Aerospace & Defense Roundup: May 19

A U.S. Air Force F-35A crashed on landing at Eglin Air Force Base on May 19, four days after the loss of an F-22 at the same base in Florida. In the most recent incident, the F-35 pilot, who was assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron, ejected and is now in a stable condition, according to an Air Force statement.

AGM-183A ARRW concept.

On May 15, an F-22 with the 43rd Fighter Squadron (FS) crashed; the pilot was in stable condition. Every such loss to the Raptor fleet is a blow to the U.S. Air Force. As the U.S. Defense Department prioritizes great power competition, demand for the Raptor fleet as the Air Force’s “silver bullet” air dominance force has never been greater.

Lockheed Martin now expects to deliver 18-24 fewer F-35s in 2020 than the program’s 141-aircraft goal due to supply chain disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the company said May 19.

Two days before he was to chair the Flight Readiness Review for the SpaceX Demo-2 mission, marking the return of U.S. human orbital flight capability, NASA Associate Administrator Douglas Loverro is leaving the agency.

Raytheon is close to delivering the first mission system pods of the ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) to launch the flight testing phase, the U.S. Navy program manager said May 19.

Avic Guizhou has flown the first aircraft of an improved version of the JL-9G trainer that it appears to be pitching at a Chinese naval training requirement.

Aero-engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is looking to make 9,000 of its 52,000-strong workforce redundant as the company restructures in the face of the coronavirus crisis. The changes, announced on May 20, will largely impact the company’s civil aerospace business, and will also involve cuts to facilities and capital.

Pentagon