A U.S. Marine Corps official has said he believes the service branch’s future vertical lift program should operate as an optionally piloted helicopter designed to perform some missions, Flight Global reported Friday. “Especially for a high reliability airplane, we view that airplane as a manned platform,” Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, told […] More

A new Visiongain report forecasts the global military aircraft maintenance, repair and operations market will hit $49 billion in value in 2015. Visiongain said Friday the increasing adoption of new fighter aircraft among tier-one market players would spur growth in the industry. The 2015-2025 forecast covers maintenance aspects in operations and field, heavy airframe, heavy engine, […] More

Hughes Network Systems‘ defense and intelligence systems division has worked with partners Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and DataPath to test the video transmission capability of its satellite communications system for airborne platforms. Hughes said Monday the test demonstrated the real-time transmission of high-definition video from a NorthStar Aviation Bell 407MRH helicopter via Inmarsat‘s Global Xpress I-5 F2 satellite. “High-definition […] More

BAE Systems is looking to secure a potential contract with the U.S. Army to equip the service’s fleet of Boeing‘s AH-64 Apache helicopters with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, USNI News reported Monday. David Harrold, director of precision guidance solutions at BAE Systems, told the publication that a business opportunity could arise following live-fire flight tests on APKWS using […] More

A new Research and Markets report forecasts the U.S. military expenditure to reach $597 billion by 2020 from $560 billion in 2015, driven by the government’s efforts to retain military dominance through weapons modernization. The market analysis sets a 0.51 percent compound annual growth rate for U.S. military spending over the forecast period, noting that expenditure declined by […] More

A new Research and Markets report predicts the global military rotorcraft market to hit $27.3 billion by 2025 from $21.1 billion in 2015, with Asia-Pacific countries to dominate the spending landscape. Investments from the Asia Pacific will account for 33 percent of rotorcraft spending worldwide during the forecast period, followed by North America with a 29-percent share, Research and […] More

Cobham’s air-to-air refueling system has worked to facilitate in-flight refueling for three Bell–Boeing CV-22 Osprey aircraft of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command under attack during a rescue mission in South Sudan. The CV-22s sustained substantial system damages from attacks by hostile forces after the AFSOC rescue team tried to leave a UN compound […] More