMV-22 Osprey to an operational squadron at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.

IAU Names Asteroid Earth Defense Mission Dimorphos
Credit: NASA
The target of two joint upcoming NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) planetary defense demonstration missions—the Double Asteroid Re-direction Test (DART) and Hera—has received an official name, Dimorphos.

Kopter Restarts SH09 Flight Tests After Three-Month Hiatus
SH09 Credit: Kopter Group
Switzerland’s Kopter Group has resumed flight-test activities in Sicily after a three-month hiatus caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Leonardo
Merlin

Rostec Reshuffles UAC Management
MiG-29 Credit: MiG-29: Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Russia’s industrial giant Rostec Corp. is speeding up the restructuring of United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) to increase its efficiency. Since the beginning of June, it has changed the top management at several UAC key subsidiaries and expedited the merger of jet makers Sukhoi and MiG into a single combat aircraft division.

Made In Space Joins Redwire Group
ISS Credit: NASA
Redwire, a venture capital-backed family of space technology companies, has added Florida-based Made In Space to its portfolio, the companies announced June 23.

Michael Griffin Credit: NASA

ZeroAvia Completes First UK Electric Flight
Piper Malibu Credit: Alan Lebeda
Electric flight startup ZeroAvia has completed its first electrically driven flight in the UK as it gears up its operations to demonstrate a 250-300-nm flight with its hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Tupolev Releases Specs, Timeline For Supersonic Business Jet
Tu-160 Credit: Alex Beltyukov
Tupolev has released specifications and a seven-year schedule for completing design of a 30-seat, supersonic business jet, which includes flying a testbed aircraft possibly derived from the Tu-160 bomber.
Rostec reshuffles UAC management, Pentagon musical chairs continues, ZeroAvia completes first UK electric flight, Tupolev releases specs and timeline for supersonic business jet, IAU names asteroid Earth defense mission Dimorphos and more. A roundup of aerospace. space and defense news.