STENNIS, Miss., 26 May, 2012. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received the core structure for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous satellite (GEO-4).

OLATHE, Kan., 25 May 2012. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted supplemental type certification (STC) for the G1000 avionics suite from Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), in the Beechcraft King Air 300 and 350.

ATLANTA, Ga., 25 May 2012. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) will be expanding its Economy Comfort seating on long-haul international flights by selling the Economy Class product on all flights longer than 750 miles. This expansion puts Economy Comfort on all of Delta's dual-class aircraft and is now available for purchase on all mainline domestic and international flights departing on or after June 7.

SEATTLE, 24 May 2012. Avionics engineers at The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA] will design a modernized flight deck and avionics suite for the U.S. Air Force and NATO E-3 707 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft fleet. Rockwell Collins, Telephonics, Thales, EMS, and Raytheon are also contributing technologies to the upgrade.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., 24 May 2012. The first Boeing (NYSE:BA) Dreamliner built in South Carolina has completed its first flight, a five-hour test flight piloted by Tim Berg and Randy Neville from Charleston International Airport. The production flight test profile confirmed the accuracy and functionality of the airplane's controls and systems, as well as verified that the airplane operates as designed.

MELBOURNE, Fla., 24 May 2012. Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) testbed aircraft, equipped with a new JT-8D propulsion system, has successfully completed flight testing and moved one step closer to receiving its Military Airworthiness Certification.

OLATHE, Kan., 24 May 2012. Cessna Aircraft Company officials have selected the Garmin G5000 integrated avionics system, from Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), for the company’s newest and longest-range business jet, the Citation Longitude.

SEATTLE, 24 May 2012. The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., has selected Boeing [NYSE: BA] to develop a design that modernizes the flight deck and avionics of the U.S. and NATO E-3 707 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft fleet.

MONTREAL, 23 May 2012. Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal signed a 9-year contract to handle heavy maintenance on the fleet of 32 Bombardier Q400 twin-engine turboprop regional airliners owned by Republic Airways Holdings Inc. in Indianapolis. Bombardier will perform all heavy maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) tasks for Republic's Q400 aircraft at Bombardier service centers in Macon, Ga., and Tucson, Ariz., through June 2021.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., 23 May 2012. VITA, the trade association for standard computing architectures serving critical embedded systems industries, announces the ratification by ANSI of the second edition of the OpenVPX system specification under ANSI/VITA 65.0-2012.

TAMPA, Fla., 23 May 2012. AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) has unveiled its Wasp AE small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). U.S. Air Force officials issued a $2,447,949 order for AeroVironment’s Wasp AE systems under the Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle (BATMAV) program.

MADRID, Spain, 23 May 2012. The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) has chosen to acquire eight Airbus C-295 aircraft, five of them configured as tactical transports and three as maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). They will be delivered starting in 2013.

AVIONICS INTELLIGENCE REPORT, 22 May 2012. As the newly appointed conference director for Avionics Europe, Courtney E. Howard is happy to issue a call for papers for the 2013 event, to be held in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 20th and 21st. Avionics Europe is a premier conference and exhibition delivering strategic and technical information to civil and defense avionics engineers, executives, and academics.

LONDON, 22 May 2012. Aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) expert Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd. in London will handle airframe maintenance and engineering for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet of LOT Polish Airlines in Warsaw, Poland, Monarch officials announced. LOT will operate eight 787 widebody passenger jetliners, and will take its first Dreamliner delivery this fall.

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., 22 May 2012. Microsemi officials are holding invitation-only, one-day Space Forums throughout the world. The events are intended to address key industry challenges and provide technical presentations, new product updates, technology roadmap information, and statistical reliability data.

CLEVELAND, 21 May 2012. Nextant has acquired a large remanufacturing facility at Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County Airport. The new space is expected to accommodate an annual production rate of forty-eight 400XT aircraft to meet higher than projected demand for the 400XT. Nextant’s current book of orders is approaching 70 aircraft to be delivered over the next five years.

ENDICOTT, N.Y., 22 May 2012. BAE Systems won a contract to design, develop, test, and produce the Actuator Control Unit (ACU) for the Boom Actuation Control System of the Boeing KC-46A tanker.

WASHINGTON, 21 May 2012. The Advanced Biofuels Association, the Algal Biomass Organization, Airlines for America, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the National Farm Bureau Federation are asking the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to support the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) commitment to accelerate production of American-made, advanced, “drop-in” biofuels for use in military jets, ships, and vehicles.

CHICAGO, 21 May 2012. Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) has signed a $1.7 billion (euro 1.2 billion) contract for NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system, a major data source for NATO's system for Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (JISR). The contract provides for the purchase and initial operation and maintenance of five Block 40 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with an advanced ground surveillance radar sensor, the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP).