Defense and Space

Stratolaunch conducted the first powered flight of its Talon TA-1 test vehicle, a key step toward supporting regular and reusable hypersonic test capability.

For more information about Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s (AWIN) 2024 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast and other Aviation Week data products, please see: https://pgs.aviationweek.com/forecast

Launch of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon with a more than 6,000-lb. payload from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned for no earlier than mid-March.

The committee found that the defense ministry had been putting off making major program decisions.

The possibility of future GCAP exports dominated a March 7 meeting by the Komeito Party’s Diplomacy and Security Investigation Committee.

Astra Space will go private by accepting a recently lowered buyout bid from its co-founders and top executives.

The announcements came during a visit by Defense Minister Bill Blair to CFB Trenton, the main operating base for the CE-145C Vigilance and a hub for CC-330s.

For the second time in less than two years, the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey fleet will return to flight after a grounding with a patchwork of mitigations.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has unveiled a concept for a new armed UAV at Drone Show Korea 2024.

Talks to acquire troubled aerostructures supplier Spirit Aerosystems hold big implications for Boeing—and Airbus. Our editors break it down.

The astronauts graduated from a two-year training period in a ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on March 5.

The flight demonstration is one of six with NASA backing.

L3Harris Technologies has picked Maxar Space Systems to design and build 18 spacecraft for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program.

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will reduce its buy of Lockheed Martin F-35s in the soon-to-be-released fiscal 2025 budget request.

GE Aerospace will become a standalone company April 2.

The USAF may have to convert some F-35s with outdated avionics to combat roles due to the ongoing, “deeply concerning” delays with software certification.

The U.S. Air Force is evaluating bids from Airbus and Boeing for a planned replacement of the KC-135 ahead of a future tanker.

Sweden has ended its more than two-century-long policy of nonmilitary alignment by joining NATO.

The U.S. Air Force wants the Raytheon Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) to transition to production ahead of any tests of the missile.

A new U.S. Army cross-functional team will be created to usher in a new stratospheric layer of aerial sensing platforms.

Chile's decision to ban Israeli companies from taking part in the FIDAE Airshow will damage bilateral relations, Israel’s ambassador to Chile says.

Baltimore-based Wave Engine Corp. has successfully flown a UAV from a standing start on the runway powered by a valveless pulsejet, also known as a wave engine.

Reengining the C-17 and adding low-cost connectivity upgrades emerge as top priorities for Air Mobility Command.

The project was eclipsed by private spacecraft refueling efforts.

The Pentagon will lift its more than 90-day grounding of the Bell Boeing V-22 tiltrotor fleet, the head of a House committee investigating the aircraft announced March 6.