Defense

As Air Force Special Operations Command’s legion of night-flying killers wreak havoc on battlefields around the globe from the AC-130 Stinger II and Spooky gunship, the first up-punched AC-130J Ghostrider armed with a 105-mm cannon has arrived at Hurlburt Field in Florida for developmental testing.

A top U.S. Air Force general has questioned the viability of a new plan being kicked around inside the service to pursue not one but two new aircraft programs to recapitalize the close-air support mission, signaling that Air Force leadership is still cool to the idea.

India will launch the advanced meteorological satellite Insat-3DR later this month in an attempt to improve the country’s weather forecasting and disaster warning capabilities.

An operational demonstration aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson helped determine how best to integrate V-22 Ospreys with other carrier-deck movements.

More details have begun to emerge about the plan of BAE Systems and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to develop a light attack version of the Hawk jet trainer.

India's multinational conglomerate the Mahindra Group is eagerly eyeing aerospace and defence partnership projects in the UAE with a particular focus on Abu Dhabi.

Indonesia should have had 21 reconditioned F-16s by the end of 2015; only eight are in service.

Consensus is that Trump would be more bullish on defense, but Clinton could boost defense spending above Obama administration plans, too.

The decision to declare the Air Force’s F-35A operational close to its target date of Aug. 1 is a triumph for a program with a long history of cost overruns, technological challenges, and schedule delays.

Patricia Sanders, an independent aerospace consultant and retired executive director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, will chair NASA’s seven-member Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, an independent group of experts responsible for advising the agency’s administrator on a range of safety issues.

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s $7.3 billion rejuvenation of the B61, America’s 1960s-vintage thermonuclear bomb, has entered the “production engineering” phase after four years of development work, with the first refurbished unit expected by fiscal 2020.

Italian aircraft manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace quietly flew the first prototype of its Multirole Patrol Aircraft (MPA) in late May.

Building on the success of the government-industry Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) in reducing airline accident rates, the FAA is chartering an Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team (UAST) to address issues raised by growing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations.

South Korean and U.S. officials have begun hammering out details of technological transfers for the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-X fighter program, with Seoul seeking knowhow in such fields as avionics integration and twin engine installations.

The Philippines will receive the first of 10 multi-role rescue vessels (MRRVs) from Japan in a month. The first MRRV, BRP Tubbataha, is undergoing sea trials in Japan.

The idea of using laser weapons against ballistic missiles in their launch phase gains traction as the U.S. Missile Defense Agency prepares to select two flying testbed aircraft to carry its low-power laser demo program into the stratosphere.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is having a difficult time maintaining its traditionally high percentage of research and development spending as the cost of buying, operating and supporting developed weapons claims an ever greater portion of its budget top line.

Italian aerospace firm Piaggio Aerospace plans to shift its focus toward defense after what it calls a contraction in the business aviation market.

“I think the future is optionally manned right now,” said USMC aviation chief Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, speaking about the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program

Researchers associated with NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission propose the seasonal thawing of carbon dioxide frost as the mechanism for pervasive gully features on the Red Planet.

An MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor made its first flight incorporating a flight-critical component built using 3D-printing techniques earlier this month.

South Korea has selected the new Angara 1.2 rocket to lift a high-resolution radar satellite to low Earth orbit in 2020 in a deal that marks the first commercial contract for Russia’s next-generation light launcher.

"Having heard rumors about the B-2, I was absolutely floored when I opened Aviation Week to find a super-detailed foldout of the B-2 rollout. I’ve been a voracious reader of the magazine ever since."

NASA seeks X-plane ideas; Airbus, Dedrone team on counter-UAS; Erickson’s new S-64 rotor blade; NASA tests Pipstrel’s electric propulsion; Skunk Works robot inspects airship hull.

A new breed of microwave-energy weapon designed to systematically fry electronic devices such as computers, radars and radio may be in the cards for the U.S. military arsenal.