The 2.8-metric-ton-class aircraft would be a clean-sheet design aimed at meeting the UK Ministry of Defense’s rotary-wing unmanned air system (RWUAS) requirements.
The fiscal 2022 spending request forwarded to Congress on May 28 proposes fewer units of aircraft across all fleets, including fighters; mobility; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and rotorcraft.
The service’s fiscal 2022 budget request includes $65.5 billion for operations and maintenance, $21.3 billion for procurement and $12.8 billion for research, development, test and evaluation.
The U.S. Air Force’s $156.3 billion budget request for fiscal 2022 marks a 2.3% increase over the previous year, and includes funding to buy 48 Lockheed Martin F-35As.
The Philippines is set to take delivery of its first pair of Turkish Aerospace Industries T129 ATAK gunships in September, after the U.S. approved export of the rotorcraft’s engines.
In a policy reversal from a year ago, the head of U.S. Transportation Command will support the Air Force’s plan to start retiring the Boeing KC-135 fleet in order to invest the proceeds from operational costs into KC-46 procurement.
The UK’s Tempest future combat air system initiative could generate more than 20,000 jobs and pump £26 billion ($37 billion) into the economy between 2021 and 2050, suggests an independent review of the program.
The UK Ministry of Defense has opted for Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-to-Ground Missile rather than MBDA’s Brimstone as the primary weapon for its new AH-64E Apache attack helicopter fleet.
The trinational Future Combat Air System team is considering various arrangements between the New Generation Fighter (NGF) and its associated remote carriers, aiming to 2027 for first flight of the demonstrators.
Having identified a solution to issues that have so far prevented the successful airborne recovery of an unmanned aircraft under DARPA’s Gremlins program, Dynetics plans to resume flight tests in the fall.