Boeing has chosen aerospace engineering firm Dynetics to provide a thrust vector control exhaust gas heat exchanger and three structural simulators for the NASA Space Launch System program. Dynetics said Wednesday it will manufacture the flight hardware and simulation platforms for the SLS core stage at its Huntsville, Alabama facility, and then deliver the systems […] More

Northrop Grumman has completed a series of engineering and manufacturing development design reviews on its active electronically scanned array radar that will replace legacy radar systems on Lockheed Martin‘s F-16 aircraft. Northrop said Wednesday that Lockheed chose the AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar under separate F-16 upgrade programs to replace the radars used by U.S. and Taiwanese soldiers. Jeff […] More

The Department of the Navy will conduct a series of technical interchange meetings with industry ahead of a scheduled analysis of alternatives in 2015 on potential replacements for the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. A notice posted Tuesday on FedBizOpps says the Naval Air System Command‘s Warfare Analysis and Integration Department plans to build on its 2012 “Carrier-Based, Strike Fighter Key […] More

The U.S. Army has been developing an open architecture for military drone ground control stations in collaboration with software company Real-Time Innovations and General Dynamics‘ advanced information systems business. RTI said Wednesday the framework supports the Future Airborne Capability Environment program that aims to help the government and industry boost interoperability between avionics platforms. “In […] More

Rockwell Collins‘ subsidiary in Brazil will expand its aircraft service center in Sao Jose dos Campos to support the company’s entry into new markets in the region, said Managing Director Nelson Aquino. “This expansion will bring new engineering and service capabilities to our customers in the region and will enable Rockwell Collins do Brazil to pursue and capture more […] More

Ryan Hartman, CEO of Boeing‘s Insitu subsidiary, said the business is looking to make its ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle commercially available for agricultural and environmental uses, Avionics Magazine reported Wednesday. Woodrow Bellamy III writes that Hartman wants to adopt a UAV commercialization strategy similar to the one Insitu used when it entered the defense market. […] More

Boeing has evaluated the safety features of a commercial spacecraft the company is building for NASA‘s human flight missions into low-Earth orbit. The company said Thursday it conducted the CST-100 hazard analysis to identify possible life-threating risks and ensure that capsule design is safe. CST-100 would transport up to seven astronauts and cargo to the […] More

BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin are bidding to secure F-16 modernization contracts with international customers as U.S. and European military organizations turn to upgrade work instead of new orders amid decreased funding, Reuters reported Monday. Sarah Young and Andrea Shalal report that the global market for F-16 upgrades is worth $10 billion over the next decade. John […] More

BAE Systems has started work to add new weapons and avionics systems to South Korea’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets under a two-phase foreign military sales contract awarded by the U.S. Air Force. The company said Wednesday it will supply equipment and parts such as mission computers, cockpit displays, radars and sensors for 134 KF-16C/D Block 52 aircraft, as well […] More

Lockheed Martin Corp. has completed the installation of the Orion space crew capsule on the service module as part of a series of milestones leading up to the first exploration test flight. Ballast weights were fixed into the crew module in order to comply with requirements for appropriate flight performance before the stacking phase at the […] More

Northrop Grumman has appointed Ben Palmer, Jon Anderson and Simon Cooper to business development leadership roles for the company’s Europe and U.K. organization. The company said Wednesday Palmer will be director of European strategy and business development, Anderson will be director of business development for C4ISR (land, maritime and civil) and Cooper will be director of business development for C4ISR (air). […] More

A team of NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers has begun integrating a thermal protection system onto the crew module of the agency’s Orion deep-space exploration vehicle. NASA plans to conduct a maiden test flight for the Orion spacecraft by Dec. 4, Lockheed said Wednesday. The test’s goal is to evaluate if the heat shield will […] More