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The intelligent Aerospace Staff released an article on June 6th, 2016 talking about how Curtiss Wright is offering an embedded computing subsystem for unmanned avionics. The subsystem that Intelligent Aerospace Staff is talking about the Parvus DuraCOR 311. The Parvus DuraCOR 311 is a very small rugged commercial embedded computer subsystem that will work in unmanned avionics and systems. The Parvus DuraCOR 311 is considered to be COTS or commercial off the shelf.

Saab, the Swedish automobile company, has recently signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates in November at the Dubai Air Show. This deal is worth $1.27 billion, as Saab will be responsible for heavily adapting the Global 6000 business jet in order to be capable of conducting land and maritime surveillance, electronic intelligence duties, as well as airborne early warning and control, or AEW&C. Saab has already began work in order to modify a couple of Bombardier Global 6000 business jets into its swing-role GlobalEye configuration for the United Arab Emirates, its lead customer.

Airbus Helicopters, the aircraft manufacturing giant, has been chosen by Ascent as the primary aircraft Service Provider of choice for the UK’s Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS). The contract from Ascent is worth a cool $728 million over the course of 17 years. The terms are that Airbus Helicopters will deliver over the course of 18 months, the load of aircrafts and the integrated support solution in preparation for the start of training which is scheduled for April 2018. Going back as far as 35 years ago, all UK military helicopter pilots have earned their stripes training on Airbus Helicopters which started with the Gazelle and eventually with the H125 Squirrel. In 2018 and moving forward, Ascent’s delivery of a key capability for the UK MOD will be supported by Airbus Helicopters. Philip Dunne the UK's Minister for Defence Procurement, has stated that this

The Germans have requested for Airbus to create a sharper helicopter.  Testing sensors are undergoing strict evaluations to begin to install a HFI system (Hostile fire indication) as requested by the German Armed Forces.  A prototype of a German Army Sikorsky CH-53G helicopter has been made and tested on March 30^th to observe the new functions of the innovation. The HFI was built to better detect a various range of different size caliber and even non-tracer ammunition. During the evaluations the rotorcraft was modified with acoustic and infrared sensors to be able to recognize fire based on sound and muzzle flashes.

Calgary-based WestJet Encore Ltd. has just announced that they’ve awarded Bombardier Commercial Aircraft an order for nine of their Q400 tuboprop Jets. The transaction is the culmination of a conversion of options initially booked by the airline’s parent company WestJet and is expected to increase the total of WestJet Encore’s Q400 aircraft fleet to 45. The order is estimated to be around $293 million US based on the average list price of the Q400 aircraft. Ferio Pugliese, President of WestJet Encore raved about how Bombardier’s Toronto-built Q400 turboprop airliner has allowed WestJet to further expand from their Western Canada base to communities from coast to coast across the entirety of Canada and into the US where they are continuing to expand their network.

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace has recently been awarded an indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract by the United States Air Force for their KDC-10 aerial refueling tankers. This contract is estimated to be valued around $1.9 billion. Under this indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity contract, L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace will be providing logistics integration as well as support for the aircrafts.

James Drew wrote an article for Flightglobal talking about how the Canadian training and simulation firm, CAE, is working along side with Draken, an American aviation contractor in order for the company to offer 16 Douglass A-4 Skyhawks fir the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Royal Canadian Air Force will be using these 16 Douglas A-4 Skyhawks for their combat training.

Dominic Perry wrote an article for Flightglobal discussed about how Airbus Helicopters won yet another deal with the UK Ministry of Defense’s rotary wing contract which is also under the MFTS. MFTS stands for Military Flying Training System. Airbus out beat its rival, Cobham who uses the AgustaWestland rotorcraft in order to win the contract.

The Marine Corps has just taken delivery of the first two Kaman K-MAX Helicopters just last week on May 7^th of 2016 at the Marine Corps Air station in Yuma, Arizona. Unique in purpose and design, the Kaman K-MAX Helicopter has interlinking rotors and whose primary mission is to handle cargo load operations with a maximum payload exceed 6,000 pounds. Jerry McCawley, Chief Pilot and Flight Safety Engineer with Lockheed Martin, revealed that the Kaman K-MAX Helicopters can actually fly by itself independent of a physical pilot.

The Ch-47 Chinook has been a staple of the US Army since the early 70’s and remains one of the most iconic aircraft in American history to this day. Although the US Army has no immediate plans and intentions to replace the venerable aircraft, when the time does come for it to move on from the Ch-47 Chinook, the AVX aircraft will be its successor. With a 27.2t (60,000lb) tiltrotor replacement and  13.4m (44ft) propellers, the AVX tiltrotor aircraft has been deemed the most perfect fit for a heavy-lift cargo aircraft by an independent advanced rotorcraft design shop. The Texas-based shop in Benbrook has several Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey aerodynamicists as staff and with the wealth of experience and knowledge between them have approved the AVX as the most sensible and probable successor to the storied Chinook. The CH-47 is among the last of the current-generation helicopters that are intended to be slowly phased out in favor of a next-generation design.

The deputy commander of the United States Pacific Command has suggested that the United States Army must utilize innovative aircrafts with increased speed, range, as well as survivability than is currently attainable with today’s helicopter offerings. Lt Gen Tony Crutchfield has said that the long distances across the Pacific Ocean are a challenge for the current generation of army rotorcraft, specifically the UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-6 Little Bird, AH-64 Apache, as well as the CH-47 Chinook. All of these rotorcrafts were adopted in the last century. The proliferation of anti-aircraft weaponry has also posed as a challenge to these existing rotorcrafts.

Lockheed Martin team in the UK is creating facilities in the UK to handle performance of F-35 Lightning 2 aircraft. When the F-35 fighters arrive in Britain, they are hoping for completion in early or around 2018 is what the completion is scheduled for currently. The Air Force base is to begin sometime this month and will include a maintenance and finish facility, a logistics center and also will have a training center as well.

The Boeing Company recently announced that they have been awarded a new US Army contract worth over $1.5 billion to upgrade their Apache helicopter fleet. Over the course of the next several years, the Army will send 117 of their older Apache Helicopters to Boeing’s Mesa facility to be equipped with modern technology. The Army will use this new contract to bring their entire Apache fleet up to current specs and standards.

The Dutch Military has awarded Boeing the contract for 12 CH-47F Chinook helicopters which has been valued at an estimated $308 million dollars. According to an announcement from the Defense Department, the funding for the helicopters comes as part of amendment to an already existing foreign military sales contract with the country of Netherlands. Work on the Chinooks will be conducted at Boeing’s facility in Ridley Township, Penn. And if recent announcements are to be believed, the deliveries are expected to be fulfilled this month with U.S. Army’s Contracting Command officials overseeing the program.

AAR Corporation, an aviation support company that was founded in 1951 and supplies a wide range of services and products to the government, defense, and aerospace industries, has recently entered into an agreement with UTC Aerospace Systems in order to manage and overlook distribution necessities as well as to support the Japanese military aircraft in Japan by stocking inventory of defense parts. UTC Aerospace Systems serves as one of the world’s biggest suppliers of technologically advanced defense and aerospace products.

This past month, the US Army has officially began its search to find replacement “Block III” engines for its second generation RQ-7B Shadow UAV (RQ-7Bv2) aircraft. The initial RQ-7Bv2 scout planes entered service just last year, but new mission equipment is already weighing down the planes immensely.  To put this extra weight into perspective, the RQ-7B was designed to have an overall takeoff weight of 280 lbs, but after adding all the necessary equipment and mission modifications, the takeoff weight balloons to 460 lbs. This takeoff weight is especially troublesome considering that the US Army will likely make even more changes to the aircraft equipment.

The Airbus A350-900 is scheduled to make its FIDAE debut as a part of the air show’s flying display.  The huge wide body twin engine plane recently entered service with Brazilian Airline TAM, and the FIDAE air display will only serve to strengthen Air Bus’ reach within South America.  Airbus has seen its fair share of sales success in Latin America, and they believe their latest model will also sell well in the region.

Sécurité Civile, the civil defense agency of the French government, will soon need to replace their aging fleet of nine Conair Turbo Firecat fire bombers and have recently considered potentially choosing the new Bombardier 415 Superscooper in order to modernize their fleet. Sécurité Civile’s current existing fleet of Firecat bombers, some of which have served as long as 58 years, were originally converted from Grumman S-2 Trackers; their type certificate is soon to expire in 2020.

The United States Navy’s twin-engine supersonic, multirole combat jet, the F-18 Hornet, has been experiencing issues with its On-Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS), as the Navy has been continuously searching for a fix for five years. The system failure, while rare, could potentially kill the aircraft’s pilot due to in-flight oxygen deprivation, consequently costing a pilot’s life as well as potentially destroying a $30 million to $60 million aircraft.

Gogo Inflight Internet announced this week that they have signed an agreement to collaborate with Shareco Technologies to provide connectivity services on commercial aircraft. This partnership marks Gogo’s first venture into China, and it is also the biggest deal ever announced in the country in terms of in-flight connectivity. Under the terms of the deal, Gogo will also supply features such as in-flight entertainment options to Shareco to install on the aircraft. The companies’ goal is to install the systems onto fifty aircraft within two years.