Defense

The State Department has approved the long-awaited proposed sales of Boeing F-15s and F/A-18s to two Persian Gulf states.

the Pentagon is hosting a “Hard Kill Challenge” for industry and government entities to demonstrate novel approaches for swatting small UAVs.

Malaysia has no plans to economize by buying Chinese combat aircraft, despite a budget squeeze that is forcing the Southeast Asian nation to defer equipment purchases.

Africa is a key market for Airbus Defence and Space. Jon Lake explores the company's current situation and looks at opportunities within the continent.

After years of declining research efforts, defense primes and aerospace OEMs are repositioning to become the perfect partners for startups via corporate venture capital projects.

While the flight needs of the U.S. Army and Navy could not be more dissimilar, the expectation for positive results through simulation and training upgrades is common.

China's Casic says its KZ-11 can hurl 1 metric ton to a 700-km (430-mi.) sun-synchronous orbit, exactly the same that CASC attributed last year to Long March 6.

Aurora Flight Sciences and Sikorsky complete autonomy demonstrations under Phase 2 of DARPA’s ALIAS cockpit-automation program. Both are now bidding for Phase 3, to mature selected technologies for transition to potential customers—military and commercial.

In this week’s Washington Outlook: Heritage Foundation on military options for new administration; Trump may back bilateral space ties with China; and the flood of new UAV pilots.

The Australian P-8 Poseidon is due to arrive in November, heralding a decade of change.

The House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), has cautioned the incoming Donald Trump administration against raising the defense budget much beyond current levels.

A trio of U.S., Russian and European astronauts launched to the International Space Station Nov. 17 for what promises to be a demanding six months aboard the orbiting science lab.

Columbia, Maryland-based Applied Defense Systems will develop cloud-based software for automated orbit analysis, maneuver planning and collision avoidance for OneWeb.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas , who tops President-Elect Donald Trump’s short list to lead the Defense Department, is urging the U.S. Air Force to retire the aging B-52 bomber and instead buy enough copies of Northrop Grumman’s next-generation B-21.

The deployment will take place shortly after the U.K. declares its initial operational capability (IOC) for maritime operations from the ship, which is currently scheduled for the end of 2020.

If the Trump administration endorses the move, this “space situational awareness” function long filled by the U.S. Air Force could be taken over by the FAA in 5-6 years, the agency says.

Lockheed Martin could soon begin ramping up production of the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile in Troy, Alabama.

Britain’s Royal Air Force is planning to create an eighth front-line Eurofighter Typhoon squadron in the early 2020s.

The U.S. State Department has approved the Foreign Military Sale of up to 26 Certifiable Predator B UAVs for the UK’s Protector program.

A New Zealand program to replace six Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime patrollers should be completed by 2026, according to an acquisition plan published on Nov. 16.

India’s Rustom-II UAV successfully completed its first flight on Nov. 16, “meeting all expectations,” a defense ministry official says.

The U.S. Air Force is looking to introduce more automation into its UAV operations to deal with growing manpower challenges.

Embraer has begun negotiations with its metalworkers union for a temporary employment suspension affecting up to 2,000 workers in Brazil.

The Trump administration’s stance toward Russia, uncertain Pentagon allocations and geopolitical surpise could roil the U.S. defense industry in 2017.

Two companies offering airborne aggressor services vie for 10-year contract from Canadian Armed Forces.