France plans to compensate for A400M availability by moving up the acquisition of Airbus MRTT aerial refueling tankers. The air force is also weighing a plan to renovate part of its existing C-130H fleet and to purchase new or used C-130s to meet urgent operational needs for transport and refueling.
Dassault Aviation has asked its supplier base to increase production based on an anticipated tripling of output by late 2018—a response to sudden interest in the Rafale outside of France, somewhat of a gamble for the French manufacturer.
A330 MRTTs will be available until at least 2025 as newly built aircraft, with the A330-200 staying in production for the purpose, says Airbus. This follows studies of an MRTT adaptation of the A330-200’s successor, the A330-800.
Very few details about Northrop Grumman's Long-Range Strike Bomber have been released officially, but enough is known to make high-confidence estimates of some of the project’s key features.
The U.S. House and Senate armed services committees have reached a new accord on the fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill that trims nearly $5 billion from the bill’s original total.
Lockheed Martin expects a full program of 134 F-16 upgrades will fit into a cash-strapped South Korean modernization project that has been delayed again.
While the U.S. Marine Corps seems to be generally on the right track with the acquisition of its Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV), there is some risk, the GAO says.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center will provide safety training and other support services to the Houston Airport System under a Space Act Agreement signed Nov. 4.
The Spanish government has given the green light to the country’s defense ministry to purchase General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper medium altitude, long endurance UAVs.
The French and U.K. governments have marked the fifth anniversary of the Lancaster House defense treaties by signing an agreement on the creation of missile centers of excellence.
Fernando Alonso, who took over the division in March, says he and his team have stabilized the industrial layout of the A400M, paving the way for increased rates of production and focusing to bring tactical capabilities on the aircraft on stream.
Leaders representing all eight coast guard agencies of the Arctic nations signed a joint statement officially establishing the Arctic Coast Guard Forum.
Australia, finding itself unaccustomedly close to a major theater of potential hostilities, is inclined to offer more support to the U.S., including access to its territory.
The head of Airbus Defense and Space’s military aircraft division says that the aerial refueling of helicopters by the company’s A400M airlifter is now the subject of a research project after admitting it will be impossible to achieve in the aircraft’s current configuration.
This F-35A completed the first three airborne gunfire bursts from its internal four-barrel 25mm Gatling gun system embedded in the left wing of the aircraft.
