Industry News

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will serve as the launch provider for a satellite that Airbus built for Inmarsat‘s sixth generation satellite fleet. The Inmarsat-6 F1 satellite will be launched aboard the MHI H-IIA launch vehicle in 2020 to offer new capacities for the former’s customers including advanced global safety services, mobile services and Internet of Things applications, […] More

F-35 pilots from the U.K. air and naval forces have collaborated with fighter jet pilots from Italy and the Netherlands to participate in F-35 coalition interoperability tests conducted at a BAE Systems-operated simulation facility in Samlesbury, England. The tests are part of a series of simulation exercises designed to assess the interoperability of the fighter aircraft with […] More

A business unit of General Atomics has received a one-year, $30.3 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency to demonstrate passive configured MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles. The Defense Department said Tuesday that General Atomics’ electromagnetic systems group will showcase the capacities of Reaper drone at two Ballistic Missile Defense System and five continental U.S. tests. Tests […] More

The U.K.-based subsidiaries of CAE and Elbit Systems have partnered to pursue business opportunities under the British defense ministry’s air training program. CAE UK and Elbit Systems UK will vie for the Defence Operational Training Capability (Air) program’s core system and services project as well as the Typhoon Future Synthetic Training effort, CAE said Tuesday. […] More

Huntington Ingalls Industries on Friday launched the U.S. Navy‘s future Delbert D. Black guided missile destroyer at a company facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi. HII said Tuesday its Ingalls Shipbuilding division moved DDG 51 to a floating dry dock with a rail car system then flooded the dock until the vessel could stay afloat. USS Delbert B. Black is named after the Navy’s […] More

Raytheon has been chosen to deliver projectors for digital head-up displays that BAE Systems will install aboard the U.S. Air Force‘s F-22 Raptor aircraft. The Digital Light Engine HUDs will replace traditional analog displays on the fighter aircraft and help pilots gain situational awareness, Raytheon said Tuesday. Lockheed Martin awarded BAE a contract in January to modernize F-22 HUDs for the […] More

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Orbital ATK a potential $21.4 million contract to study the potential integration of turbine and hypersonic engine technologies into a new aircraft propulsion system. DARPA obligated $1 million in fiscal 2017 research and development funds for the Advanced Full Range Engine project at the time of contract award, the […] More

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has awarded research contracts to select industry partners as part of a program to develop continuously sensing, passive and unobtrusive methods to evaluate an individual’s cognitive, physiological and psychological aspects. Lockheed Martin, the University of Memphis, the University of Southern California and the University of Notre Dame would each […] More

Space Systems Loral has received additional funds from NASA through a contract modification to advance the design of a robotic platform for use in on-orbit satellite assembly work. SSL and its parent company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates collaborate with NASA and aerospace firm Tethers Unlimited to develop the Dragonfly in-orbit satellite assembly system under the […] More

AeroVironment has introduced a long-range tracking antenna the company designed to increase the data transmission capacity of its Puma AE unmanned aircraft system. The company said Tuesday the LRTA upgrade supports Puma systems equipped with Digital Data Link technology and seeks to help operators collect intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data at a range of approximately 37 miles. […] More

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wants information on industry vendors that can help develop and implement an “employee-centric” employment verification process. USCIS said in a FedBizOpps notice posted Friday that it aims to partner with industry on the development of identity verification and management tools that will help individuals validate their identity and work authorization status. […] More

Rockwell Collins has integrated a new avionics system for the French air force’s C-130H Hercules military transport aircraft as part of a modernization contract from France’s defense procurement agency. The company said Monday that the Flight2 avionics system offers communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management capacities that comply with International Civil Aviation Organization standards. […] More