U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

U.S. startup RapidFlight has emerged from stealth mode to launch the M2, a Group 3 uncrewed aircraft system that is 3D-printed.

Scramjet testing has scored several breakthroughs, but the path forward for the Pentagon’s portfolio of hypersonic glide vehicle projects is unclear.

DARPA’s interest in platforms waxes and wanes but is entering a cycle of renewed focus based on a fiscal 2024 budget request.

One or more experimental aircraft could start flying in 2027 to prove the feasibility of a transporter that can speed up like a jet and land like a helicopter.

Momentum for in-space servicing, space logistics and manufacturing is building.

Lockheed Martin Ventures has invested in electric seaglider startup Regent to speed up the development of a military variant of the company’s aircraft.

Shield AI and Boeing have agreed to explore ways to deepen an existing relationship by working to introduce artificial intelligence pilots on combat aircraft.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

DARPA selected GA-ASI in March 2022 to advance to the next phase of the project in March 2022, but a year passed before the manufacturer announced the news.

U.S. startup PteroDynamics has closed a $7.5 million seed funding round and teamed with Leidos to bid for a DARPA X-plane project.

Honda pursues SAF; Lithium-air battery; Fly-by-wire for GA; SAF from camelina.

The satellites are to be part of the U.S. Space Force’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

DARPA will start a new program aimed at high-speed, runway-independent aircraft.

A decades-old concept for a ubiquitous battlefield network concept is starting to become reality.

The program should be considered the “most successful hypersonic air breathing flight test program in U.S. history,” DARPA says.

The technology is intended to reduce the transit time for human expeditions and science missions to Mars and other deep space destinations.

Aurora plans to fly an X-plane for DARPA in 2025 that will fly solely by using active flow control instead of mechanical control surfaces.

The award begins a two-track Phase 1 for the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Opeations (Draco) demonstration program.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is to use artificial intelligence in the design of an air taxi under a four-year, $7.2 million DARPA contract.

As NASA continues feasibility studies into nuclear propulsion for deep space missions, DARPA has awarded an initial contract to help pave the way toward possible orbital tests of a nuclear-powered rocket for U.S. military use in and around cislunar space.

The Lockheed Martin and Raytheon variants of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept have completed captive carry tests, a military official said.

DARPA plans to launch a program to fly an X-plane designed around active flow control.

A scramjet-powered missile developed under the joint DARPA/U.S. Air Force Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program was destroyed in a recent test accident, Aviation Week has learned.

A nearly year-long setback for the Tactical Boost Glide program will cause a similar delay for the U.S. Air Force’s AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, the U.S. Government Accountability Office says.

DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program aims to use dogfight automation as a crucible to give pilots confidence that AI “can handle a high-end fight.”