Aurora Flight Sciences is flying a Cessna Caravan fitted with a robotic copilot as part of a Darpa program to demonstrate automation that could reduce the crew required to fly existing aircraft.
Lockheed believes the new battlefield necessitates a lower-signature—if not fully stealth—refueling aircraft that moves away from the commercial-derivative tankers of years past.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin Space Systems are troubleshooting the sluggish performance of two propulsion system helium check valves aboard the Juno spacecraft.
An Australian parliamentary committee has called for preparation in case of further delay in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning program, increasing the possibility of the country ordering more Boeing Super Hornets.
An international fleet of unmanned aerial, underwater and surface vehicles is gathered in Scotland for a naval exercise designed to prove unmanned technologies.
The U.S. Navy says it has developed and tested the air show routine the Blue Angels will use when the team takes to the skies with its next aircraft, the F/A-18E Super Hornet, in 2020 or before.
The Japanese defense ministry looks increasingly likely to recommend building an indigenous fighter for service in the 2030s under the designation F-3.
A CNES satellite, in orbit since April, is in the middle of an instrument check phase before attempting to verify Einstein’s theory of general relativity with unprecedented precision—or partially invalidate it.
Now that India has reset the clock on replacing its Ilyushin Il-78MKIs, look to Boeing to enter its 767-based KC-46 tanker and Airbus to try to revive A330 MRTT deal.
Controllers have maneuvered the Jason-2 spacecraft into an orbital slot 162 deg. away from the new Jason-3 satellite, giving weather forecasters and climate researchers a one-two punch.
Planet, a hot San Francisco-based Earth-observation startup that has launched dozens of CubeSat-class spacecraft into low Earth orbit (LEO), will provide daily imagery updates to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Despite significant cost growth and the risk of additional schedule delays, the Pentagon has decided to move ahead with Raytheon’s GPS ground-control system, the Department of Defense announced Oct. 14.
Amid growing interest in private sector human spaceflight, startup Axiom Space is outlining a road map to develop an industrial “space city” in low Earth orbit based on multiple units of its modular habitat concept.
India is weighing a global tender for an aerial tanker to replace its seven Ilyushin Il-78MKIs after scrapping plans to buy six Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transports.
Japan and Britain are assessing the likely performance of an AESA-equipped Meteor in separate but coordinated studies. Expense and development time are also being weighed.
Deemphasis of maneuverability in the 2013 25DMU concept design is one of several signs that the defense ministry’s engineers think Japan’s next fighter should engage its targets at great distance.
