Defense

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

It is unlikely the heavy-lift launch market can support more than two U.S. launch providers in the long term, according to a long-awaited report the U

The U.S. Air Force has taken the first step in an acquisition process that could lead to an air-launched hypersonic conventional cruise missile.

The spread of the novel coronavirus has changed the way the Defense Department views its supply chain and the military is beginning to understand where the industrial base is “hyper efficient but very brittle,” according to the U.S. Navy acquisition executive.

The Trump administration has unveiled significant new export restrictions on China that limit U.S. aircraft systems, sensors and electronics, essentially trying to keep away products that may go to any end user affiliated with the Chinese military.

The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has awarded Maxar Technologies $20 million in contracts for land-cover classification and change-detection services.

Germany’s Aerospace Industries Association has sided with Airbus and called on the government to accelerate the procurement of Eurofighters as a replacement for the Panavia Tornado.

Automatic tanking could optimize refueling rates and reduce human workloads.

The intelligence-gathering capability of Iran’s recently launched Nour 1 satellite is being minimized by the commander of U.S. Space Command.

The U.S. Air Force fired the Pentagon programmer’s equivalent of a standoff range weapon at the Army earlier this month. The question now is whether either side of a simmering, internal debate has enough firepower left to win the argument.

James M. Beggs, who served as the sixth of NASA’s 13 administrators, died April 23 in Bethesda, Maryland, where he lived.

The U.S. Navy has expedited its component workshare agreement with an Air Force aviation depot because of coronavirus-related workforce shortages.

BOEING says it will maintain its Master Teaming Agreement with Embraer to jointly market and support the C-390 Millennium.

EMBRAER believes strongly that BOEING wrongfully terminated MTA and manufactured false claims to avoid its commitments to close deal and pay US$4.2b

BOEING terminated Master Transaction Agreement (MTA) with EMBRAER to form joint ventures around Embraer's commercial aviation business and C-390

At 30 years old, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) remains vibrant thanks to its far-reaching discoveries and their implications for people living on Earth as well as those eager to explore beyond our planet.

Russia’s MS-14 Progress resupply capsule successfully docked to the International Space Station’s (ISS) Russian segment early April 25, less than 3 1/2 hr. after lifting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury gave a dramatic warning to employees that heralds potentially deeper production cuts than initially planned.

IT needs commercial vendors that understand the importance of cybersecurity on the ground as well as in space.

U.S. Air Force moves forward on LRSO and GBSD without a competitive bidding process.

Selected U.S. military contracts from the past week.

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Lockheed Martin has won a $5.8 million contract to begin the first phase of satellite integration for Darpa’s Blackjack program, the company says

Embraer and Boeing are entering into a bitter public fight over who is responsible for the end of the proposed commercial aircraft joint venture, Boeing Brasil Commercial.

MDA will accept responses from May 1 through July 31, according to a notice about the request for proposals. Two prime contracts are expected by late fall or early winter.