Defense

With the commercial aviation manufacturers and suppliers still reeling from COVID-19, Eric Fanning, president of the Aerospace Industries Association

A non-nuclear explosive prototype has rolled off a nuclear weapon assembly line in Texas to keep planned deliveries of the B61-12 on track for fiscal 2022.

While the cause of the Aug. 10 cable break that damaged the National Science Foundation’s Arecibo Observatory (AO) in Puerto Rico has not been determined, efforts are underway to establish the scope of repairs, the cost and the schedule.

The U.S. Army has received letters of interest from eight undisclosed international partners for its Future Vertical Lift effort aiming to modernize the service’s aviation portfolio.

After repeated attempts to sell a solid-propellant, heavy-lift space launcher to the U.S. national security community, Northrop Grumman is discontinuing work on its Omega rocket, the company said Sept. 10.

Charles Bolden, a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general, former NASA administrator and four-time shuttle astronaut, has been selected to receive the National Aeronautic Association’s (NAA) 2020 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy.

SIREN appears to share similar objectives with the National Security Space Architecture launched by the Space Development Agency (SDA), except the AFRL initiative is limited to potential demonstrations and experiments.

On Sept. 4 the U.S. Air Force announced it would open a competition to deliver up to 461 engines to equip the new Boeing F-15EX fleet. The

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

A university-led team is developing high-rate manufacturing processes for urban air mobility vehicles with a $5.7 million grant from NASA. The program

U.S. Air Force thinks a software development shift will drive combat aircraft advances and change the defense industry business model.

Multiple industry projects are underway as the U.S. Air Force seeks to redefine design requirements for an attritable propulsion system.

When the effects of the spread of the novel coronavirus hit the U.S. defense industry six months ago, hundreds of companies shuttered. Now the tide is slowly turning, with 30 defense suppliers that remain closed. Now the tide is slowly turning, with 30 defense suppliers that remain closed.

The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has set sail for exercises which will see U.S. Marine Corps F-35s embarked for the first time.

The name of the payload appeared in public for the first time on a presentation slide displayed by a panel of Army unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program managers

The air navigation service provider of Hong Kong will introduce satellite-based surveillance of aircraft in its flight information region beginning early next year, data provider Aireon announced Sept. 9.

France, Israel, Sweden and the U.S. have delivered proposals for Croatia’s renewed multirole fighter requirement.

NASA is turning to its Commercial Lunar Payload Services providers to bid on the delivery of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to a nonpolar region of the Moon in 2022.

Catherine Koerner has assumed management responsibility for development and operations of NASA’s Orion program headquartered at Johnson Space Center.

After decades of fundamental research, AFRL readies rotating detonation engine concepts for potential missile, engine and rocket roles.

British Typhoon AESA radar derisked through programs such as ARTS and Bright Adder.

U.S. agency is expanding partnerships, adding new weather-monitoring technologies and moving to cloud-based data services.

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract to replace the nation’s aging intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is urging President Donald Trump to extend the New START arms control treaty with Russia for another five years before the agreement expires in February.