Defense and Space

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.

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

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.

The service has been relying on the X-62 Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA).

Spanish defense firm Grupo Oesia will support production of components for Patriot Advanced Capability — 3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) weapons.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) Aerospace Systems Company is hoping to “aggressively” market its self-developed engines overseas.

The approx. $120 million NASA Earth science campaign aims to bring airborne scientific insight to environmental concerns and is set to unfold over 2026 to 2029.

Labour has now joined the Conservatives in pledging to raise defense spending to 2.5% of GDP, but woolly caveats and an impending election leave doubts.

Axiom and Collins are working on new spacesuits for the agency’s lunar and LEO programs.

The Netherlands and Austria are to cooperate on procurement of the Embraer C-390 airlifter, Austrian defense officials have said.

The U.S. Navy on April 18 received its first two Textron T-54A Multiengine Training System aircraft.

The Nigerian Air Force says it is expecting its first batch of M-346 light attack aircraft before year’s end.

Airbus Helicopters is gearing up to begin final assembly of the first prototypes for the military variant of its twin-engine H160 medium helicopter.

A T-45C Goshawk engine malfunction on April 12 has caused the U.S. Navy to pause flight operations of the type—the second mishap for the trainer in less than a month.

The second full flight simulator for the Embraer C-390 military transport aircraft will be located in Portugal.

ShinMaywa remains optimistic on the export potential of its US-2 seaplane for parapublic purposes.

Ukrainian forces have claimed the downing a Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3, which crashed after a missile strike against the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine.

Cost is becoming an increasing challenge to missile defense systems, even as Israel’s success against Iran shows the value of the capability.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.