U.S. Hypersonic Missile Fails In First Test Of Production Booster

By Steve Trimble Jun 30, 2022
A common hypersonic weapon for the U.S. Army and Navy has suffered a second straight test failure.
Missile Defense & Weapons
Singapore To Get First A3R MRTTs By Year’s End
The first Airbus A330 multirole tanker transport upgraded with an automatic refueling system will be delivered to the Republic of Singapore Air Force by year’s end, becoming the first air arm to possess such technology.
andy.savoie@av… Thu, 06/30/2022 - 17:35
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China Completes Mapping Of Mars

By Chen Chuanren Jun 30, 2022
After nearly two years in the orbit of Mars, China’s Tianwen-1 has completed imagery mapping of the red planet.
Space
NASA Launches Search For Sustainable Airliner X-Plane Demo
NASA has launched its hunt for a large-scale experimental aircraft to demonstrate the airframe configuration and technologies for a sustainable single-aisle-class airliner that could enter service by the mid-2030s.
andy.savoie@av… Thu, 06/30/2022 - 16:32
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Sweden Signs GlobalEye Order, Adds Options For Two More
Saab plans to deliver two of the Bombardier Global 6000-derived surveillance systems in 2027 to to the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration, the company says.
steve.trimble@… Thu, 06/30/2022 - 16:26
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Bye Cites Progress On Certification Plans For eFlyer Trainer
After disruptions and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bye Aerospace and the FAA are finalizing certification plans for the eFlyer 2 electric trainer, keeping the company on course to have the first electric aircraft certified under Part 23 Amendment 64 airworthiness regulations.
andy.savoie@av… Thu, 06/30/2022 - 15:00
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U.S. Astronaut To Fly On Soyuz To Space Station
Tracy Caldwell Dyson is likely to be the third U.S. astronaut to fly aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station under a new crew seat exchange agreement to be signed by NASA and Roscosmos. 
andy.savoie@av… Wed, 06/29/2022 - 17:50
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House Appropriations Committee Backs NASA Budget Increase

By Mark Carreau Jun 29, 2022
The House Appropriations Committee has advanced a $25.45 billion 2023 NASA budget proposal to the full House, which if enacted by the House and Senate would amount to a $1.4 billion increase over 2022, but less than the $25.97 billion requested by President Biden in March.
Budget, Policy & Operations
Delft University Research Shows Flying V Scales Into Airliner Family
Researchers with the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology have designed a three-member family of Flying-V aircraft to demonstrate that the next-generation concept scales.
mark.nensel@in… Wed, 06/29/2022 - 16:36
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U.S. Sending Two More F-35 Squadrons To Europe

By Brian Everstine Jun 29, 2022
The U.S. is deploying two more F-35A squadrons to Europe and stationing F-15s in Poland as part of a surge in the region in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced during a June 29 NATO summit.
Budget, Policy & Operations
White House Lifts Policy Ban On New Weapons Sales To Turkey
A senior Biden administration official has endorsed Turkey’s plans to modernize its large fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s.
steve.trimble@… Wed, 06/29/2022 - 14:44
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U.S. Army Links Ramjet PRSM To Future Mid-Range Capability
The U.S. Army has identified a future ramjet-rocket version of the Precision Strike Missile as the long-term solution for the Mid-Range Capability system in the long-range precision fires arsenal. 
steve.trimble@… Wed, 06/29/2022 - 14:03
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Canada Starts Finalizing Requirements For Mobile Air Defense

By Steve Trimble Jun 29, 2022
The Canadian government has launched the definition phase of a project to field a mobile Ground-Based Air Defense system later in the decade. 
Missile Defense & Weapons

Lockheed, Northrop Reducing Risk On Bids For New Missile Interceptor

By Jen DiMascio Jun 28, 2022
Contractors are continuing to lay groundwork for their bids for the next U.S. national missile defense program, the Next Generation Interceptor.
Missile Defense & Weapons
ULA Plans To Fly Last Atlas V In Late 2025
With its new Vulcan rocket on track to debut late this year or in early 2023, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is aiming to end Atlas V launch services in late 2025, ULA clarified following a June 28 press conference where the company erroneously said Atlas V would be retired in late 2024. 
andy.savoie@av… Tue, 06/28/2022 - 21:50
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U.S. Army Awards TITAN Prototype Contracts To Palantir, Raytheon
The U.S. Army on June 28 awarded contracts to Raytheon Technologies and Palantir to create a prototype for its Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node.
andy.savoie@av… Tue, 06/28/2022 - 21:31
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New Acquisitions Chief Calls Space Force Role In Tac ISR 'Silly'

By Steve Trimble Jun 28, 2022
The U.S. Space Force should avoid duplicating the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance resources of the National Reconnaissance Office for tactical needs, the newly confirmed head of space acquisitions says. 
Space

Virgin Orbit Targeting September For First UK Launch

By Irene Klotz Jun 28, 2022
Virgin Orbit is targeting September for the first of two launches this year from the UK’s new spaceport in Cornwall, a mission that will mark the first rocket launch from British soil and the first commercial launch from Western Europe.
Commercial Space

Turkey Drops Opposition To Finland, Sweden Joining NATO

By Steve Trimble Jun 28, 2022
Turkish President Recep Erdogan on June 28 reversed his opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, allowing the Scandinavian countries a clear path to joining the transatlantic alliance at a moment of heightened security concerns over Russia’s four-month-old war with Ukraine.
Budget, Policy & Operations
AFRL Modifies THOR High Power Microwave System
When the Air Force Research Laboratory sent its Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder system downrange for an overseas assessment, the lab’s engineers back home did not want to sit still and wait for the system to come home, so they got to work on upgrades.
andy.savoie@av… Tue, 06/28/2022 - 18:59
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USAF Wants Tanker Upgrades As It Looks To Stealth, Autonomy For KC-Z
The U.S. Air Force wants to modify its Boeing KC-135s and KC-46s in a new effort that the service says is independent of the KC-Y “bridge tanker” program it started last year, but now says is looking less likely to become a competition.
andy.savoie@av… Tue, 06/28/2022 - 18:19
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S. Korea’s KF-21 Finishes Ground Tests, Moves Toward July First Flight
Korea Aerospace Industries has completed a range of ground tests for its KF-21 Boramae fighter aircraft, paving the way for its first flight in July.
andy.savoie@av… Tue, 06/28/2022 - 17:31
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Four-Month Space Station Cargo Mission Ends

By Mark Carreau Jun 28, 2022
Northrop Grumman’s 17th NASA-contracted Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station departed early June 28, ending a four-month stay that included a successful demonstration of the commercial freighter’s ability to reboost the outpost.
Space

Capstone Launches To Assess Lunar Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit

By Mark Carreau Jun 28, 2022
NASA’s lunar Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment small satellite successfully launched from Mahia, New Zealand, early June 28 U.S. time.
Space

U.S. Army Awards Sikorsky $2.28B Contract For Black Hawks

By Brian Everstine Jun 27, 2022
The U.S. Army on June 27 awarded Sikorsky a $2.28 billion contract for 120 H-60M Black Hawks, the 10th and final multiyear contract for the helicopters.
Aircraft & Propulsion