Airbus Defense and Space

By Robert Wall
The UK Defense Ministry has awarded a contract to Airbus’s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for an Earth-observation satellite in a push toward sovereign ISR.
Satellites

By Robert Wall
From project financing to launcher and exploration initiatives, the region is devising an agenda to stay in the global space race.
Budget, Policy & Regulation

By Robert Wall
Airbus says India-assembled C295s will start rolling off the local production facility in 2026, as it disclosed the inauguration of the Vadodara FAL in Gujarat.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Robert Wall, Joe Anselmo
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Robert Wall
Airbus says it will cut staff and reorganize its Defense and Space unit to respond to business challenges that have dented the company’s earnings since 2023.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Tony Osborne
Airbus wants to extend battlefield connectivity of the Future Combat Air System to its helicopters.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Airbus will be converting a secondhand A330 into a technology testbed for its Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) product.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Robert Wall
Warsaw is looking to translate large fighter, helicopter and weapons purchases into a stronger defense industrial footprint.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Robert Wall
The EU says it has received one bid from the SpaceRISE consortium—SAS, Eutelsat and Hispasat—to develop and deploy the sovereign satcom constellation IRIS2.
Satellites

By Robert Wall
Airbus and Lockheed have pulled the plug on their respective efforts to win a UK Defense Ministry competition to introduce a new fleet of medium rotorcraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Robert Wall
The long corporate nightmare for the airframer’s defense business might be ending as cost cuts and smarter bidding promise a healthier outlook.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Robert Wall
Airbus expects to deliver the first of its A330neo-based aerial refueling tankers before the end of the decade through the MRTT+ upgrade.
Farnborough Airshow

By Thierry Dubois
Leonardo is talking to Airbus and Thales about linking their satellite manufacturing businesses, officials say—which could help the companies to deal with slow demand.
Farnborough Airshow

By Robert Wall
Airbus is starting to make changes to its satellite plans, including becoming more conservative on potentially high-risk programs, after a series of earnings hits.
Space

By Robert Wall
Airbus Defense and Space's Michael Schoellhorn said there may be opportunities for collaboration between the two big future combat aircraft programs being pursued in Europe.
Farnborough Airshow

By Jens Flottau, Robert Wall
Guillaume Faury is looking to bring more work in-house in order to deal with supplier issues.
Farnborough Airshow

By Tony Osborne
Saudi Arabia is set to become the largest operator of Airbus’ A330 MRTT outside Europe after Riyadh signed a top-up order.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Robert Wall
Germany has awarded Airbus a €2.1 billion ($2.3 billion) contract to build the new SatcomBW 3 constellation due to be deployed before the end of the decade.
Space

By Robert Wall
Al Yah Satellite Communications says it has selected SpaceX and the Falcon 9 to launch the Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellites it recently ordered from Airbus.
Commercial Space

By Vivienne Machi, Thierry Dubois, Robert Wall
Forces in Europe are doing more in space, including through an increased focus on situational awareness of the domain to address growing threats.
Farnborough Airshow

By Robert Wall
Airbus is considering major changes to its space operations after a program review identified almost $1 billion in higher costs on critical satellite contracts.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Paris drone pact is the first step in structuring the highly fragmented French UAS industry.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
French developer Survey Copter is looking to bring its CAPA-X vertical-takeoff-and-landing, fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) to market by the end of 2025.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
With funding from an NTT Docomo-led consortium, Aalto is moving more quickly into production of the solar-powered stratospheric aircraft.
Emerging Technologies

By Tony Osborne
Airbus has unveiled concepts for an uncrewed wingman that could support German Air Force Eurofighters in the 2030s.
Aircraft & Propulsion