Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Hexcel reported first-quarter 2024 results including net sales of $472 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.44 per share.

Lockheed Martin posted better-than-expected results in the first quarter, but delivered no F-35s as its ongoing software problems have yet to be resolved.

The U.S. Army has awarded Leidos a major sustainment contract for its future high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) fleet.

Strafing ground targets is normally a capability exercised by human pilots, but now a large U.S.-made uncrewed aircraft system has demonstrated the capability.

AeroVironment has launched its new Autonomy Retrofit Kit for its small, fixed-wing UAVs such as the Puma 3AE or Puma LE.

Air Mobility Command plans to launch a year-long analysis in the hopes of resolving several fundamental questions about the U.S. Air Force’s next tanker.

Lockheed Martin has announced a $100 million reach forward loss on an early production lot of a classified missile program with a fixed-price contract.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to raise UK defense spending to the equivalent of 2.5% of GDP.

Buoyed by double-digit first-quarter revenues and a busy commercial and defense orderbook, GE Aerospace reported an operating profit of $1.5 billion.

Robinson Helicopter has made the first corporate acquisition in its 50-year history by purchasing an uncrewed air system (UAS) developer.

RTX’s sales and net profit beat Wall Street’s expectations in the first quarter on the back of strong demand for both its commercial and defense products.

The NASA Voyager 1’s mission engineers report continued progress toward restoring the transmission of scientific data to Earth from a distant human-made object.

MBDA Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles are at the heart of a major new transfer of defense equipment to Ukraine pledged by the UK.

After a successful 2023 in recruitment, the aerospace sector in France is planning to add 25,000-30,000 employees in 2024.

Beta Technologies has conducted the first piloted full transition flight of its Alia 250 electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) prototype.

Embraer reported its highest backlog volume in seven years and a 67% increase in aircraft deliveries in the first quarter (Q1) 2024 year-over-year.

Separate midair collisions within the space of three days have claimed the lives of at least 11 crewmembers who were onboard the four helicopters.

The RX series is being developed by the Liaoning General Aviation Academy (LGAA) based in Shenyang, China.

As it looks ahead to a first flight of its electric propulsion unit this year, UK startup Evolito has appointed an experienced aerospace executive as chief technology officer.

Spain is to bolster its aerial firefighting capacity by purchasing seven new De Haviland Canada DHC-515 amphibious fire bombers.

Canada plans to spend more than CDN$5 billion ($3.65 billion) on the acquisition of airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, defense officials have confirmed.

The 6,000-lb., MQ-8C will soon be gone, but the requirement will not be forgotten.

The FAA gave Varda Space permission to launch in June 2023 without a reentry license, and the regulator does not want to repeat the situation.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has taken over operations of its new missile defense radar in Alaska, which is also tracking objects on orbit for the Space Force.

Turkey’s indigenous aircraft developments have been bolstered by contracts from the country’s military and government agencies.