Defense and Space

The U.S. Air Force did not back up its proposal to retire older Block 20 F-22s sufficiently, the Government Accountability Office argues in a new report.

LOCKHEED MARTIN delivered the 2,700th C-130 Hercules.

FDH DEFENSE AFTERMARKET was formed by FDH Aero after acquisition of UNICAL DEFENSE (military aircraft aftermarket parts and logistics).

The U.S. Air Force is close to an agreement with Boeing on the E-7A Wedgetail program, after cost disagreements derailed the program for months.

Bombardier has its mojo back. The company is consistently profitable, with strong demand for its business jets.

A prototype of the T-38 Talon supersonic jet trainer made its first flight on April 10, 1959, from Edwards AFB, California.

Aviation Week is increasing the frequency of the Space Digest from monthly to bi-weekly, bringing you even more news, analysis and insight.

Kongsberg has begun marketing a mobile version of Nasams, which has enjoyed strong demand in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. and U.S. uncrewed systems company AEVEX have signed a memorandum geared toward the manufacturing of UAS.

South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development and Korea Aerospace Industries are in early studies for an electronic-attack variant of the twin-seat KF-21.

Airbus Helicopters has begun flight testing of a new configuration of the NH90 battlefield transport helicopter developed for France's special forces.

French developer Survey Copter is looking to bring its CAPA-X vertical-takeoff-and-landing, fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) to market by the end of 2025.

Rocket Lab will provide 10 Electron launches to deploy an Earth observation network for Japan’s Synspective, which is building an SAR constellation.

The service is exploring the future of narrowband satellite communications as its legacy Mobile User Objective System approaches the end of its life span.

The Space Force has awarded contracts to Blue Origin, CACI International, General Atomics and Viasat to develop space laser-communication terminal prototypes.

France’s Defense Ministry has formed a pact with the country’s drone industry in a bid to establish sovereign capabilities in sub-150-kg UAS and payloads.

SpaceX is sidelining a Falcon 9 rocket for additional inspections following a rare launch abort at engine ignition.

Lockheed Martin replaced Paul Lemmo as Sikorsky top executive, promoting Richard Benton from a division of Missiles and Fire Control Rotary and Mission Systems.

Boeing passed up bidding on a planned commercial variant of NASA’s Space Launch System Moon rocket for the U.S. Space Force’s NSSL Phase 3 program.

European missile manufacturer MBDA has paired advanced anti-armor missiles with uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), enabling targets to be struck beyond line of sight.

Lockheed Martin F-35s will become more expensive over the next four years, with flyaway prices rising 16-18% depending on the variant.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says the budget plan for maintaining its fleet is “not executable” and needs to be fixed now.

DARPA has awarded Redwire a contract, as part of the agency’s Otter program, to be the prime mission integrator for a very low-Earth orbit spacecraft.

Belgium has ordered the military version of Airbus’ H145 utility helicopter to help modernize the fleets of its military and law enforcement agencies.

The tender moves the 5.8-metric ton Light Combat Helicopter, also known as Prachand, closer to a long-awaited order for full-rate production.