Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have released the compromise fiscal 2025 defense policy bill, which remains under a required spending cap despite efforts from some key lawmakers to raise the spending ceiling.

The U.S. Defense Department is funding an uncrewed air vehicle (UAV) laser power-beaming development project.

Scaled Composites brings back its “Old School” test platform seven years after its last flight.

Stratolaunch says it is receiving its final rounds of approvals to conduct its first reusable test flight of the Talon A hypersonic testbed by Dec. 31.

The Ukrainian government has revealed production plans for two long-range drone missiles, highlighting a campaign to strengthen the national defense industry.

Anduril Industries and OpenAI have formed a “strategic partnership” to develop artificial intelligence systems for national security missions.

Portugal’s EEA Aircraft and Maintenance is selecting suppliers for the country’s first indigenously produced aircraft, naming Akaer as structures supplier.

Australia has shortlisted the Lockheed Martin PrSM and the Kongsberg NSM to form the country’s second long-range fires regiment.

The test firing of the MBDA Meteor took place in Lossiemouth, Scotland, to take advantage of the available airspace over the Atlantic, the Luftwaffe said.

Arianespace on Dec. 4 returned the Vega-C rocket to flight after a more than two-year hiatus following a mission failure in 2022.

The agency suspects maneuvering spacecraft could open the door to other science missions, including ones linked to Mars sample return missions.

NASA again has pushed back anticipated launch dates for the Artemis II and Artemis III crewed lunar missions in light of Orion crew capsule heat-shield damage.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has signed a classified strategy document designed to unify the military’s efforts to counter uncrewed systems.

Bell has completed wind-tunnel testing of its proposed X-plane for a DARPA project to demonstrate a high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

The first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for a former Warsaw Pact country has made its initial flight.

The U.S. Air Force will postpone decisions about the future of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program until beyond year-end.

Nigeria’s Air Force will receive 12 ex-French Air Force Alpha Jet trainers as part of its growth in capacity to deal with Islamic extremism.

A new decadal survey of future solar and space physics research calls for an increased focus on the Sun and its interactions across the Solar System.

The UK Royal Air Force has begun kitting out the new fleet of Boeing MH-47G Block II Chinooks it has on order.

The European Union (EU) should take a “big bang” approach to meeting defense capability needs, says Andrius Kubilius, the bloc’s Defense and Space commissioner.

Eve Air Mobility and Helicopters Inc. have signed a letter of intent for up to 50 electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

French startup Ascendance Flight Technologies says it is on track to make a first flight with a piloted, prototype of its Atea eVTOL aircraft in mid-2025.

President-elect Donald Trump’s push to select relative outsiders for top Pentagon positions continues with his selection of Daniel Driscoll to lead the Army as its top civilian.

Airbus says the bulk of the head-count reduction it disclosed in October will hit its space segment, with over half of the 2,043 positions being eliminated.

President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated billionaire Jared Isaacman, a commander of two SpaceX commercial space flights, to be the next NASA administrator.