Defense

With nearly $1.8 million in private donations, a pair of Harvard University scientists has unveiled a project to use civilian science observatories and instruments to scout for unidentified aerial phenomena in Earth’s skies and beyond.

Officials are watching as two British aerospace and defense suppliers are in talks again to merge, with Cobham making a £2.58 billion ($3.56 billion) non-binding offer for Ultra Electronics.

LOCKHEED MARTIN had $1.8b net income on $17b sales in 2Q21 vs $1.6b profit on $16.2b in 2Q20; AERONAUTICS earned $572m on $6.7b vs $739m on $6.5b. It

FORT RUCKER, Alabama—Two decades of counter-insurgency (COIN) operations have reshaped the U.S. Army’s aviation branch organizationally and

Fresh off Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight, founder Jeff Bezos is offering to cut his company’s fee for a human lunar landing demonstration mission dramatically and add—at company expense—an orbital flight test.

Russia’s near two-decade-old Pirs docking compartment and airlock left the International Space Station (ISS) in the grasp of the Progress MS-16 cargo capsule early July 26.

A nonprofit organization is uniting industry and academia to protect on-orbit assets.

“Based on initial observations, one target was successfully intercepted. At this time, we cannot confirm the second target was destroyed,” MDA said.

Lockheed Martin’s proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne has prompted a new inquiry by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren about the effectiveness of behavioral remedies in aerospace and defense industry supply chains.

“The Army is at a decision point with what they want to do for the Gray Eagle,” said Col. Scott Anderson, the Army’s program manager for unmanned aircraft systems.

The U.S. Army could buy up to eight Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems in fiscal 2023, two years early, Col. Scott Anderson said on July 23.

After a highly anticipated Boeing F-15J upgrade project was halted and Lockheed Martin was chosen for the Japanese F-X next-generation fighter, Boeing is now in a holding pattern ready to support Japanese fighter programs.

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has passed a bill that would temporarily block the U.S. Air Force from its effort to develop a so-called “Bridge Tanker.”

Sukhoi rolled out the model of a new fighter aircraft during the MAKS show in Russia targeting the export market. Aviation Week editors discuss the design and its prospects in a crowded market.

Greece’s new Rafales; Army Starts FLRAA competition; Indonesia buys T-50s; and the U.S. Air Force rationale for Global Hawk retirement.

Unity-22 and New Shepard-16 open a new chapter in human spaceflight.

Pioneering aviator was evaluated for spaceflight in the 1960s.

The U.S. Army’s program manager on July 22 called on industry to increase their lobbying to Congress in support of the Future Armed Reconnaissance

Shield AI has acquired the small company that created an artificial intelligence agent that won DARPA’s AlphaDogfight trials last year.

A video released on July 22 by the contender for the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) shows the SB-1 lifting to a hover an external load that the Sikorsky-Boeing described as 5,300 lb.

The same day Blue Origin made its first human spaceflight, sending four passengers into suborbital space, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new FAA Commercial Space Astronaut Wings eligibility requirements.

Bristow Helicopters, the provider of the UK’s Search and Rescue helicopter service, is set to operate a rotary-wing unmanned air system for SAR duties this summer.

The UK Ministry of Defense has completed its planned purchase of the General Atomics Protector medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed air system, signing an order for 13 aircraft.

Ad Astra Rocket Co. has reached another milestone in its long-running quest to develop an electric propulsion capability to hasten the human exploration of Mars and other space activities.

In a global market awash in fighter options, Russia thinks it’s delivered an elusive winner.