Germany’s defense ministry said it considers the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft as its primary option to replace its fleet of 85 Tornado fighter jets by 2025, Reuters reported Tuesday. The European country’s parliament would need to approve the procurement of new fighter jets over the next two years with a plan to have the contract signed by […] More

The U.K. government plans to invest nearly $73 million in seven research and development projects meant to support innovation in the British aerospace sector. The funds will be awarded through the Aerospace Technology Institute as part of the British government and industry’s commitment to invest as much as $5.3 billion in civil aerospace R&D initiatives by 2026, […] More

BAE Systems and Asco Industries have agreed to partner across the areas of composite materials, additive layer manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and engineering. Both companies will also pursue potential airframe assembly and manufacturing work on Eurofighter Typhoon should Belgium pick the aircraft to replace its fleet of F-15 fighter jets, BAE said Nov. 21. BAE and […] More

A study by PwC’s consulting arm shows that U.S. aerospace and defense companies’ spending on research and development efforts has climbed by nearly $12 billion so far this year, Defense News reported Wednesday. The Global Innovation 1000 study conducted by Strategy& has found that top U.S.-based A&D firms recorded $11.79 billion in R&D spending, a figure that is […] More

Members of the Eurofighter consortium have committed to aid the establishment of two national innovation centers in Belgium as part of efforts to help boost the country’s aeronautical and defense capacities. The consortium said Saturday Airbus‘ defense and space business, BAE Systems and Leonardo signed formal endorsements to support the centers alongside France-based missile systems provider MBDA. […] More

U.S., Canadian and European aviation regulatory agencies have approved Honeywell‘s  satellite communication system and cabin connectivity service to facilitate Wi-Fi access onboard multiple helicopter models. Honeywell said Wednesday it received a Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate for the use of Aspire 200 satcom technolology on Airbus AS350 and Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. Transport Canada and the European Aviation Safety Agency […] More

Airbus Group‘ defense and space business has awarded Israel Aerospace Industries a contract to supply multimode radar systems for integration into Canada’s future maritime surveillance aircraft. The Canadian government ordered 16 C295 MSA units from Airbus that will be equipped with ELM-2022A radars from IAI’s ELTA Systems subsidiary, IAI said Monday. ELM-2022 works to detect, track, classify and identify maritime […] More

NASA will launch the Airbus-built replacement satellites for the U.S.-German Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite duo aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of 2018, Space Flight Now reported Tuesday. The space agency inked a shared launch agreement with Iridium and the Helmholtz Center-Potsdam German Research Center for Geosciences called GFZ to launch the […] More

Humatics has completed its Series A financing round with $18 million raised to support efforts to market the company’s machine-powered microlocation system and analytics software. The Spatial Intelligence Platform is designed to augment human navigation, location and collaboration operations with autonomous systems, the company announced Tuesday. Mobility-focused venture capital firm Fontinalis Partners led the funding round, with investment […] More

Australia’s air force has begun to use Inmarsat‘s satellite communications service on a C-130J Hercules transport aircraft as part of an effort to create new ways for air platforms to support deployed forces. Inmarsat said Friday the air force is using the Global Xpress service through Honeywell‘s JetWaveTM Ka-band satcom platform for a six-month trial that […] More

Rick Lober, vice president and general manager of Hughes Network Systems‘ defense and intelligence systems division, will participate in a panel discussion at SMi Group‘s Global MilSatCom Conference that is scheduled to take place in London from Nov. 7 to 9. SMi Group said Tuesday the forum will center on ground segment innovations for military satellite communications and cover […] More

Northrop Grumman‘s Astro Aerospace subsidiary has conducted a preliminary design review of L-band reflectors for two communications satellites that Airbus currently develops for Inmarsat. Astro Aerospace will work to mature the reflectors’ design before the Inmarsat-6 satellite program undergoes a critical design review later this year, Northrop said Wednesday. Inmarsat awarded Airbus’ defense and space business a […] More