Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Oct. 15

Northrop Grumman Reveals Aether Spy AESA Radar Program

Credit: Northrup Grumman

“Aether Spy will enable significant improvements in surveillance and battle management missions in the future battlespace,” AFRL technical advisor for sensor subsystems Thomas Dalrymple said.

U.S. Navy Makes Plan For JADC2 Integration

Credit: U.S. Navy

The U.S. Navy is stepping up plans to integrate into Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), which is the Defense Department’s concept to connect sensors from all the military services into a single network.

MHI Aims At H3 Capacity Boost To Push Down Costs

Credit: JAXA / MHI Open configuration options

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) hopes to begin developing an upgrade for the H3 medium space launcher in 2022, only a year after the first flight, with the aim of driving payload up and unit costs down.

Airbus To Develop Australian A330 MRTT Upgrade

Credit: 6 Squadron, RAAF/Commonwealth of Australia

Airbus will develop and partly deliver a communications and mission-system upgrade for Australia’s seven A330 MRTTs.

VOX Touts Industry Interest In High-Speed VTOL Concept

Credit: VOX Aircraft

Perseverance is an essential quality for anyone trying to bring a new aircraft configuration to aviation. After 30 years of trying, VOX Aircraft co-founder Brian Morgan believes that goal may at last be within sight.

Industry Lays Out Economic Benefits Of Tempest

Credit: BAE Systems

Industry partners involved in the development of the UK’s Tempest Future Combat Air System claim the initiative will pump £25 billion ($32 billion) into the UK economy over its first 30 years and secure 20,000 jobs between 2026 and 2050.

Commercial Partners To Advance NASA Deep Space Technologies

Credit: NASA

Fourteen U.S. companies are to receive an estimated $370 million in NASA “Tipping Point” agreements intended to advance technologies needed to achieve a sustained human presence on the Moon during the 2020s and support the human exploration of Mars thereafter.

Swedish Gripen C/Ds Could Remain In Service Beyond 2030

Credit: Saab

Sweden hopes to keep part of its C/D-model Saab Gripen fighter fleet in service beyond 2030 as it looks to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities against what it sees as a growing regional threat from Russia. 

NASA Eyes Transonic Truss Braced Wing Flight Demonstrator

Credit: NASA

The experimental aircraft would be one of a suite of demonstration projects to mature key technologies for a next-generation subsonic commercial transport by the mid-2020s.

Payload Shrinking Competition Moves Ahead, Seeks Recruits

Credit: NASA Tournament Lab / HeroX

Introduced in April, the “Honey, I shrunk the NASA payload”  global crowdsourcing competition is moving on to “Honey, I Built the NASA Payload, The Sequel.”

Aviation Week Forecasts: Russian, Chinese Legacy Fighters Enjoy Continued Success

Credit: United Aircraft Corporation

While fourth-generation fighters in Europe and the U.S. have experienced somewhat of a renaissance in the past 18 months, further to the East they have remained at the center of both domestic recapitalization efforts and foreign export campaigns throughout the last decade.

Embraer Launches UAM Spinoff Eve

Credit: EmbraerX

Having incubated Embraer’s involvement in the nascent urban air mobility (UAM) market since 2017, the Brazilian manufacturer’s EmbraerX innovation unit has spun off Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions as an independent company.

AESA-Equipped Air National Guard F-16s Reach Full Capability

A major upgrade for the Air National Guard's F-16s has reached full operational capability status a month after a jet equipped with a new radar demonstrated a new cruise missile defense role.

DOD Expands Hypersonic Testing Hub In Indiana

Credit: DOD

A Systems Engineering Field Activity for the Joint Hypersonics Transition Office (JHTO) was opened in a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony.

U.S. Army Plans To Involve Sea Services In PRSM Development

Credit: Lockheed Martin

The Marine Corps is interested in the Precision Strike Missile and what that technology can bring to the joint force.

Rolls EVTOL Test Rig Breaks Cover In UK

Credit: Reddit

Rolls-Royce confirms that video of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) tiltwing vehicle undergoing tests at Cranfield, England, is the company’s ground research test rig for future electric and hybrid electric aircraft.

Honeywell Acquires Drone Hydrogen Fuel Cell Assets

Credit: Honeywell

Honeywell has acquired assets from Ballard Unmanned Systems, a manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells used to power unmanned aircraft systems.