Defense

Electrification of aircraft engines is only a decade or two away, so thrust providers must be working now to stay relevant by then, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt says.

The Norwegian government has signed off on a contract to purchase five Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. will provide 32 Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters to the country’s navy and coast guard.

Russian Helicopters, part of State Corporation Rostec, delivered its Mi-17V-5 multirole helicopter to the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government of the Republic of Kenya. The rotorcraft was produced by Kazan Helicopters.

Using mass-production, York Space Systems plans to lower the barrier of entry to space.

Japan’s next strategy review to look at ability to strike North Korea; UK and France team up on long-range missile program; Finland pursues F-18 replacement, and the U.S. Navy’s plan to buy more Boeing P-8s.

Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) and Arianespace have moved towards further integration.

Boeing has decided not to participate in the U.S. Air Force’s light-attack flight demonstration, a company spokeswoman says.

Boeing is looking to turn its V-22 Osprey into a mini gunship with a large, forward-firing gun, precision-guided rockets, and possibly even laser weapons.

A prominent conservative think tank is urging the U.S. Air Force to slash its planned buy of Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft to invest more resources in other next-generation capabilities.

The Indian Navy’s three Tupolev Tu-142M long-range maritime patrol aircraft were decommissioned on March 29 after 30,000 hr. of accident-free flying over nearly three decades.

The Philippines’ forthcoming pair of Leonardo AW159 Wildcats will be armed with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Spike NLOS missiles for anti-ship missions.

A review of Japan’s military strategy will consider whether the country should acquire a strike capability in case North Korea miscalculates the seriousness of the U.S. commitment.

The Italian Air Force (IAF) has confirmed that it flew a Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules mobile hospital aircraft to Benina, Libya to evacuate 22 injured members of the Libyan National Army (LNA) to Rome where they are being treated at the Celio Military Hospital. By Oscar Nkala

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Signs point to a coming price and supply chain squeeze for the defense industry.

As the nation’s space mission grows, does the service have enough clout to manage it all?

The U.S. Navy has bumped its P-8A Poseidon procurement objective back up from 109 operational aircraft to the original “warfighting requirement” of 117.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan is set to retire as the head of the F-35 Joint Program Office and be replaced by U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mathias Winter.

The U.S. Marine Corps is considering purchasing turboprop light attack aircraft and expanding its F-5 Tiger fleet to address an uptick in operational training.

The transformative V-22 is driving requirements for the Marine Corps’ next-generation rotorcraft fleet.

The U.S. Air Force has installed a two-star general to oversee Boeing’s fledgling Air Force One replacement.

Two solar-powered NASA planetary mission spacecraft have achieved recent deep-space milestones.

As global superpowers jostle for influence on the African continent, the U.S. military is having to learn to share Djibouti with China.

The UK and France have signed a deal for the concept phase of the development of a next-generation cruise/anti-ship weapon.

Dynetics and General Atomics move to the next phase of a DARPA program to validate air launch and recovery of multiple small unmanned aircraft called Gremlins.