As the United States government seeks for new ways of reducing military spending, the T-X program seems to be a very lucrative military contract available for the defense industry. Around 350 aircraft are anticipated to be purchased in order to replace the T-38 Talon aircraft, which was manufactured originally by Northrop Grumman Corporation. This potential order for 350 aircrafts is estimated to be valued at $8.4 billion. The entire program has an expected lifetime cycle of roughly 50 years. Read more >>

Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems have agreed on developing radio frequency countermeasures systems, also known as RFCM systems, for U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command AC/MC-130J turboprops. The development is scheduled to take place later in 2016 and the contracts represent the first phase of a multi-phase program to upgrade survivability of this aircraft. Read more >>

Clean Sky Technology, Europe’s aerospace research venture has been working on a joint technology initiative to reduce air transport’s environmental footprint and recently took a huge leap in accomplishing one of its goals. This leap was seen in its completion, via Saab in Sweden, of a natural laminar flow wing section. With its innovative design this wing section is supposed to reduce air drag and if applied to the entire wing, could bring a 5-10 percent improvement in fuel consumption. As part of the Blade (Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe) flight demonstrator this wing section will soon arrive at Spain’s Aernnova plant for assembly. It will eventually be installed on an Airbus A340-300 aircraft for testing purposes Read more >>

Montreal, Canada-based Bombardier announced that it has delivered a pair of specialized Challenger 605 business jets to the Hong Kong Government Flying Service. The Hong Kong Government Flying Service is tasked with search and rescue (SAR), air ambulance, firefighting, and police missions. The Government Flying Service plans to replace its aging search and rescue fleet used for long-range missions with the new Challenger 605 jets. Read more >>

Cannes, France-based Thales Alenia Space announced that the ExoMars 2016 orbiter spacecraft is set to leave its Cannes clean rooms where it is currently completing integration and testing. The ExoMars orbiter is set for delivery to the Baikonur launch base in Kazakhstan. Thales Alenia Space operates as a joint venture between French firm Thales (67%) and Italian firm Finmeccanica (33%). Read more >>