Huntington Ingalls Industries has selected the armor materials from TenCate for its new amphibious assault ship that is being developed under a $2.38 billion incentive contract. Huntington Ingalls will combine the Tripoli (LHA 7) assault ship with TenCate-built composite armor, TenCate said Tuesday. “We are proud that Huntington has selected TenCate materials to be incorporated […] More

In a series of recent flight tests off the coast of San Diego the Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy victoriously took to the air with the unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout simultaneously with the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, what was their first time in flight. The testing took place aboard the USS Freedom Littoral […] More

Sikorsky Aircraft has announced plans to develop its first Matrix Technology-based aircraft by upgrading a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter into an autonomous, optionally piloted version, following more than a year of prototype design work. The company said Tuesday the cargo resupply aircraft will utilize autonomy and fleet management technology and feature internal and external cargo capability for up to 9,000 pounds. […] More

The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman will conduct tests to assess how a Northrop-built unmanned helicopter operates in an electromagnetic environment at sea. Northrop designed the MQ-8C Fire Scout aircraft with a Faraday shield that aims to protect avionics systems against radio frequency interference, Northrop said Monday. “Almost 95 percent of what makes up the […] More

Ursula English, most recently director of Boeing‘s commercial aviation services business, has been appointed vice president of the company’s environment, health and safety organization. English will start in the role Friday and will be responsible for the company’s workplace safety programs and environmental performance the company announced Tuesday. She will report to John Tracy, the […] More

The Airbus Group has appointed three executives to leadership positions in the conglomerate’s helicopters and defense and space divisions, as well as the Aerolia subsidiary. Christian Cornille will serve as executive vice president of industry for the Airbus Helicopters division and Cedric Gautier will succeed Cornille as CEO of Aerolia, Airbus announced Tuesday. Rafael Tentor has […] More

Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ shipbuilding division has turned over the assault ship America to the U.S. Navy after the completion of sea trials in February. The commissioning crew will then begin shipboard training before the ship’s sail-away and America’s commissioning is scheduled for later this year in San Francisco, Huntington Ingalls said Thursday. America is built […] More

The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman plan to carry out the first set of ship-based flights of the MQ-8C Fire Scout this summer, said George Vardoulakis, Northrop vice president of medium range tactical systems. “Land-based flight tests of the system are progressing well and… We expect the MQ-8C Fire Scout will be ready for operations by year […] More

A joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft has started construction work on a complex that will house maintenance work on the Australian navy’s fleet of 24 MH-60R maritime helicopters. The Maritime Helicopter Support Company broke ground on the new maintenance and warehouse facilities and expects construction to finish in early 2015,  the company announced Wednesday. Representatives from Brisbane-based Sikorsky […] More

Battelle has developed a metal detecting tool for U.S. Navy helicopter crews to help cleanup personnel at the Pinecastle Bombing Range in Florida find bomb debris, the Orlando Sentinel reported Sunday. Erica Rodriguez writes that the tool will be used to plot the locations of bomb and target debris on a heat map following pilot training exercises, […] More

CAE Inc. has been awarded more than $125 million in combined contracts with the U.S. Navy and customers from Poland, Germany and Malaysia to provide training technologies. CAE will supply four P-8A simulators to Boeing for the U.S. Navy, an SW4 helicopter simulator to the Polish Air Force, training support services to the German Air Force and maintenance […] More

DynCorp International and British Columbia, Canada-based The Coulson Group have forged a strategic partnership to jointly offer aerial firefighting services worldwide. The aerial firefighting team will provide Type One Air Tanker and helicopter services and operations to global clients, DynCorp said Thursday. Jim Myles, senior vice president of DI’s DynAviation business group, said DynCorp intends […] More