Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Balance sheet and debt concerns add to launch timing uncertainty as Boeing continues to study potential revisions to next aircraft program

In a wide-ranging interview, Boeing chief David Calhoun says the company won’t be rushed into launching a new airplane.

Diversified portfolios due to consolidation and similar spending on R&D by large contractors may be part of the answer.

Leaders expect a smaller, more streamlined supply chain to emerge as aircraft OEMs struggle to reach or exceed pre-pandemic rates.

The European missile manufacturer sees opportunities for missile development and consolidation as future fighter programs evolve.

Customer order to convert King Air fleet to autonomous flight capability indicated growing maturity of the technology.

U.S. Navy cancels JSOW-ER; SM-6 misses target; Brazil’s Air Force may cut KC-390; USAF buys jet for BACN; GA-EMS cross-link contract.

The Rafale ousted Israeli Boeing F-16 and Saab Gripen offers in Croatia’s fighter contest.

A funny thing is happening on the way to the commercial space race: many legacy government space providers are waiting it out.

Biden’s pending jobs package must include the sector for its ability to boost future innovation.

All across Europe components for Leonardo’s Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor are coming in readiness for year-end final assembly.

She helped to imagine, articulate and execute forward-looking government policies that helped usher in the age of “New Space.”

Model-based systems engineering is emerging as a potential solution to aerospace’s slow, costly processes.

Oversupply to market has yielded big, young in-service fleets, which means the current lull has, in part, been a self-inflicted wound.

Another clash over the Army’s proposals to defer CH-47F Block II production is brewing as fiscal 2022 budget drops.

Propulsive fuselage; Moon connectivity; Klimov’s hybrid-electric design; Lilium Jet networks; certified batteries; and Osaka’s vertiport.

If the first quarter is any indication, A&D is about to throttle up share buybacks and dividend payments into afterburn.

KC-46 woes continue; Colorado smallsat facility expansion; MHI SH-60L first flight; and latest SBIRS launch.

Airbus adds to A321neo production with a modernized final assembly line in Toulouse to meet both market demand and political needs.

Eviation progresses; XTI logs orders; Aergility’s cargo eVTOL; Hexa in production; and Jaunt eyes Canada.

Changing needs of military advantage will challenge traditional business practices.

Details of the operating cycles for GE’s new-generation adaptive engines remain sparse.

The former Triumph Group aerostructures business recently acquired by private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners has been rebranded Qarbon Aerospace and could be looking to acquire other assets in the embattled sector.

Based on Airbus’ latest thinking that single-aisle demand will return sooner than expected, the OEM is resuming preparatory work for a new narrowbody final assembly line in Toulouse to be operational by the end of 2022.

After several OEMs exited the regional market, dominant airframers Embraer and ATR are devising new strategies.