Robert Dougherty

The Northrop Grumman bomber was selected from a collection of defence innovations, including the THOR-ER ramjet missile, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Saab Gripen E fighter jet, as part of the 66th Annual Laureate Awards, hosted by Aviation Week Network at the National Building Museum in Washington DC on 14 March.

The defence prime said on Tuesday that construction is now underway on a 9,000-square-metre hub it hopes will be operational within three years. 

The Fractl:2 DE system is powerful enough to burn through steel and precise enough to track and shoot down a drone travelling at 100km/hour from kilometres away, according to AIM Defence.

The contract opportunity for eligible Australian companies, announced by the United States Department of Defense, includes the construction of a parking apron, a maintenance support facility, and an aircraft maintenance hangar.

The joint service multi-role combat aircraft, which can take off and hover like a helicopter before transitioning to turboprop aircraft flight, was cleared for service by US Naval Air Systems Command on 8 March.

Defence has confirmed that 2nd Commando Regiment soldier Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon, died following injuries sustained during a parachuting incident on 6 March.