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skyguide joins forces with AirMap to develop and deploy Europe’s premier national drone traffic management system. The endeavor will be the first national deployment of Europe’s vision for the digital infrastructure to support safe and secure access to European skies for millions of UAVs, in an effort called U-space.

Stiff but flexible trailing-edge beams could replace conventional wing flaps to boost aerodynamic efficiency.

Mobility engineers and executives at Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, in Fort Worth, Texas, are developing new concepts of mobility to make moving people and products more efficient and effective – and launching urban air mobility (UAM) innovations, including the Bell Nexus air taxi design, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. They envision and are helping to enable a fleet of on-demand, quiet vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft capable of safely whisking passengers over traffic and across urban landscapes by the mid-2020s.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has released the latest version of RELY3D, its advanced visualization and training tool for sensor system maintainers working on the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

While the pandemic continues, aerospace companies are rising to embrace new and emerging challenges at a time when there’s so much innovation. This innovation can be seen in the emergence of urban air mobility (UAM), the rebirth of supersonic flight, the drive towards a “zero emission” aircraft, and the continued use of autonomous drones for delivery, freight, search & rescue, and defense. There are exciting new developments in space as companies are developing products for commercial exploration and space tourism, and new ways to launch satellites. A new generation of engineering is also emerging in the defense sector and its development of not only aircraft, but also ships, tankers, and even flight trainers.

Last month, Boeing announced that it had entered a definitive agreement to acquire major independent aerospace parts provider KLX Inc.

US Army officials and engineers continue work to modernize the defense organization’s fleet of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with a more modern digital cockpit, conducting a Limited User Test with two prototype aircraft at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. They selected for a Limited User Evaluation (LUE) a Crew Mission Station (CMS) aligned with The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) technical standard that combines Core Avionics & Industrial Inc.’s (CoreAVI’s) compositor and graphics suite, Avalex smart display, Intel hardware, Wind River operating system, and Presagis server.

Boeing officials are expanding the company’s use of Siemens’ Mentor Graphics software as part of its Second Century Enterprise Systems (2CES) initiative, an effort to transform the company and aerospace industry to meet future challenges and achieve maximum value from end-to-end integration of supply chain, manufacturing, engineering, product support, and more. Boeing is harnessing a set of Siemens technologies to enable the next generation of design and manufacturing through increased automation and digitalization.

Today’s airframe manufacturers have taken on more of the role of systems integrators, putting the focus on the aircraft as a system-of-many-systems. Sean Barker, FBCS CEng and a former research scientist at BAE Systems in the UK, approaches aircraft as a system of systems (SoS) from a business process perspective in his new book from SAE International in Warrendale, Pa.

Aerospace manufacturers walk a metaphorical balance beam to continually develop and produce stronger, more efficient materials and components, while addressing all potential failure modes. This is true for safety-critical aircraft components like landing gear systems. Fokker Landing Gear B.V./GKN Aerospace recently equipped its mechanical laboratory with three creep testing machines to verify its manufacturing process control of zinc-plated bolts for aircraft landing gear systems.

The meeting will include updates from members of the Composite Materials Handbook Substantiation of Bonded Repairs (SoBR) working group who have been continuing development of SAE International Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee standardization efforts.

Ceramic matrix composite (CMC) use is up across the aerospace market, and among the fastest-growing trends in the global aviation industry. CMC material and component use in aircraft engines, specifically, is projected to double over the next five years, according to a new report from analysts at Stratview Research in Telibandha, India.

NASA Science Mission Directorate officials in Washington are funding three new projects selected from a pool of 25 received in response to the NASA Earth Science Technology Office’s (ESTO’s) solicitation for the In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST) program element A.49 of ROSES (Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences) 2017, supporting the Earth Science Division (Solicitation NNH17ZDA001N).

The same way technology opens the doors for speed, efficiency, and convenience, it offers the unintended opportunity for malicious cyberattacks, with threat agents becoming bolder. Supply chains, now being targeted as a pathway to the vital core of organizations around the world, have become a vital part of the industry’s cybersecurity strategy, says Kirsten Koepsel, author of SAE International’s latest book, The Aerospace Supply Chain and Cyber Security – Challenges Ahead, now available.

Adhesive joining of structural components will assume an increasingly important role in designing and manufacturing lightweight structures for aerospace platforms. The latest book from SAE International, Adhesive Joining of Structural Components: New Insights and Technologies explores recent advancements in adhesive bonding, used in the manufacture of primary aircraft fuselage and wing structures since 1945.

A cowling, or engine cover, is a critical airframe component that reduces drag and directing airflow into the engine. For the E-8C JSTARS, an aircraft with four massive Pratt and Whitney JT3D-based TF33-102C turbofan engines, each set of engine cowling components can cost up to $80,000 per set. Even a slightly warped cowling renders the entire housing unsafe and unserviceable.

Four of these technologies – smart coatings for corrosion detection and protection, aluminum alloys for high temperature applications, particle contamination mitigation technologies, and thermal and environmental barrier coating systems – are among NASA’s most in-demand technologies and have been applied to mainstream engineering projects.

The ability to control unmanned systems from the cockpit of a manned tactical aircraft is coming closer to reality. Textron Systems and Textron Aviation have demonstrated manned-unmanned teaming – specifically the command and control (C2) of multiple unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, from a single manned military aircraft.

Rolls-Royce in London is unveiling a concept electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) vehicle, including civil and military variants, that could take to the skies as soon as the early 2020s. The flexible design – able to be adapted for a variety of applications, including personal transport, public transport, logistics, and defense – is based upon technologies currently in use and under development.