United Technologies completes civestiture of Pratt & Whitney Power Systems unit to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries United Technologies Corp. announced May 17 it has completed the divestiture of its Pratt & Whitney Power Systems unit to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.† Divesting Power Systems allows UTC to focus on its core…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded A Lockheed Martin F-35B Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing Lightning II test aircraft recently completed the first-ever Vertical Takeoff May 10 Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. VTOs are one of the many capabilities required for the fielding an F-35B aircraft.† While not a combat capability, VTOs are required for repositioning of the STOVL in environments…

ATK, the nation’s largest rocket motor producer, has successfully completed the first U.S.-based testing of the High Performance Green Propulsion thruster technology for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The testing was conducted at ATK Defense Group’s test facility in Elkton, Md., in April 2013. The ATK test facility is capable of assessing high-fidelity performance…

Boeing Business Jets is displaying a BBJ 3 for the first time at the 2013 European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. The airplane, based on the 737-900ER, was outfitted with its custom VIP interiors at Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland. The BBJ 3 is currently for sale, so the exterior remains “green”…

The National Airline History Museum in Kansas City, Mo., is trying to raise $3.2 million to restore its Lockheed Constellation propeller-driven aircraft and recreate multimillionaire aviator Howard Hughes’ record-setting cross-country flight in the plane that transformed commercial air travel. The Kansas City museum’s Constellation, or ìConnie,î is one of only a handful of the 856…

Air Force photograph by MSgt. John Nimmo F-35A Lightning II pilots navigate their aircraft toward a KC-135 Stratotanker to refuel May 13, 2013, near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The initial cadre of Air Force F-35 instructor pilots at the 33rd Fighter Wing here trained with others to qualify in aerial refueling for the joint…

Navy photograph A Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division research chemist sets up a pressure reactor in preparation for the fuel synthesis process. Rear Adm. Paul Sohl, commander of Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., signed a co-exclusive patent license agreement between NAWCWD and Cobalt Technologies on April 8. The agreement includes…

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan at 2,085 As of May 14, 2013, at least 2,085 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,727 military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result…

The 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force remains viable more than a decade after its passing, a panel of defense leaders told Congress May 16. The authorization empowers the president ìto use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks…

As the Army cuts the number of soldiers in its ranks, there will be an excess of infrastructure in place that used to support those soldiers. Maintaining that extra unused infrastructure could mean other critical Army programs will suffer, said a senior official. “A future round of base realignment and closure, or BRAC, in the…