A glide bomb equipped with a new seeker destroyed a full-scale ship in the Gulf of Mexico test range for the second time on April 28, moving a technology for a new class of air-launched weapons closer to fielding, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory says.
Aviation Week editors make sense of recommended reductions to the number of F-35 and F-15EX fighters the U.S. Air Force plan to buy in the coming years.
The F-35 program is struggling to find enough funding to fully stand up and resource the jet’s depots because the Pentagon’s habit of underfunding the maintenance facilities while expecting cost reductions in contract negotiations is not playing out as expected, the program executive says.
Northrop Grumman is progressing on workforce absenteeism issues that plagued its F-35 program over the winter, and otherwise does not see particular problems elsewhere in its portfolio due to ongoing inflation, labor, pandemic or war-related issues, the large prime’s chief executive said April 28.
Boeing on April 28 unveiled the first T-7A Red Hawk trainer for the U.S. Air Force, though the aircraft will remain at the company’s St. Louis facility for more ground and flight tests before being handed over to the service.
President Joe Biden on April 28 requested $33 billion from Congress for aid to Ukraine, a dramatic increase from ongoing spending to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia, and specifically highlights a need for anti-aircraft and advanced air defense systems.
Science missions using the Boeing 747SP-based Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy airborne observatory will end in September 2022 after the U.S. National Academies assessed the science output no longer justifies its operating costs.
Despite the Russia-Ukraine war and volatility in the stock market, business aircraft activity at Textron Aviation has remained strong during the first quarter of 2022, company officials say.
Fresh off comments about problems with rocket motor supply and the need to make small, strategic acquisitions for advanced aerospace technology, Raytheon Technologies has invested in custom-made rocket engine-maker Firehawk Aerospace.
Aircraft Industries, the manufacturer of the Let family of turboprop regional aircraft, is now back in Czech hands after being acquired from its Russian owners.
South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee has greenlit the KRW760 billion ($600 million) purchase of Raytheon SM-6 missiles for the navy’s new KDX III Batch II destroyers.
The Japan Air Self Defense Force has confirmed that it is currently conducting air-to-air refueling compatibility tests with the Royal Australian Air Force.
NASA’s SpaceX-launched Crew-4 Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station late April 27, delivering four U.S. and European astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.
Roscosmos has presented an updated version of the future Sfera multi-satellite orbital constellation after the Russian government approved it in early April.
The U.S. Marine Corps and the White House are starting the integration of the new Sikorsky VH-92A presidential helicopter after declaring it reached initial operational capability (IOC), though the Navy says full operational capability could be delayed without fixes to a troubled electronics system.
The U.S. Air Force expects its future Next Generation Air Dominance sixth-generation aircraft to cost multiple hundreds of millions per copy, and the service is already expecting cost offsets to come with open systems architecture and other components that are government and not contractor owned.
