Ramona Adams

A SpaceX-built spacecraft is scheduled to leave the International Space Station on Jan. 13 after a cargo delivery mission to carry science samples back to Earth. NASA said Tuesday the agency expects Dragon to depart from ISS at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time, then splash down in the Pacific Ocean at 10:36 a.m. The spacecraft will bring back 4,100 pounds […] More

The State Department has approved Oman’s request to procure items and services for an incremental F-16 software upgrade program under a potential $62 million foreign military sales agreement. Oman asked to buy equipment and services needed to update the Operational Flight Profile software for F-16 subsystems, as well as Mode 5 identification friend-or-foe and secure communications platforms for the […] More

Sierra Nevada Corp. has achieved a contractual milestone with NASA for the company-built Dream Chaser spacecraft after a test vehicle completed a free-flight test in November. SNC said Friday Dream Chaser cleared Milestone 4B under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability contract, confirming that the spacecraft is designed to perform safe runway landings from space to Earth. NASA’s Commercial […] More

Unmanned aircraft systems maker AeroVironment and Japan-based telecommunications company SoftBank have formed a joint venture to build a high-altitude, long-endurance UAS for commercial operations. HAPSMobile is 95 percent owned by SoftBank and 5 percent owned by AeroVironment, the latter company said Wednesday. AeroVironment will contribute $5 million in capital to secure 5 percent ownership of the joint venture, with the option to […] More

QinetiQ and the British defense ministry will jointly provide $27 million in funds to support the upgrade of an environmental test facility based at a military installation in Shoeburyness, England. The company said Tuesday the investment in the Environmental Test Centre is part of an effort to modernize the U.K.’s test and evaluation systems. ETC provides facilities, technology and […] More

Orbital ATK has received a $23 million initial contract from the U.S. Air Force to commence full-rate production of hard target void sensing fuze assemblies. FMU-167/B HTVSF is a cockpit programmable fuze designed to help the service branch destroy hard and deeply-buried targets, the company said Wednesday. The award follows a low-rate initial production contract that the […] More

Pakistan’s navy has begun to purchase new warships as part of an effort to replace six Type 21 frigates that the country acquired from the U.K. in the 1990s, Defense News reported Wednesday. The report said Pakistan awarded a contract in June 2017 for a Chinese Type 054A Jiangkai II frigate, with plans to buy two […] More

Change Healthcare Holdings and McKesson have launched healthcare information technology company Change Healthcare, which combines CHC’s business and majority of McKesson’s technology solutions unit. The new company also appointed 11 individuals to its executive leadership team, Mckesson said Thursday. Change Healthcare CEO Neil de Crescenzo said the company has 15,000 team members who will work with customers and partners […] More

Saab plans to collaborate with Indian infrastructure conglomerate Adani Group to design, develop and manufacture the Saab-built Gripen fighter aircraft in India. The two companies aim to build other defense systems in India and facilitate local joint ventures to support the Make in India initiative that seeks to make the South Asian country a global design and manufacturing center, […] More

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded contracts to separate teams led by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon‘s BBN Technologies subsidiary to develop unmanned aerial and ground vehicle technologies. DARPA said Thursday the two industry teams will perform work under the first phase of the OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program that aims to deploy swarms of autonomy and human-swarm teaming platforms […] More

Australia’s military purchased approximately $7.8 billion worth of military weapons and equipment through the U.S. government’s foreign military sales program in the past four years, Australia’s ABC News reported Thursday. Data was based from government contracts reviewed by the Australian national audit office between the 2012 to 2013 and 2016 to 2017 periods. The Australian […] More

Japan and South Korea are studying ways to modify their respective ships to support the operations of the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, Defense News reported Tuesday. Anonymous military sources from both countries said that Japan plans to carry the F-35B short take-off vertical landing variant aboard its Izumo-class helicopter destroyer, while South Korea […] More