The U.S. Air Force in late November announced the re-entry into service of the USAF’s first C-21A (Learjet 35A) transport with an aft-fuselage fin modification designed to improve directional stability.
The House plans to vote on the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill Dec. 8, and the top Democrat and Republican on the House Armed Services Committee are prepared for Congress to override President Donald Trump if he vetoes the measure.
The 24-month contract awards set up a competitive pool of prototypes for the U.S. Air Force to use in a series of flight tests of Skyborg’s autonomous technology, which is scheduled to begin next year.
David M. North, a naval aviator and Pan Am commercial airline pilot who went on to become editor-in-chief of Aviation Week & Space Technology and editorial director of the Aviation Week Network, died Nov. 24 in St. Michaels, Maryland.
Although the U-2S is mainly known for high-altitude surveillance, the Air Force and Lockheed have been working since 2013 to transform the aircraft into a critical node for the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) by hosting a suite of new technologies.
Rolls-Royce is studying the use of hybrid-electric propulsion for the unmanned air systems that could support the UK’s Tempest Future Combat Air System.
The Federal Communications Commission on Dec. 7 selected 180 companies to participate in the first phase of an ambitious project to bring high-speed internet to rural communities in the U.S.
The first cargo version of SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon capsule carried out a successful automated docking with the seven-person International Space Station on Dec. 7, delivering a more than 6,400-lb. cargo of crew supplies as well as new science and technology.
The organizers of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest, have canceled the 2021 edition because of continued uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An upgraded SpaceX cargo Dragon 2 capsule reached orbit on Dec. 6 with 3.2 tons of equipment and supplies for the International Space Station (ISS), including a new commercially owned and operated airlock module.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully recovered the small Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return capsule in the remote Woomera region of Australia.
The House and Senate fiscal 2021 defense authorization compromise bill agrees that the future service acquisition executive for space systems may delegate milestone decision authority to a program executive officer for U.S. Space Force major defense acquisition programs.
The House and Senate fiscal 2021 defense policy compromise bill would require an independent assessment of the U.S. Army’s plans for the CH-47F Block II upgrade.
Overall FMS transactions in 2020 declined by 8% compared to the previous year’s mark of $55.4 billion, and by 8.77% from a modern peak of $55.66 billion set by the Trump administration in 2018.
The fiscal 2021 defense policy compromise bill would require the U.S. cost assessment and program evaluation office at the Pentagon to conduct an independent assessment of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System product lines.
Aerospace and defense supplier Curtiss-Wright announced Dec. 3 that Lynn Bamford, currently president of the company’s Defense and Power Segments, will become CEO on Jan. 1 under a planned transition that sees current CEO and Chairman David Adams retiring by May 2022.
The German business of missile manufacturer MBDA said it has been forced to undertake a restructuring after the German government again delayed plans to contract a new ground-based air defense system.
