Defense

Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first NH90 in an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) configuration to the Swedish military, which now plans to increase the number of aircraft it will buy.

India-based Aequs will supply machined components to Dutch firm Fokker Technologies for assembling Boeing’s Chinook helicopters, which India is also buying.

Through partnerships and investments, defense primes and OEMs are increasingly turning the page away from the old playbook of acquiring and subsuming new technology.

Fighter operators and Pentagon acquisition troops are talking past each other. That can’t end well.

From Aegis Ashore to Pakistani nuclear-capable missiles—a look at some of the latest developments on the missile technology and missile defense front.

The six-nation UCAV demonstrator completed an initial phase in November 2015, but will continue flight trials in 2016 and potentially beyond. In a parallel effort, Britain has just completed a third round of flight tests of its Taranis UCAV demonstrator. And a four-nation effort, led by Germany, is to begin designing an unmanned ISR platform in the spring of 2016.

Directed-energy weapons and thermal management will be key, Northrop Grumman executives say.

Congress's defense spending bill includes funding for 68 Lockheed Martin-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters – 11 more than President Barack Obama requested.

Managers in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations mission directorate are adding some detail to their vague concept of handing off low Earth Orbit (LEO) to the private sector while they move on to the cislunar “proving ground” for Mars missions.

Congress plans to raise its NASA appropriation for fiscal 2016 to $19.285 billion, $1.285 billion more than the agency received in fiscal 2015 and $785 million more than requested.

Airbus Defense and Space has received a firm order for an additional eight aircraft from the French defense procurement agency, the DGA, bringing the total aircraft on order from the French air force to nine.

NASA needs more rigor in the selection and funding of the advanced technologies it pursues to achieve its most challenging goals, an audit by the agency’s IG says.

If innovation is the defense buzzword of 2015, Northrop Grumman is eager to point out its strengths in pushing the boundaries of aerospace technologies.

As debate continues about funding for the future American nuclear ballistic missile-armed SSBN armed force, the U.S. Navy is moving ahead with Trident missile acquisitions.

The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $19.8 million contract, with a potential value of $47.8 million, to develop the replacement inertial navigation system deployed on most Navy combat and support ships.

The U.K.’s new fleet of nine Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will be delivered in the same vanilla configuration as those for the U.S. Navy, ministers have confirmed.

India has successfully launched six Singaporean satellites using its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket.

France’s defense ministry will begin work on three new major space-system developments in the coming year, including an international collaboration with Germany in the area of remote sensing and an operational follow-on to the Elisa signals-intelligence demo.

Japan’s first indigenously made F-35A has begun the manufacturing process on the country’s final assembly and checkout line in Nagoya.

The DOD increased the size of its acquisition workforce from about 126,000 in September 2008 to about 153,000 in March 2015, the GAO says, while questioning whether the new personnel collectively possess all the skills the department needs.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is poised to resume scientific observations this week, including further scrutiny of dozens of mysterious bright spots.

The International Space Station resumed six-person operations Dec. 15 following the successful launch and docking of Russia’s Soyuz TMA-19M crew transport.

NASA has again topped the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service’s annual rankings of federal employers.

India is set to launch six Singapore satellites into space on board its indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on Dec. 16.

The U.S. aerospace manufacturing industry bounced back from an early year slowdown in orders and monthly backlogs to get into position again to break production records this year, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) reported Dec. 15.