VIENNA, Va. Cybersecurity and communications firm Trace Systems won a single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract worth $600 million to provide the United States Air Forces Central Command (USAFCENT) deployed missions in the continental U.S. and Southwest Asia with communications and information technology systems, integration, installation, and operations and maintenance support. 

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. Collins Aerospace has won an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) sustainment contract for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) U-2 reconnaissance aircraft program with a ceiling value of $493 million to support the USAF’s installed U-2 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors.

WASHINGTON. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) made progress on the joint U.S.-Australia effort to develop an air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile, with the USAF issuing round-two contract options to Boeing and Lockheed Martin as the next step of the so-called Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE), and an additional separate contract with Raytheon.

VENTURA, Calif. JetPack Aviation announced that its Speeder VTOL [vertical takeoff and landing] platform was chosen by the AFWERX High Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) Concept Challenge -- launched in partnership with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) -- which is aimed at fielding research, development, and testing, and procurement contracts to produce aircraft for the USAF.

ATLANTA, Ga. The U.S. Air Force is investing in the Hermeus Corporation, a United States-based aerospace company, via a $60 million jointly funded contract intended to accelerate the development of hypersonic aircraft and propulsion systems.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. The U.S. Air Force conducted its second AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) booster flight test. Officials claim that it did not meet all flight objectives, but that the test did demonstrate several first-time events as the program continues to track toward fielding a hypersonic capability in the early 2020s.

BOISE, Idaho. Counter-unmanned aerial system (CUAS) company Black Sage has won a $950 million ceiling, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract with the U.S. Air Force for the maturation, demonstration, and proliferation of capability across platforms and domains.