Aerospace & Defense Roundup: September 22

Kitty Hawk Returns To Autonomous Single-Seat EVTOL Strategy

Kitty Hawk has shifted strategy again, returning to the idea of an autonomous single-seat air taxi and dropping plans to develop a piloted two-seater as its first product. In early July, CEO Sebastian Thrun said the startup was redeveloping its Heaviside single-seat electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle into a two-seat H3 version for an aerial ride-sharing service. Credit: Kitty Hawk

Airbus Sees Micro-Hybridization As First Step In Electrification

As Airbus is exploring several technologies to drastically cut and eventually eliminate an aircraft’s CO2 emissions, its design engineers are considering micro-hybridization as a starting point in electrification. Credit: Remy Gabalda / AFP / Getty Images

Airbus Commits To UAM With Evolved EVTOL

Airbus has committed to the advanced air mobility market targeting the certification of a winged multi-copter by 2025. Credit: Airbus

What Does Titanium Sponge Show About Aircraft Production Recovery?

How fast will U.S. military jet and large commercial aircraft build rates pick up? According to one new Wall Street report on titanium sponge, a key import for new-generation airliners, maybe not so fast. Credit: COMAC

Airbus Starts Electrical Backup System Flight Tests

Airbus Helicopters has begun flight tests of an electrical backup system (EBS) on its H130 FlightLab experimental helicopter. The EBS system uses a 100-kW electric motor connected to the main gearbox which could provide up to 30 sec. of additional power in the event of an engine failure, allowing the pilot to make a safe auto-rotation landing. Credit: Airbus

Xeriant To Merge With Hybrid-Electric VTOL Developer XTI

After announcing a joint venture in June, startup Xeriant has agreed to merge with XTI Aircraft in a bid to secure the funding needed to develop the TriFan 600 hybrid-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing business aircraft. Credit: XTI Aircraft

Boeing To Open Loyal Wingman Assembly Plant In Australia

Boeing will build a final assembly facility for the Airpower Teaming System (ATS) in the state of Queensland, Australia, to begin serial production of the autonomous unmanned aircraft. The facility will be the U.S. defense prime’s first such site outside North America. Credit: Boeing

Volocopter-Geely Joint Venture Orders 150 EVTOL Aircraft

Volocopter and Aerofugia, a subsidiary of Chinese auto giant Geely, have created a joint venture that has ordered 150 Volocopter eVTOL aircraft. Credit: Volocopter

Bombardier Service Center Expansions On Track

Bombardier is investing in major expansions of its worldwide service center network as it grows the segment, with plans to add hundreds of technicians over the next 18 months. Credit: Pablo Andrés Ortega Chávez

Aerojet Rocketdyne To Provide Future Orion Propulsion

NASA has awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a $600 million maximum value contract for the design, certification, production and other requirements for the main engine of the Orion crew capsule. The contract will be in effect through April 23, 2032. It is designated for the Artemis VII through XIV deep space missions. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne

Raytheon Wins First Export For Gallium Nitride Fighter AESA

Raytheon has expanded sales and options for gallium nitride-enabled active electronically scanned array radars (AESA) for fighters. The Canadian government has awarded Raytheon a $140 million contract to upgrade the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Boeing CF-18A/Bs with new radars made with gallium nitride semiconductors. Credit: Korea Aerospace Industries

Space-Based GMTI Part Of Coming ISR Migration To Orbit

The U.S. Space Force’s recently disclosed effort to field a space-based ground-moving targeted indicator (GMTI) capability is part of a coming migration of aerospace missions to orbit, especially in the realm of tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Credit: U.S. Space Force