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PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 22 Feb. 2012. U.S. Navy aviation officials are asking helicopter designers at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, Conn., to overhaul and update two VH-3D and one VH-60N executive helicopters, which are part of the Navy's VIP helicopter fleet used to transport the president and vice president of the United States, as well as other high-ranking dignitaries. Sikorsky will do the helicopter overhaul work under terms of a $20.5 million contract modification awarded Tuesday.

MONKS FERRY, U.K., 22 Feb 2012. LDRA, a provider of standards compliance, automated software verification, source code analysis, and test tools, has launched LDRA Certification Services (LCS) to help customers develop certification-ready products. The LCS team includes Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Designated Engineering Representatives (DERs) and safety engineering experts, and is aligned with product development and verification specialists who use the LDRA tool suite and other tools to address critical project requirements at high design-assurance levels.

NASHUA, N.H., 21 Feb. 2012. Executives and engineers at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, Calif., needed an electronic warfare system able to detect, intercept, identify, locate, record, and analyze threats, such as sources of radiated electromagnetic energy. They found their solution at BAE Systems in Nashua, N.H.

NASHUA, N.H., 20 Feb. 2012. Airbus and Cassidian, two key EADS group companies and major players in the airframer and avionics technologies industry that aim to strengthen their authority within the European and global aerospace and avionics market, are participating in Avionics Europe, the premier conference and exhibition dedicated to the commercial and defense avionics industry, held in Munich, Germany, on 21 and 22 March 2012. Under the theme “Common Sky: Operating in One Air Space,” the Avionics Europe 2012 conference will focus on the current and future cockpit avionics and technologies for commercial, civil, and military aircraft and design approaches to grow air traffic in the most safe and efficient ways possible.

BLAGNAC, France, Feb. 20, 2012. The A350 XWB’s new engine – the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB – has made its maiden flight aboard Airbus’ dedicated A380 “Flying-Test-Bed” aircraft.

SINGAPORE, 20 Feb. 2012. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, now traveling through the Asia-Pacific region in the third segment of its worldwide Dream Tour, sports the Brake Control and Antiskid System from Crane Aerospace & Electronics in Lynnwood, Wa. Crane’s Brake Control and Monitoring System on the 787 combines the company’s brake control and antiskid technologies, SmartStem wireless tire pressure sensing, and brake temperature monitoring into a single system.

TOULOUSE, France, 19 Feb. 2012. Drukair, the flag carrier of the Eastern Himalayan mountain Kingdom of Bhutan, is buying one Airbus A319 aircraft fitted with fuel-saving sharklet wingtips for fuel savings and the performance necessary for routine operations at extremely high altitudes. Drukair operates out of one of the world’s most challenging airports at Paro, Bhutan, which at an elevation of 7,300 feet is more than a mile high.

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 19 Feb. 2012. U.S. Navy aircraft specialists needed several sizes of advanced multi-purpose displays for the avionics systems of the Navy Lot 35 F/A-18F jet fighter-bomber and EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft. They found their solution from the Honeywell Inc. Defense & Space Electronic Systems segment in Albuquerque, N.M.

TORONTO, Canada, Feb., 18, 2012. Bombardier Aerospace confirmed that Ethiopian Airlines is the customer that placed the firm order for five Q400 NextGen airliners announced on February 13, 2012.

WASHINGTON, 17 Feb. 2012. Electronic warfare and electro-optics-related countermeasures are shaping up to be among the few real growth areas of the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget, which the Obama Administration submitted to Congress this week. Leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plan to spend $4.95 billion next year for electro-optic and electronic warfare work, which represents growth of 7.6 percent over the $4.6 billion DOD has budgeted for electronic warfare and electro-optics countermeasures this year.

SINGAPORE, 17 Feb. 2012. BOC Aviation executives have selected Rockwell Collins avionics, including the company’s WXR-2100 MultiScan Threat Detection System and GLU-925 Multi-Mode Receiver (MMR), to serve as the baseline for up to 30 new Airbus A320 aircraft, deliveries of which begin this year. The chosen Rockwell Collins baseline avionics package also includes Automatic Direction Finder, Distance Measuring Equipment, High Speed Data Radio, a Very High Frequency Transceiver, and Omnidirectional Radio.

WASHINGTON, 17 Feb. 2012. Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are planning serious cuts in military lasers and directed-energy weapons work next year, with the Pentagon's proposed spending for lasers and directed-energy weapons of $244.28 million. Although it might seem lime a substantial amount, proposed fiscal 2013 spending is down 33.23 percent from current-year levels of $365.88 million, and down 44.7 percent from 2011 levels of $441.48 million.

MONROVIA, Calif., 16 Feb. 2012. AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) won a $4,167,777 order from the U.S. Air Force for operational Switchblade loitering munition systems and services, engineering services, and operator training. AeroVironment will work with munition subcontractor ATK (NYSE:ATK) to produce and deliver the systems. 

WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 16 Feb. 2012. U.S. Air Force and Navy combat aircraft pilots needed helmet-mounted night vision cueing and display systems for fighter pilots operating high-performance aircraft at night. They found their solution from Vision Systems International LLC in San Jose, Calif. Officials of the U.S. Air Force Air Armament Center (ASC) activity at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, awarded Vision Systems a $19.8 million contract Tuesday for night vision cueing and display standard field night vision devices for the Air Force and Navy.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Feb. 16, 2012. The Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a strategic alliance between The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Bell Helicopter - Textron [NYSE: TXT], announced that the U.S. Marine Corps has taken delivery of the first MV-22 Osprey produced with the new Block C suite of design upgrades.

BLAGNAC, France, 15, Feb., 2012. ALAFCO Aviation Lease And Finance Company, a Kuwait-based international aircraft leasing company, has finalized a purchase order for 35 A320neo Family aircraft bringing its total backlog for the type to 85.

MONTREAL, Quebec, 15 Feb. 2012. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics engineers are using the Presagis VAPS XT-178, a DO-178B Level A human machine interface (HMI) tool from Presagis, to develop embedded graphics displays for the Special Mission Processor (SMP) under the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) MC-130J Increment 3 program. Presagis VAPS XT-178 will run on the MC-130J Variant and offer a path to compliance under the new DO-178C guidance. 

CHARLOTTE, N.C., 15 Feb. 2012. Goodrich Corp. (NYSE:GR), a member of the industry team building the Sikorsky Aircraft S-97 Raider next-generation helicopter scheduled for U.S. military evaluation in 2014, will deliver high-speed flexible couplings, an advanced tail propulser drive shaft system, a SmartProbe air data system, and a lightweight, efficient LED lighting system. These avionics systems and components will be developed and produced by Goodrich teams in Rome, N.Y., Burnsville, Minn., and Oldsmar, Fla.

ARLINGTON, Va., 14 Feb. 2012. President Obama has signed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act 2012—with funding and provisions for granting military, commercial, and privately-owned greater access to U.S. airspace and air traffic management systems modernization—into law.