The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a US$1.7 billion contract for 12 KC-46A tanker aircraft. With this sixth production lot, Boeing is now on contract for 79 KC-46A tankers. The company delivered the first KC-46A to the Air Force in January 2019. Since then, Boeing has delivered 42 tankers to four different bases. The
GE Aviation has been awarded a US$111.9 million contract with NAVAIR for fourth lot T408 engines to power the U.S. Marine Corps’ most advanced heavy-lift helicopter, the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion. This latest contract of Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) engines follows three previous LRIP contracts for this program, the most recent being in August
Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Aviation Group has won three avionic upgrade contracts worth approximately US$50 million in South Korea, in 2020. The win includes three different aircraft types used by the Korean Air Force. The avionic upgrade process includes converting a used aircraft and retrofitting it with all or part of the avionic systems with
The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract, valued at US$109 million, to provide P-8A Poseidon training for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). A suite of training systems and course-ware will prepare RNZAF aircrew and maintainers to safely and effectively operate and maintain the maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft
Aviation Blade Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Aviation Services, has been awarded an inspection-and-repair contract to support main rotor blade repair for the Colombian Army Aviation Battalion fleet of UH-60 rotorcraft. Aviation Blade Services, along with its sister company Piedmont Propulsion Systems, have been making significant investments in facilities, engineering, workforce, and inventory
AAR has been awarded a US$148,357,084 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity follow-on contract with Naval Air Systems Command. This expanded contract provides contractor logistics support required for operating and maintaining the C-40A aircraft, aircraft subsystems, appliances and support equipment, including depot-level, main operating base and supply support. This award also introduces additional requirements including new operating sites, commercial
IBC Advanced Alloys Corp., a leading beryllium and copper advanced alloys company, has reported that Lockheed Martin has awarded IBC new purchase orders totaling approximately US$9.7 million to produce two aerospace-qualified beryllium-aluminum components for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft over the next 26 months. One purchase order involves production of the azimuth gimbal housing unit
Boeing and the U.S. Navy have, for the first time, flown the MQ-25 T1 test asset with an aerial refueling store (ARS), a significant milestone informing development of the unmanned aerial refueler. The successful 2.5-hour flight with the Cobham ARS – the same ARS currently used by F/A-18s for air-to-air refueling – was designed to
The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Mali has placed a firm order for an additional Airbus C295 airlifter in the transport configuration. This second aircraft, to be delivered in 2021, will supplement the first C295 already in operation since December 2016 which has already accumulated 1,770 flight hours and transported more than 38,000
Embraer has delivered the first modernized EMB 145 AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control), designated E-99, to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). Four additional E-99 aircraft will be modernized as part of the contract. The mission systems and related subsystems, including electronic warfare, command and control, electronic countermeasures, and aerial surveillance radar were updated as
