Defense

The Pentagon awarded $13.4 million under Defense Production Act Title III as an investment in the U.S. small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industrial base.

House appropriators are concerned the U.S. Army has not clearly defined the acquisition strategy for mission equipment payloads and sensors for its Future Vertical Lift family of rotorcraft.

The Italian Army has taken delivery of the first of two commercial-model Leonardo AW169s in a move that paves the way for the wider introduction of a military version of the rotorcraft.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee (HAC-D) is fully funding the beleaguered F-35 logistics system in its mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill, but lawmakers are blasting the program and describing similarities between it and the troubled KC-46A tanker.

The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations defense subcommittee agreed to support the higher development cost for the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon in the fiscal 2021 spending bill, but the members do not “intend to approve funding for further cost increases” beyond the latest estimate of $1.364 billion.

INDIAN AIR FORCE took delivery of final five AH-64E Apaches as part of order for 22; it earlier received 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

TEAM NIGHTJAR was formed by Airbus Helicopters and >20 Australian partners to propose H145M for multi-role helicopter requirement for Australian

Spain is in negotiations with Airbus to acquire at least 20 new-build Eurofighter Typhoons to replace early model F/A-18 Hornets based in the Canary Islands.

The KZ-11 solid-propellant space launcher of Chinese state company Expace failed on its first flight on July 10.

Documented Combat Losses In Libya.

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Conferences and events for professionals in the aerospace & defense community.

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston says in an interview how the RAF is adapting to COVID-19 and looking ahead to transformative initiatives such as ASTRA.

Initiatives such as the European Defense Fund and PESCO could give the European defense industry a leg-up in the post-coronavirus era.

Manned-unmanned teaming and combat cloud technologies are key disruptors in Europe’s Future Combat Air System.

Airbus Defense & Space CEO Dirk Hoke talks with Aviation Week about COVID impact, Europe’s big defense initiatives and other challenges.

Italian and Swedish industry will begin joining discussions on Tempest later this year.

A country-by-country look at who will benefit from the alphabet soup of European defense and aerospace programs in progress to bolster industry.

Objectives include surveying the topography and geology of Mars, its physical fields, atmosphere, ionosphere and climate.

The UK is preparing to advance to the next stage of its Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft technology demonstrator project.

Committee backs increased F-35 buy; fixing drag on F-18 readiness; Austria to retire trainers; and Brazilian Gripen production starts.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

The U.S. approval, as expected, clears the path for the Japan Ministry of Defense to become the largest customer for the F-35 outside the U.S. and expand the customer base for the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B.

More than a month after the U.S. Army secretary green lighted the use of air assets during a June 1 protest of the death of George Floyd in Washington, lawmakers will finally have access to the Pentagon’s investigation report.

The improved version of the Klimov RD-93, which is likely a candidate to power the JF-17 Block 3, has been shipped to a Moscow-based test center.