Defense

AAR said Aug. 9 it has received clearance from the U.S. Air Force to work on the $909 million Landing Gear Performance-Based Logistics One program.

Vector Space Systems conducted a second suborbital test of a prototype of its Vector-R small-satellite launch vehicle on Aug. 3.

The U.S. Army could respond to Russia’s deployment of a treaty-violating ground-launched cruise missile by fielding a new type of land-based hypersonic missile.

Battelle has developed a new design that does away with the wearable backpack associated with last year’s model of the anti-drone gun.

The Swiss Air Force is looking to shorten the training path to the front line for its future pilots by almost two years.

MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates subsidiary Space Systems Loral has signed a contract to provide a “transformational” satellite to Hughes Network Systems.

The German defense ministry is leasing a pair of PZL-Mielec M-28 twin-turboprop utility aircraft to support paratroop training.

The US State Department has approved the sale of twelve (12) Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft and weapons, associated training, spare parts, aviation and ground support equipment, hangar facilities and infrastructural support to the Government of Nigeria. Oscar Nkala reports.

UK Royal Air Force sees new training fleet as opportunity to increase pilot throughput.

HOUSTON—A U.S. Army initiative slated for launch aboard SpaceX’s 12th NASA-contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station will evaluate the performance of a low-altitude, electro-optical small satellite as a direct provider of overhead reconnaissance to soldiers deployed in tactical theaters

Boeing and General Dynamics Land Systems have teamed up to equip the U.S. Army’s Stryker armored fighting vehicle with missiles, guns and lasers.

Britain’s new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is set to enter its homeport of Portsmouth for the first time later this month.

Rockwell Collins continues not to comment on an alleged offer to be acquired by United Technologies Corp. (UTC), officials told the packed Jefferies 2017 Industrials Conference in New York.

Organizations representing manufacturers of small unmanned air vehicles and those operating them have criticized a UK government report into the risks associated with collisions between the systems and manned aircraft.

The second Electron rocket is due to roll out to its launch pad in about eight weeks, company founder Peter Beck says. “If test flight two is good and we feel we don’t have a lot more to learn, then we’ll jump into commercial operations on flight three, for sure."

India’s seven-satellite regional navigation system will be linked to ground-based atomic clocks in the country.

Classified guidance sent by the Pentagon to certain military bases detailing how to counter small unmanned aircraft systems appears aimed at addressing concerns over whether and how personnel can deal with the growing threat posed by commercial drones.

North Korea might have demonstrated an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, but the Pentagon says Pyongyang still hasn’t proven other critical elements required for accurate delivery of a nuclear warhead.

The U.S. Army believes the F-35 has potential as an airborne sensor for integrated air and missile defense.

The reach of a fully realized technology transfer program can be vast, enabling leaps in learning and the restructuring of organizations.

Excerpts from Aviation Week’s recent podcast debate between an F-35 pilot and a long-time critic of the program.

The technologies that the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency needs to continue fulfilling its missions will require it to forge unprecedented business ties to a commercial data-collection and analysis industry that has no interest or desire in working behind classified doors.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has cleared a development milestone.

The impact of integrating directed-energy weapons onto existing fighters and bombers will be the first area to be studied under the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s seven-year, $409 million Next-Generation Thermal, Power and Controls program.

Over the past decade, the Senegalese military has been immersed in an unprecedented modernisation effort, which has allowed for a complete overhaul of the Army equipment and Navy fleet. Although the Senegalese Air Force (SAF) has also benefited, it still has a number of outstanding requirements, which Dakar is now moving ahead to fulfil. Erwan de Cherisey reports.