Defense

The office of Brazil’s new president said he would not block Boeing’s proposed purchase of 80% of Embraer’s commercial business, or a separate joint venture to sell KC-390s.

Britain has declared an initial operating capability (IOC) with the short takeoff and landing version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

David Thompson, co-founder of Orbital Sciences, has been chosen to receive the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation’s National Space Trophy.

The USAF has accepted the first KC-46A from Boeing after it agreed to fix deficiencies discovered in developmental testing of the Remote Vision System.

Russia’s new ground-based satellite-zapping system; Indonesia buys Bell, Airbus helos; India’s Tejas edges closer to full operations; Staff changes at Pentagon.

The commander-in-chief’s attacks put the USS Gerald R. Ford’s subsystem in the spotlight.

Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 have been suspended due to a hardware issue.

Blue Origin confirms it remains on track to start crewed flights aboard its New Shepard suborbital vehicle early this year.

Arianespace is planning on “up to 12” launches from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana with the current launcher family in 2019.

Russia will begin to operate two electronic warfare units—one of which uses a ground-based system to disable satellites—in 2019.

Indonesian Aerospace has received an order for eight Airbus H225M and nine Bell 412EPI helicopters from the country’s defense ministry, the company said.

Boeing will likely not face competition to integrate a powerful new engine into the AH-64 Apache fleet, the U.S. Army says.

Dassault Aviation delivered 12 Rafale fighter jets in 2018, including three jets delivered to France and nine elsewhere, compared to nine deliveries in 2017.

The joint venture with Airbus Defense and Space has begun to manufacture more than 900 smallsats for OneWeb and has secured the first potential outside customer for its Arrow platform—DARPA.

The National Space Club and Foundation has named ex-acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot Jr. the winner of the 2019 Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy.

India’s first solar probe—Aditya-L1—is “making headway,” according to a scientist with the ISRO, with launch expected to take place in 2019-2020.

Need workers? Got workers but they don’t have the right skills? After decades of shedding employees, A&D finds itself in a race to staff-up ahead of everything. What should companies do?

If the U.S. is to retain leadership in hypersonics, a sustained increase in university research programs is critical.

Britain’s aerospace industry is growing nervous over concerns that the UK Parliament may not approve the withdrawal agreement negotiated between the British government and the European Union, according to aerospace, defense, security and space trade association ADS.

Weeks after reported UAV sightings disrupted operations at Gatwick Airport, London Heathrow Airport briefly suspended departures Jan. 8 to probe a UAV sighting.

The Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, Eric Chewning, has accepted the role of defense secretary chief of staff.

French space agency Cnes has taken a financial stake in Kineis, a project aimed at creating a low-cost constellation for the internet of things (IoT).

The UK government has proposed significant new restrictions on the flying of drones in the aftermath of the London Gatwick debacle in December.

Brazil’s new administration supports the proposed Boeing-Embraer tie-up, but is signaling that the terms may have to change before it gives its required OK.

Indonesia has resumed paying for development of the KF-X, according to manufacturer Korean Aerospace Industries.