Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Oct, 28

GE To Provide Flight-Control System On Commercial Drone

GE Aviation announced a teaming agreement Oct. 28 to provide its flight-control computing platform on the SuperVolo vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone designed for commercial applications.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

Pentagon, Lockheed Close New F-35 Deal

The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract modification worth more than $7 billion before finalizing a much larger bundle of contracts and agreements to buy more than 470 F-35s for delivery between 2020 and 2022, fulfilling the last three years of low-rate production.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

U.S. Apaches, Chinooks Used For al-Baghdadi Raid

U.S. Delta Force special operators and at least one dog were ferried by a mix of eight Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and Boeing H-47 Chinook helicopters to raid a compound housing the founder and leader of ISIS.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

Software Upgrades In NH90 Development Road Map

A series of software-based upgrades is planned for the international fleet of NH90 land-based and naval helicopters.

The fleet, now 400-strong with the delivery of the first Sea Lion aircraft to the German Navy on Oct. 24, will benefit from a Step 2 avionics enhancement starting in 2022, according to Eberhard Scholl, Airbus’s vice president in charge of the NH90 program.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

New Design Revealed For Uber Eats Drone

Uber Elevate on Oct. 28 revealed a multirotor, tiltwing design for its planned Uber Eats delivery drone.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

Virgin Galactic IPO Glides Through First Day

“This is a terrific endorsement and a transformational capital infusion which enables us to go full speed ahead towards our goals of commercial service and building additional spaceships,” Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides says.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

NASA’s Mars InSight Dig Halts Again

Once again, the digging by NASA’s Mars InSight lander has come to a stop—and again, puzzling subsurface soil properties seemingly are to blame.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

UK Offshore Helo Operator Preps For Brexit

Offshore helicopter operator NHV Group has secured a British air operator certificate in preparation for the UK’s impending departure from the European Union.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. 

Airbus Studying AI To Cut MUM-T Crew Workload

Airbus Helicopters is looking to combine artificial intelligence with its manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) technology to address concerns over pilot workload.

Subscribers can access the full article here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here.