With NASA looking at nuclear technology to speed journeys to Mars, as well as provide power on the surface of the Moon and move heavy payloads in cislunar space, the U.S. has issued new guidelines for the safe launch of space nuclear systems.
Taiwan F-16 buy gets State Department nod; Brazil flies upgraded AEW jet; Ford carrier’s AAG clears milestone; Rafael offers Spike NLOS for UK military helos.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has reportedly told the founding family of British defense supplier Cobham that he will be looking into concerns about its takeover by a U.S. private equity firm.
Roughly one-fifth of military aircraft operated by the U.S. Defense Department will be equipped for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) Out by the FAA’s January 2020 compliance date, according to numbers released by the Pentagon.
The start of deliveries of fighters from the intended order looks likely to dovetail with the tailing off of a program to upgrade Taiwanese F-16 Block 20s to the F-16V standard.
The U.S. State Department has approved a proposed sale of 66 F-16 Block 70 aircraft to Taiwan despite the intense opposition of the Chinese government.
Although NASA still is officially targeting late 2020 for the SLS debut in the Artemis-1 test mission, the agency is widely expected to acknowledge the slide as part of the outcome of an ongoing review associated with recent leadership changes in its exploration programs.
The U.S. Navy’s Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR), a version of the modular SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) under development by Raytheon, has completed its first system-level tests at Wallops Island in Virginia.
“This acquisition further strengthens Jacobs’ position in highly profitable and complementary sectors within nuclear and defense," Jacobs Chair and CEO Steve Demetriou said.
Despite test incidents and delays to both NASA commercial crew systems, Boeing expects to conduct the first uncrewed orbital flight of its CST-100 Starliner in October, while SpaceX still hopes to fly astronauts in the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station by the end of the year.
Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) will field a new training system for the Eurofighter Typhoon that will allow the service to achieve its aim of a 50:50 live-synthetic blend of operational training.
On Aug. 18, the Pentagon conducted a successful flight test of a ground-launched conventional cruise missile with a range of more than 500 km (300 mi.)—a weapon previously banned under the now-defunct Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Japan has formally selected the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning for an acquisition program for 42 short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing fighters, going through the motions of acquisition procedures even though it had no alternative.
“After successfully performing the crucial maneuver, Chandrayaan-2 has left for the Moon. If all goes well, it will reach the Moon’s orbit by Aug. 20,” says a senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization.
