Military air safety officials have described as “unsustainable” a decision not to install an airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) on the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) fleet of Eurofighter Typhoons.
After canceling the Euro Hawk program in 2013 because of concerns about the UAV’s ability to fly in civil airspace, Germany may instead use a related Northrop Grumman platform, the MQ-4C Triton, as an airborne signals intelligence gatherer.
In an effort to address potential pilot shortages in the future, NASA is conducting research on the operating concepts and ground stations that would be needed for single-pilot airliners.
Aviation Week editors Graham Warwick and Guy Norris discuss with Joe Anselmo what the future looks like from the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference.
Lockheed Martin is hoping that the maturing threat of hypersonic re-entry vehicles from ambitious adversaries will spark interest in the company’s dormant plan to design a more powerful booster for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) air defense system.
The U.S. Air Force has chosen RAF Lakenheath in the U.K. as its first base for the F-35A in Europe, and announced a significant upheaval in the USAF’s basing structure.
China regularly cites rising personnel and training costs as the reason for its growing defense budget; the buildup of a professional noncommissioned officer corps is a visible sign of such cost pressures. However, the country is investing in a broad program of advanced weapons development as it ratchets up military activities, in its “near abroad” and globally.
To address new and emerging threats, the Defense Department is finalizing its long-range research and development plan, focusing on technologies that are flexible and will not pose procurement and cost issues.
Boeing delivered 179 aircraft and five satellites in 2014, representing a relatively strong year despite continuing cutbacks in U.S. military and space spending.
The U.S. Air Force and SpaceX are now targeting midyear for full certification of the launch upstart’s Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket to loft the most precious Pentagon payloads into orbit.
AAR, a provider of aviation services has been awarded a five-year, approximately $72 million Complete Logistics Support (CLS) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract to sustain a fleet of C-130H aircraft on behalf of the Afghan Air Force.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has slipped the launch of its fifth commercial resupply services mission to the international space station to Jan. 9 at the earliest following an issue with a thrust vector control actuator which stopped the countdown seconds before liftoff on Jan 6 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Although the Lockheed Martin F-35 project will continue to dominate the direction of the global fighter market—and is slated for its operational debut with the U.S. Marines this year—new fighters in China and Russia are also nearing their in-service milestones.
Going Concerns, a new column in Aviation Week, monitors the paradigm shift in the A&D sector. No one can know precisely where things are going, but we’ve seen enough before to know we’re heading somewhere new.
The procurement strategy for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s new Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle likely will be released with the fiscal 2016 budget plan.
The Royal Air Force of Oman is believed to have ordered Robinson R44 helicopters to fulfil training needs with its air force. The Omanis follow the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) who ordered eight Robinson R44 Raven II helicopters, becoming only the fifth military operator of the type.
