Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Sep. 29

Canada has inducted the first of its new Airbus CC-295 twin-turboprop, search-and-rescue (SAR) aircraft. Ottawa is buying 16 of the platforms, which have been named Kingfisher by the Royal Canadian Air Force, replacing the de Havilland CC-115 Buffalo and Lockheed CC-130H Hercules currently used for fixed-wing SAR missions. Credit: Royal Canadian Air Force

CH-53

Aviation services firm Draken International has bought the aviation service businesses of Cobham Group. The deal, which closed Sept. 25, sees Draken taking control of 13 businesses which came under the Cobham Aviation business banner. Credit: Cobham Group

The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has ordered 12 Beechcraft T-6C training aircraft and ground-based training systems to replace a fleet of Pilatus PC-9Ms, Textron Aviation Defense announced Sept. 28. Credit: Textron Aviation Defense

With a growing number of aircraft projects aiming for type certification under its revamped, performance-based Part 23 regulations, the FAA has expanded the list of industry-developed consensus standards that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the rules. Credit: Joby Aircraft

NASA has moved back the planned liftoff of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission—the first commercial operational launch of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS)—from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31. The move was made for several reasons: to deconflict the launch from other crew departure and arrival operations; to allow time to complete post Demo-2 test flight changes and certification of the Dragon capsule; and to allow the search for a small air leak in the orbiting lab’s Russian segment to proceed further. Credit: SpaceX

On behalf of NASA, the HeroX crowdsourcing social network has launched a “Watts on the Moon Challenge” that seeks concepts for managing, storing and distributing solar electrical power on the Moon. Credit: NASA

Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Tritons deployed to Guam in January, but one day they were not allowed to fly and the U.S. Navy smelled a rat. Literally. The MQ-4C cannot operate unless a global data network is ready to feed the collected sensor data to the intelligence community in real time. In this case, that network included encrypted signals on a local Verizon trunk line, which became a problem. Credit: U.S. Navy

Azerbaijan and Turkish officials are denying a claim by Armenia that one of Turkey’s Lockheed Martin F-16s shot down an Armenian Su-25 on Sept. 29. The contradictory accounts created international confusion over an alleged incident that Armenia previously had warned would trigger retaliatory strikes by Iskander ground-launched, medium-range missiles. Credit: Armenia Ministry of Defense

Unmanned cargo aircraft developer Sabrewing Aircraft has signed an exclusive representation agreement with Riyadh-based trading company Arabian Development & Marketing Co. (ADMC) covering sales in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Pan-African region. Credit: Sabrewing Aircraft

U.S. Capitol

Japan Air Lines (JAL) plans to work with Volocopter to promote the development of urban air mobility (UAM) for passenger and cargo transportation in Japan. The announcement comes on the heels of an agreement between JAL and Matternet to explore development of a drone healthcare delivery business in Japan. Credit: Volocopter