Defense

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Army recently wrapped up more than two weeks of testing high-powered microwave systems to down small drones, with one of three entrants fully meeting the test’s goals and another showing promise.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
Less than a week after their safe return to Earth, NASA’s four SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts offered a positive assessment of a growing workload aboard the International Space Station and the level of mutual trust and camaraderie among the astronauts and cosmonauts who serve despite Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
Space

By Brian Everstine
Despite increased interest in hypersonic systems on Capitol Hill—with some lawmakers looking to increase funding for individual efforts—the U.S. Navy is not looking to accelerate its Conventional Prompt Strike weapon because of continued delays in upgrades for its new attack submarines.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Navy already appears to be wavering on its plan to divest five squadrons of Boeing EA-18G electronic attack jets over the next three years, with the squadrons remaining in demand and a lack of capacity in carrier-based units to pick up the slack.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
A range-boosting combined cycle propulsion system and a seeker for moving targets have been tested for an anti-ship version of the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile, U.S. Army officials say.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
The UK has agreed to mutual defense pacts with Finland and Sweden that would see the UK help defend the Nordic nations if attacked.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
UK space startup Orbex has unveiled a fully completed prototype of the company’s Prime satellite launcher.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
An engine upgrade road map will be prepared as the U.S. Army decides the winner of the competition to develop the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, with a possible spinoff to a re-engining program for the H-47 Chinook fleet.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
Satellite air launch company Virgin Orbit has secured an agreement with conversion specialist L3 Harris Technologies to acquire two Boeing 747-400 airframes to support growth plans for additional launch capacity.
Commercial Space

By Guy Norris
Lockheed Martin-General Motors lunar vehicle designed to transit moon autonomously for prepositioned rendezvous with incoming missions.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has every intention of leveraging commercial partnerships as it plans a return to the Moon with human explorers, according to those at the agency closely involved in laying the groundwork.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Space Force is overhauling how the military tests its satellites, with the goal of speeding up the process, relying more on digital modeling to represent new threats, and growing a more skilled workforce to meet that need.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Ukraine is hoping to become a “trustworthy partner” to the West on future space projects, the former chairman of the country’s space agency says.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S., the European Union and multiple other nations on May 10 formally attributed cyber attacks against Viasat’s KA-SAT network on Feb. 24 to Russia, claiming Moscow attempted to disrupt Ukrainian command and control as the invasion began.
Commercial Space

By Kim Minseok
The South Korean Air Force is preparing to purchase 60 additional fighters to replace older aircraft five years sooner than planned. The service operates about 100 F-4s and F-5s. It plans to operate the F-4s until 2024 and the F-5s until 2031, which would keep the older aircraft in use for more than 40 years.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
U.S. launch startup Astra Space has teamed up with the UK’s SaxaVord Spaceport as a potential new location for satellite launches.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
The highly anticipated debut of the WorldView Legion high-resolution constellation from Maxar Technologies is slipping again, this time to September, as the Colorado company works through a test configuration anomaly, executives announced late May 9.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
The concept unveiling on the first day of the Modern Day Marine exhibition in Washington DC builds on the STOL technology originally developed by GA-ASI for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Sikorsky is ramping up production of the U.S. Marine Corps’ new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter as the program approaches a full-rate decision next year, and the company is touting the digital manufacturing used to build the aircraft in its bid for the U.S. Army’s next generation of helicopters.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet has flown with a pre-production version of the Raytheon APG-79(V)4 radar, the company says.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Michael Bruno
The U.S. government’s delayed spending measure for the current fiscal year led to a surprising swing in fortunes for military radar and legacy avionic supplier Rada Electronics Industries, with the Israeli company’s net loss for the first quarter of 2022 disappointing shareholders.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
The UK Defense Ministry will launch a pair of CubeSats on the first planned horizontal launch from a UK spaceport as early as this summer.
Space

By Garrett Reim
Xona Space Systems has finished environmental testing of its Huginn demonstrator satellite ahead of its planned May 25 launch on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare mission.
Commercial Space

By Thierry Dubois
With its first launch in the offing, Vega C is to start a series of key and long-awaited evolutions in Arianespace’s offering.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
French industry launches new promotion effort to hire young production workers amidst concern low interest may hamper production ramp-up.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain