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Ukraine's air force has appeared to confirm that a U.S-made Patriot missile system was behind the downing of five Russian aircraft in one day in May 2023. A video posted on Monday shows "kill" markings on the side of a Patriot air defense system that indicate it claimed three helicopters and two jets on May 13. If accurate, this would be a record for a Patriot system in a single day.

Artist's concept of a ship-mounted laser weapon The US Navy has shot down its first drone representing a subsonic cruise missile using an all-electric high-energy laser. At the US Army’s High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the Lockheed Martin Layered Laser Defense (LLD) weapon disabled the engine on a drone, which then parachuted to earth. Sponsored by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) and conducted in partnership with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) and Lockheed Martin, the February 2022 test was intended not only to...

A quiet supersonic plane designed and built by NASA to usher in a new era of superfast air travel made a pitstop in Texas to perform crucial structural testing ahead of a debut flight later this year. NASA's X-59 made the switch between Lockheed Martin facilities in late December, moving the plane between Palmdale, California and Fort Worth, Texas to take advantage of specialized equipment available in the Lone Star State to make sure the speedy vehicle won't face too much stress in mid-air. "In Fort Worth, they've got the perfect facility with a full control room and all the...

The Boeing Starliner didn't see any testing shortcuts before its flawed flight test, officials said Friday, but the company vowed to expand tests in the future. Boeing (BA) stock fell. In December, the Boeing Starliner set off on an uncrewed test, but it failed to reach the International Space Station as planned because a software error prevented it from getting into the proper orbit. It was later revealed that an internal timer on the capsule was off by 11 hours, causing the Boeing Starliner to believe that it was further into the mission. Another software issue was found with the...

ockheed Martin's (LMT) F-35 wowed crowds at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K. last month... Despite ongoing concerns about its development, the stealth fighter continues to reach key milestones, and production will hit full speed in a few years. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman (NOC), which is a major subcontractor on the F-35, has locked down the other key piece of the Pentagon's combat aircraft upgrade cycle, winning the B-21 contract last year to build replacements for Cold War-era Boeing (BA) B-52s. With the $400 billion F-35 and $80 billion B-21 contracts in hand, Lockheed and Northrop would appear to have established...

Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin, and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne have presented to NASA an oral summary of their proposal for the Ares I Upper Stage. The proposal has been delivered in stages over the last month and culminated with the submittal of the cost volume last week. The three companies have developed a complementary relationship, leveraging their strong experience and capabilities on NASA Human Space Flight programs to provide the Ares I project a springboard to minimize program costs, maintain aggressive development and test schedules, and reduce the technical risk going forward. "We have been preparing for this procurement for...

Two teams, one led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and the other by the pairing of Northrop Grumman Corp. and The Boeing Co., will compete to build the nation's next manned spacecraft, NASA announced Tuesday. The agency's requirements for the spacecraft, known as the crew exploration vehicle, or CEV, have yet to be precisely defined, however, as the program itself undergoes a re-evaluation in order to hasten its operational capability. The vehicle is envisioned as the centerpiece of NASA's plans for manned spaceflight, returning to the moon and eventually traveling to Mars and beyond. The two teams were chosen based on...