Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Nov. 11

Northrop Grumman is looking to become the third major missile provider to the Pentagon and allied customers, the company’s chief executive said Nov. 11. “I do still see it as an area of growth and synergy for us,” Chairman, CEO and President Kathy Warden told a Baird investor conference. Citing the U.S. Navy’s awards for the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) from Northrop, Warden said the company would like to gain more positions like that while remaining a key subcontractor to other primes. Credit: Naval Air Systems Command

Projects to use drones to deliver COVID-19 supplies are among the first wave of winners under the UK’s £125 million ($165 million) Future Flight Challenge. Cargo delivery, firefighting and electric short-haul air transportation are among other projects selected. Credit: Apian

Raytheon Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Blue Canyon Technologies, a pioneering provider of small satellites and spacecraft systems components, for about $350 million. Credit: Blue Canyon Technologies

Leonardo is to deliver a new version of its C-27J Spartan turboprop airlifter to an undisclosed customer in 2021. The company has almost completed flight testing of the C-27J Next Generation, which features an upgraded avionics suite and winglets that increase maximum takeoff weight and one engine inoperative (OEI) climb rate performance. Credit: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt

Japan’s Sony Corp. has announced the start of a drone development project aimed at video production for the entertainment and other industries. In a Nov. 9 announcement, the electronics and media giant provided few details of the “Airpeak” project, which it expects to launch next spring. The company said it expects to seek partners to collaborate on the project. Credit: Sony Corp.

South Korea staged its first urban air mobility demonstration in Seoul on Nov. 11, including drone and electric air taxi demonstrations using the developmental K-Drone low-altitude traffic management system. Credit: EHang

A Japanese minister charged with improving efficiency will hold a public review of the F-X program for a new Japanese fighter on Nov. 14. The minister has previously supported cheap, unmanned systems—the antithesis of the F-X. BAE Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, have set out their cases for partnering with prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on the program. Lockheed Martin is bidding with support from Northrop Grumman. Credit: Japanese Ministry of Defense

The $3.84 billion lunar-orbiting, human-tended Gateway that NASA envisions as part of a long-term strategy to establish a sustained human presence at the Moon is unlikely to be in place in time to support the Trump administration’s goal of returning astronauts to the lunar surface in 2024, an audit by the agency’s inspector general (IG) says. Credit: NASA

Senate appropriators are calling out the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps for misusing aircraft advance procurement funding, according to a report accompanying the panel’s mark of the fiscal 2021 defense appropriations bill. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Britain is introducing new powers to screen investments in a bid to protect vital national industries. The National Security and Investment Bill will tighten the rules regarding foreign investment as countries like China actively target acquisitions in UK high-tech sectors and critical national infrastructure.

German start-up Lilium has announced that the first electric regional air mobility network in the U.S. will be launched in 2025 in Florida. The first hub is to be constructed in Lake Nona, a planned community adjacent to Orlando International Airport. Credit: Lilium

U.S. Capitol.