France

As the threat of wildfires grows, industry prepares new fleets of modern fixed-wing aircraft to tackle them.

The new French government’s plan to raise an extra €1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) per year from taxes on aviation came as no surprise.

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

The €13.7 million ($14.9 million) project is being led by Thales and also includes Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters and Spain’s Indra.

The milestone was announced by the UK Defense Equipment and Support agency on Oct. 9.

The joint venture company of Airbus, Leonardo and Fokker paid to strip the parts from Australia’s NH90 fleet.

First flight of the aircraft, a dedicated military variant of the company’s H160 twin-engine medium helicopter, is planned for 2025.

France has conducted the first qualification launch of the Aster 30 B1NT air- and missile-defense interceptor as it targets entry into service in 2026.

France is pressing ahead with efforts to field an enhanced standard of its Rafale multi-role fighter and pair it with an uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

European airports and airlines are criticizing plans by France’s new government to raise up to $1.1 billion from the aviation sector.

Chinese and Russia anti-satellite capabilities are driving Western militaries to pursue better situational awareness and countermeasures.

The German Space Command is exploring the possibility of launching an active in-orbit space defense project not unlike what France is pursuing.

French startup Hynaero, which was founded last year and aims to develop a new water bomber with greater performance, is reporting progress.

Deputy Minister of Transport Francois Durovray may have a different focus, compared to his predecessors.

The praise demonstrates that startups are eagerly awaiting the new form of competition in Europe.

Paris has revealed further details of France and Italy's plans to acquire a new version of the SAMP/T as it rushes upgrade air and missile defense capabilities.

After launching 326 Earth observation satellites last year, more than 5,400 are due for launch over the coming decade, Debien said.

The two-stage rocket is already at its launch site in Andoya, Norway, and now entering the final test phases.

Seeing business cases solidifying, manufacturers are striving to keep production costs low.

The French government plans to buy additional SAMP/T air and missile defense systems.

A Rocket Lab Electron launcher placed Kineis’ first five satellites into orbit last June.

The demonstration—Toutatis—will comprise the Lisa-1 space situational awareness satellite and the Splinter LEO action satellite to deal with suspicious activities.

Starship, currently in a test phase, is going to change the way space industry players see satellites.

Europe is planning to upgrade some of the software on its Ariane 6 heavy rocket to deal with a malfunction during the launcher’s inaugural mission.

The deviation was precisely measured and the 2022 mission was deemed a success.