Military & Defense

The US Air Force will begin updating its C-130 transport fleet with the Rolls-Royce T56 Series 3.5 engine upgrade after awarding a US$36m contract. Series 3.5 kit deliveries will begin in December 2015 and introduce the engine improvements into USAF and US Air National Guard C-130s. The Series 3.5 upgrade kits are already demonstrating success

Cobham has received a series of orders from BAE Systems for microelectronic products totaling approximately US$51m for the F-35 Lightning II platform. The work will be performed by Cobham Microelectronic Solutions, a business unit of the Cobham Advanced Electronics Solutions sector. Cobham’s offering for the recent orders on the F-35 platform includes microelectronic components and

Avcorp Industries has been awarded its first purchase contract from Lockheed Martin. The scope of this agreement will complement Avcorp’s existing manufacturing of the F-35 Carrier Variant (“CV”) Outboard Wing (“OBW”) integrated assembly. Avcorp has been manufacturing OBW assemblies under a long-term contract with BAE Systems since 2011. The additional Lockheed Martin purchase contract will

L-3 Communications has been awarded a US$30m contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to missionize two C-130J aircraft using a next-generation mission system suite. The total value of the contract, with all options exercised, is approximately US$93m. Work will be performed by L-3 Platform Integration in Waco, Texas. The government-owned mission system was developed jointly

Lightweight metals leader Alcoa has won a contract to supply titanium for Lockheed Martin’s (LMT) F-35 Lightning II aircraft program, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Under the contract, Alcoa becomes the titanium supplier for airframe structures for all three variants of the F-35 over nine years, from 2016 to 2024. At current

Spirit Aeronautics, a world class leader in aircraft services, has developed a unique avionics upgrade program that modernizes military C-21A aircraft that will meet the demands of worldwide flight operations in both military and civil airspace. “We have some smart people who have teamed up with some of the brightest avionics OEM engineers to come

The India Ministry of Defence has finalized its order with Boeing for production, training and support of Apache and Chinook helicopters that will greatly enhance India’s capabilities across a range of military and humanitarian missions. India will receive 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. Both are the newest models of

Boeing and the U.S. Air Force successfully completed the first flight of a KC-46A tanker aircraft. This was the first flight of a KC-46A tanker-configured aircraft, following ongoing flights of the program’s first test aircraft, a 767-2C. During the flight, Boeing test pilots performed operational checks on engines, flight controls and environmental systems and took