JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J., 15 March 2012. U.S. Army officials needed high-definition electro-optical imaging sensors for the Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems (PGSS) program, which mounts a broad variety of persistent-surveillance sensors on tethered helium-filled blimps that float as high as 3,000 feet off the ground for wide-area surveillance. They found their solution from FLIR Systems Inc. in Wilsonville, Ore.

WASHINGTON, 15 March 2012. NASA officials are seeking proposals from accredited U.S. universities for the inaugural Space Technology Research Opportunities for Early Career Faculty. This solicitation seeks to sponsor research in specific, high-priority technology areas of interest to NASA. NASA will award approximately 10 grants this fall, funded up to $200,000 each per year, based on the merit of proposals received. Notices of intent to submit proposals are due March 30.

KNUTSFORD, England, 14 March 2012. Officials at Corsairfly have selected IFE Services as the French airline’s in-flight entertainment (IFE) provider. IFE Services will provide the Corsairfly airline with a regularly updated package of entertainment content for passengers to enjoy across the fleet's digital audio and video on demand (AVOD), overhead, and portable handheld systems. 

CHRISTCHURCH, England, 13 March 2012. Executives of motion Control specialist Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. in Charlotte, N.C., are sharpening their company's focus on avionics and electronics technologies by standing up a new business unit based in Christchurch, England, called the Curtiss-Wright Avionics & Electronics division. Curtiss-Wright Avionics & Electronics will focus on rugged data acquisition, rugged data recording, air data, and sensor data management subsystems.

PHILADELPHIA, 13 March 2012. U.S. Navy aviation experts are asking the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to repair and upgrade the U.S. Marine Corps fleet of ageing AV-8B Harrier jump jets under terms of a $30.9 million contract awarded late last week. Boeing will repair various parts supporting the AV-8 vertical-and-short-takeoff-and-landing (VSTOL) attack jets as part of the contract.

BOHEMIA, N.Y., 13 March 2010. Data Device Corp. (DDC) in Bohemia, N.Y, is offering drop-in direct-replacement MIL-STD-1553 avionics databus transceivers for applications that require NHi-65118 and NHi-15137 transceivers. For high-reliability military applications that need MIL-PRF-38534 security, DDC offers two qualified direct-replacement MIL-STD-1553 transceivers -- the BU-63147 dual 5-volt transceiver and BUS-63123 dual -15-/+5-volt transceiver.

WASHINGTON, 14 March 2012. Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for leading U.S. airlines, commends Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood for his efforts to overturn the application of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to U.S. airlines and aircraft operators.

DALLAS, 11 March 2012. U.S. Army helicopter avionics experts needed a defense contractor for field service and logistics assistance for the mast-mounted sight (MMS) on the Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout and attack helicopter. They found their solution from the DRS Technologies Inc. Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Group in Dallas.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 11 March 2012. U.S. Air Force researchers are asking industry to develop and demonstrate large, low-noise, high-uniformity, medium-wave infrared (MWIR) detector arrays for the next generation of space-based launch detection aboard satellites similar to those that are part of the Defense Support Program (DSP) and Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellations of reconnaissance satellites.

HANSCOM AFB, Mass., 8 March 2012. Military radar experts at the Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems segment in El Segundo, Calif., and partner Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems segment in El Segundo, Calif., will develop and install an advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground radar system for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 40 high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under terms of a $24.5 million contract announced Wednesday.

BOULDER, Colo., 6 March 2012. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and XCOR Aerospace officials entered an agreement to conduct suborbital space missions with payload specialist astronauts flying aboard test missions in the XCOR Aerospace Lynx Mark I spacecraft. “By putting scientists in space with their experiments, researchers can achieve better results at lower cost, and with a higher probability of success, than with many old-style automated experiments,” says Dr. Alan Stern, associate vice president of SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division. “The effort we’re announcing today with XCOR will put SwRI researchers at the leading edge of this revolutionary new kind of suborbital research.”

SANTA ANA, Calif., 6 March 2012. STEC Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC) in Santa Ana, Calif., is introducing the MACH16 Slim SATA solid-state drive for rugged, aerospace, and military embedded systems such as military vehicles, transportation systems, GPS systems, medical equipment, and rugged PCs. The new data storage devices offer the same flash management as STEC's enterprise solid-state drives, company officials say.

NEW YORK, 5 March 2012. The commercial aircraft sector is likely to enter a prolonged up cycle in production in 2012, as a result of increasing demand for leisure and business travel, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, according to “2012 Global aerospace and defense outlook: A tale of two industries” by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited's (DTTL’s) Global Manufacturing Industry group. The global defense market is expected to experience flat or declining growth due to anticipated decreases in military spending, principally in the U.S. and Europe.

SEATTLE, 5 March 2012. Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Air Astana officials have announced an order for four 767-300ER (Extended Range) and three 787-8 Dreamline aircraft. The order, valued at $1.3 billion at current list prices, makes it the largest single order for commercial airplanes in Kazakhstan's history. "Our decision to order the Boeing airplanes is part of Air Astana's long-term growth strategy to expand and modernize our fleet with newer, more fuel-efficient airplanes to serve domestic, regional and international routes," explains Peter Foster, president of Air Astana.

EVERETT, Wash., 5 March 2012. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) has received two certificates confirming the official status of two world records earned by the 787 Dreamliner aircraft late in 2011. The 787 airplane completed a 10,336 nautical miles (19,142 kilometer) flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh—breaking the record for the longest flight for an airplane in its weight class (440,924 to 551,155 lbs.). The Airbus A330 previously held the record for its 9,126 nautical mile (16,901 kilometer) flight in 2002.

MOSCOW, 4 March 2012. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in Moscow has signed a contract with Sukhoi Co. JSC in Moscow to build the latest production lot of 32 Su-34 jet fighter-bombers for the Russian air force, Sukhoi officials announced. The Su-34, which NATO calls the Fullback, is being designed to replace the Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer and the Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers as Russia's front-line jet strike fighter.

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 4 March 2012. U.S. Navy aviation experts needed radar warning receivers, electronic warfare (EW) signal processors, and active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems for the Navy's F/A-18 Hornet carrier-based jet fighter-bomber. They found their solution from two divisions of the Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems segment.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 2 March 2012. U.S. Air Force aviation experts needed helmet-mounted targeting systems for the U.S. Navy, as well as for air forces in Pakistan, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and Finland. They found their solution from the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 27 Feb. 2012. Synopsys Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS), a developer of software and IP used in the design, verification, and manufacture of electronic components and systems, has acquired Magma Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of chip design software in San Jose, Calif., for roughly $523 million to more rapidly meet the needs of leading-edge semiconductor designers for more sophisticated design tools.