Saved Rounds 11.22.22

Saved Rounds

Here’s what we covered in our Sunday newsletter:

• OpsLab won an Air Force contract to adapt its commercial airline scheduling software to finally fix fighter squadron scheduling
• Lockheed Martin installed a Super Hornet engine into NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic test jet (first flight is next year)
• Boeing reshuffled its defense unit organization to build a path to stronger, profitable growth after recent losses in key programs
• Elbit turned a 45-mph racing drone into a room-clearing loitering munition
• Turkey revealed its upgrading its 200+ F-16s with domestically developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar
• Taiwan showed off its new truck-launched anti-radiation loitering munitions
• The Navy is converting AGM-88 HARMs into AQM-88A aerial targets
• SMX won a contract to continue COCO ISR in Africa using a leased fleet of six MQ-9As
• DIU and the Air Force are funding a prototype of GreenSight’s WeaterHive nano-sized weather-sensing drone swarm
• Rafael revealed it successfully tested a mobile naval variant of the venerable Iron Dome air defense system
• Japan finalized an agreement with Italy and the UK to develop its F-X fighter alongside the Tempest 6th gen fighter program
• Lockheed Martin and Nvidia are joining forces to develop a digital twin for global weather for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Knowledge Bombs

Here’s all the greatness we couldn’t squeeze into our Sunday newsletter:

• The White House requested $38 billion more in Ukraine aid from Congress (50% more than what the US has spent to date)
• Taiwan is looking into using US-based contractor tankers to refuel its fleet of F-16s
• Poland started in-country Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) mods for US-owned F-16s
• Lockheed was awarded a $521m Army contract to replenish rocket stockpiles for MLRS/HIMARS that have been going to Ukraine
• Australia’s KC-30A tanker refueled a South Korean KF-16U fighter for the first time
• The Pentagon is buying 100,000 rounds of howitzer artillery from South Korea to provide to Ukraine
• Skydio won a CES innovation award for its Scout software that permits drones to autonomously follow a convoy while searching ahead of the route
• Lockheed Martin tapped Microsoft for the company’s first classified cloud so it can more easily share info with the Pentagon
• The French Navy’s upgraded ATL 2 maritime patrol aircraft is now operational, complete with a host of new toys and capes (drop and guide LGBs, sub-hunting, ISR, etc.)
• NASA successfully tested a huge inflatable heat shield that aims to reduce the cost of re-entry from space
• Switzerland received approval to buy up to 72 Patriot missile systems and support worth ~$700m
• France announced an F4 upgrade plan for Rafales to perform SEAD missions
• SpaceX was awarded a $1.15B NASA contract to build an upgraded Starship lunar lander for the moon
• Thailand took delivery of its first 2 of 12 Textron T-6C turboprop trainers
• AST SpaceMobile deployed its big ass antenna in space that will test space-to-phone 5G connectability
• Elbit bought Logos Technologies for its wide area sensor portfolio
• The NRO is looking to industry for commercial hyperspectral imagery
• Archer Aviation publicly unveiled its first production eVTOL, a 12-motor 4-passenger (+pilot) aircraft that can fly for 20 miles, is 1,000 times quieter than a helo, and takes 10 minutes to recharge (FAA certification in 2024)