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Sikorsky, Boeing debut future vertical lift dual-rotor design with SB>1 DEFIANT helicopter

2018-12-27

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE:LMT), in Stratford, Connecticut, and Boeing Defense, Space & Security (NYSE:BA) in Berkeley, Missouri, are introducing the SB>1 DEFIANT helicopter designed to fly with advanced agility and maneuverability at twice the speed and range of current conventional helicopters. Jointly developed for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role technology demonstrator program, the new rotorcraft design is intended to help inform the next generation of military helicopters as part of the U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

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Three stages of separation: bidding farewell to the Delta II launch vehicle

2018-09-14

The upcoming launch of the NASA ICESat-2 will be the last liftoff for the Delta II rocket, whose reliability made it a mainstay for civil, military, and commercial space customers. The medium-lift Delta II is manufactured by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and features main and upper-stage engines supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, Calif.

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Pratt & Whitney receives $437M for continued adaptive engine development

2018-09-12

Pratt & Whitney was awarded the contract modification by the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center for the Adaptive Engine Transition Program. Through AETP, Pratt & Whitney was tasked with designing, fabricating, integrating, and testing complete, flight-weight adaptive engines – the contract modification allocates funding for “risk reduction” activities related to adaptive engine development.

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Ceramic matrix composites in aircraft engines projected to double over five years, Stratview Research predicts

2018-07-30

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.

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NASA selects Frontier Aerospace to continue development of new deep space thruster

2018-08-24

NASA’s Space Technology and Mission Directorate awarded Frontier Aerospace with “Tipping Point” funding to qualify Frontier’s Deep Space Engine (DSE) for flight. The compact and lightweight design of the 100-pound force DSE thruster will enable future development of smaller and less expensive spacecraft propulsion systems due to the lower temperature freezing characteristics of its particular propellant.

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Northrop Grumman acquires Orbital ATK, adds solid rocket motors to space portfolio

2018-06-26

Northrop Grumman Corp. has acquired Orbital ATK Inc., one of only two leading U.S. manufacturers of solid rocket motors (SRMs), in exchange for $7.8 billion in cash and assumption of $1.4 billion in debt. Officials have finalized the acquisition and formed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, the company’s fourth business sector, to enable greater expansion into the space market.

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Textron Systems, Textron Aviation Defense demonstrate simulated manned-unmanned teaming capability

2018-08-02

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.

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Insitu ScanEagle sUAS boosts Coast Guard mission effectiveness

2018-06-15

U.S. Coast Guard officials are expanding their deployment of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations, after achieving a record-breaking year for drug interdiction using Insitu’s ScanEagle sUAS aboard a single National Security Cutter, the Stratton.

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SAE International anti-counterfeit standards integral to obsolescence management

2018-07-25

Counterfeit parts prevention is integral to an effective obsolescence management plan, and the focus of anti-counterfeit standards – including Counterfeit Avoidance Standard (AS5553) and Counterfeit Detection Standard (AS6081) – from SAE International in Warrendale, Pa. SAE International officials are bringing the anti-counterfeit discussion and sharing best practices, which include adherence to critical standards, to the Future of Obsolescence Management (FOM) event on October 10 and 11 in Washington.

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Advances in adhesive joining of structure components focus of new book from SAE International

2018-08-16

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.

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Boeing wins $2.9B for 18 KC-46A military tanker aircraft based on 767 jet airliner

2018-09-11

Boeing in Everett, Wash., won a $2.9 billion U.S. Air Force contract to deliver 18 additional KC-46A tanker aircraft, spares, support equipment, spare engines, and wing air refueling pod kits. Boeing is now on contract for 52 KC-46 Pegasus military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft, based on the company’s 767 jet airliner, with the addition of this fourth production lot.

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Generation Orbit’s GOLauncher1 is officially the Air Force’s X-60A hypersonic flight research vehicle

2018-10-09

The X-60A is an air-dropped, liquid oxygen and kerosene propelled rocket developed by Atlanta-based Generation Orbit Launch Services under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Aerospace Systems Directorate High Speed Systems Division. The vehicle propulsion system is the 5,000 pound-force sea level thrust Hadley liquid rocket engine, produced by Colorado-based Ursa Major Technologies.

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Aireon to launch free, real-time emergency aircraft location service

2018-08-22

Aireon LLC, a global aircraft tracking and surveillance company in McLean, Va., is inviting aircraft operators, regulators, search-and-rescue organizations, and air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to pre-register for Aireon Aircraft Locating and Emergency Response Tracking (ALERT). Aireon ALERT, operated by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), is being touted as the aviation industry’s first and only free, global, real-time emergency aircraft location service, which is slated to begin service in Q1 2019.

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New university-led Air Force Center of Excellence focuses on securing autonomous systems operating in contested environments

2019-05-22

The researchers at the COE for Assured Autonomy in Contested Environments – all of which histories of innovation for Department of Defense problems of interest – will focus on the availability, integrity, and effective use of information by leveraging its diverse expertise in dynamics, mathematics, control theory, information theory, communications, and computer science.

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NASA highlights material and coating technology ready for commercial applications

2019-05-10

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.

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SAE International issues first technical standards for aerospace additive manufacturing

2018-06-13

Jun 13, 2018 - The Aerospace Material Specification committee on Additive Manufacturing (AMS-AM) at SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, has released its first suite of Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS) additive manufacturing materials and process specifications. The new aerospace technical standards, now available from SAE, support the certification of critical aircraft and spacecraft parts, providing both a framework to protect the integrity of material property data and traceability within the aerospace supply chain.

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Aerospace & defense systems engineering undergoes digital transformation with MBSE

2018-10-16

A growing number of organizations, including leading aerospace and defense (A&D) companies, are implementing model-based systems engineering (MBSE), a practice developing and exploiting a set of related system models that help define, design, and document a system under development – and reaping the benefits of not only increased productivity, agility, and efficiency, but also time and cost savings.

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Pratt & Miller Engineering joins Raytheon, Rheinmetall team for U.S. Army combat vehicle competition

2019-08-26

Pratt & Miller’s main role will be ensuring that the Lynx meets or exceeds the Army's survivability requirements for the OMFV, which is scheduled to begin replacing the M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle in 2026. The OMFV competition requires that the vehicle be optimized for dense urban areas while maintaining efficacy against threats in open, rural areas.

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Lockheed Martin’s “non-operational” Space Fence detects Indian anti-satellite operations while still in test mode

2019-05-30

When India’s MICROSAT-R was scheduled to pass through the surveillance fence, Space Fence’s gallium nitride-powered S-band ground-based radars detected multiple objects within proximity of each other and issued an automatic “breakup alert.”

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Space launch providers submit proposals for National Security Space Launch program

2019-08-16

Four companies – Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) – recently submitted proposals for the U.S. Air Force's Phase 2 Launch Services Procurement (LSP) competition. Two of those companies will be awarded with up to 34 launches over a five-year period under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program.