The new battlefield necessitates a short-takeoff, lower-signature—if not fully stealthy—refueling aircraft that moves away from the commercial-derivative tankers of years past, Lockheed Martin says.
The next U.S. Air Force fighter will be designed to outmatch so-called sixth-generation warplanes that Moscow and Beijing are already researching for introduction in the 2030s and beyond.
The U.S. Navy has entered into a new three-year contract arrangement with BAE Systems worth up to $600 million that will allow the company to significantly ramp up production of its laser-guided rocket kits.
Dave Vos, head of the Project Wing drone delivery initiative, is leaving Google’s advanced research arm “to pursue other opportunities,” parent company Alphabet confirms.
A Robinson R44 light helicopter modified to electric power has completed initial flights, including hovering and a 5-min. cruise at 400 ft. and speeds up to 80 kt.
An Australian parliamentary panel calls for “a hedging strategy to address the risk of a capability gap resulting from further delays to the acquisition of the F-35A.”
After almost two decades of development, the GPS-based Joint Precision Approach and Landing System is on the final stretch to deployment on U.S. Navy ships that will operate the F-35 JSF and unmanned MQ-25 Carrier-Based Aerial Refueling System
After ditching its Common Vertical Lift Support Platform program in 2013 and shying away from two Black Hawk plans, the Air Force is about to try again to replace the vintage UH-1N Huey.
Textron AirLand has begun production of its self-funded, light-attack Scorpion jet ahead of a planned first flight of the production-representative version later this year, though the company is still searching for a buyer.
Airbus Helicopters and French naval ship builder DCNS are to partner on the development of an unmanned helicopter to meet an upcoming French navy requirement.
Textron’s Scorpion jet has completed its first weapons exercise, demonstrating the aircraft’s close air support mission capability through the employment of three weapon systems.
Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary is offering the ViDAR sensor-carrying derivative of the ScanEagle unmanned air system to meet a U.S. Coast Guard requirement for a shipborne UAV to operate off its National Security Cutters.
In this week’s roundup: India buys Russian SAMs; Taiwan begins production of a Patriot-like air defense system; U.S. Air Force prepares to send a powerful telescope to Australia; and Malaysia gets an up-close look at Typhoon fighters.
The U.S. Air Force plans to begin re-winging 235 Boeing F-15 Eagle air superiority fighters starting with initial production deliveries in fiscal 2022.
The European Space Agency was still waiting to hear from the ExoMars mission’s Schiaparelli lander as of 9 p.m. local time Oct. 19, while the trace gas orbiter seemed to have succeeded in entering Mars’ orbit.
