Defense

The U.S. Air Force plans to launch two new unmanned combat air vehicles in the fiscal 2023 budget request, the service confirmed on Dec. 6. The aircraft would be designed to operate as unmanned partners to manned fighters, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35, F-22 and the future Next Generation Air Dominance system, Air Force officials say.

After reaching orbit on its fourth try from Alaska, startup Astra Space will debut commercial launch services from Florida beginning in January.

Intuitive Machines (IM) has begun construction of a $40 million, 115,000-sq.-ft. lunar production and operations center at the Houston Spaceport to support plans to establish an annual cadence of commercial missions to the lunar surface.

Jill Albertelli to President-Military Engines of Pratt & Whitney; Matthew Bromberg is leaving company to pursue other opportunities.

The agreement will see South Africa use China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System for geophysics, space science, geodetic surveys and other research.

Using a twin model of the flight rover, engineers are preparing for a post-landing egress test.

Adversary air operator Draken International is to purchase F-16s from Norway to support its U.S. training contracts.

The space telescope set to launch in 2023 has been built to address two of the most important questions in cosmology today: How did the universe originate and why is it expanding at an accelerating rate?

Opposing hypersonic glide missiles developed by North Korea and China is crucial both militarily and politically to South Korea.

A likely B-21 debut in 2022 could spur a wave of B-2 and B-1 retirements.

Senior military leaders are joining together to warn Capitol Hill that there will be readiness problems if an appropriations bill is not approved.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Ronald Reagan National Defense Forum that the Pentagon is actively working to make it easier to land contracts and produce new, needed technologies at a time the Defense Department is desperate for innovation.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Dec. 4 that the department “is committed to ensuring Ukraine has what it needs to protect its sovereign territory.”

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The U.S. Air Force’s entire fleet had a mission-capable rate of 71.53% in fiscal 2021, a slight drop from 2020’s total rate of 72.74%.

The debris was forecast to pass as close as 1.86 mi. to the ISS.

The company acknowledged it had received a warning of noncompliance from the New York Stock Exchange.

The SLS is a cornerstone of NASA efforts to return to the Moon with human explorers and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.

The contract is significant for both countries and is France’s largest-ever arms export deal.

The Ka-62 variant started flight trials in 2017.

The combined company, to be traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange, ostensibly will have a pro forma enterprise value of $974 million.

A historical contract for the acquisition of 80 Rafale F4 by the United Arab Emirates has been signed.

A demonstration of Raytheon’s thruster valve and nozzle will inform final design of Aerojet Rocketdyne DACS for the MDA’s future NGI.

The service wants its systems to be smaller, more portable and more durable so that they can be deployed.

GOVT OF CANADA selected SAAB (Gripen) and LOCKHEED MARTIN (F-35) as qualified bidders to supply 88 replacement fighter jets to RCAF from 2025