Aerospace & Defense

Cincinnati – September 21, 2026 -- GE Aerospace's Board of Directors declared a $0.47 per share dividend on the company's outstanding common stock, the aerospace propulsion and services group announced.

Dividend payment set for October 26, 2026

The dividend is payable on October 26, 2026, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 5, 2026. The ex-dividend date is also set for October 5, 2026, meaning investors purchasing shares on or after that date will not qualify for this payout.

Company operates installed base of 80,000 aircraft engines

GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) maintains an installed base of approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military aircraft engines globally. The company employs approximately 57,000 people worldwide.

Dallas – September 21, 2026 -- The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract worth up to $1.2 billion to produce Increment 2 of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), following a second flight test that demonstrated the missile's ability to engage moving maritime targets.

Contract moves PrSM Increment 2 from testing into full production

The IDIQ covers initial procurement, future orders, follow-on production and continued development of PrSM Increment 2. Work will be performed at Lockheed Martin facilities and across the company's U.S. industrial base.

Lake Charles, La. – September 21, 2026 -- Citadel Aviation has agreed to acquire Mach 1 Aviation Group, an FAA Part 145 certificated repair station (MAGR152E) based in Savannah, Georgia, in a deal expected to close by the end of September 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Deal adds East Coast AOG hub to Citadel's V/VIP maintenance network

The acquisition gives Citadel Aviation its first operating presence on the U.S. East Coast and adds a dedicated aircraft-on-ground (AOG) response capability to its service lineup. Mach 1, founded in 2020 by former Gulfstream master technicians Richard Bennett, Derek Johnston and Ben Venuti, specializes in Gulfstream airframe, avionics and cabin systems support, with more than 100 years of combined technical experience across the team.

Reston, Va. – September 21, 2026 -- ASRC Federal's subsidiary, ASRC Research and Technology Solutions (ARTS), has secured a $494 million, five-year contract from the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) to support the Case Processing Operation Center (CPOC) 2.0 program.

DCSA relies on the contract to process roughly 2 million background checks annually

The CPOC program serves 100 government agencies and approximately 10,000 cleared companies, underpinning the federal government's personnel vetting infrastructure. ARTS will handle application ingestion, case maintenance, item-level processing and post-closing support under the new award.

Broomfield, Colo. – September 21, 2026 -- BAE Systems has completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the $1.2 billion U.S. Space Force Resilient Missile Warning & Tracking (RMWT) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Epoch 2 program, clearing the way for full-scale production.

Review clears satellite constellation for hypersonic and ballistic missile tracking

The MEO Epoch 2 program will deliver resilient, space-based missile warning and tracking against ballistic missiles and advanced threats including hypersonic glide vehicles, supporting U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command operations. The CDR confirms the design meets operational, performance and safety requirements, allowing the program to proceed to the next production phase.

New York – September 21, 2026 -- Lazard, Inc. (NYSE: LAZ) has appointed Matt Spence as Head of Defense Technology and Emerging Technology within its Technology Group, based in San Francisco.

Spence brings a defense-tech banking franchise he built at Barclays

Spence most recently served as Managing Director and Global Head of Venture Capital Banking at Barclays, where he established and led the firm's defense-tech and dual-use technology investment banking practice. He will advise defense, security, and emerging technology companies on M&A transactions and financings at Lazard.

Career spans government, venture capital and banking

Before Barclays, Spence held senior roles at Guggenheim Partners and served as a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. He spent seven years in senior U.S. national security positions, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy and on the White House National Security Council.

Beijing – – September 20, 2026 -- JA has completed the first in-orbit test of its independently developed P-type heterojunction (P-HJT) solar modules, launched aboard a Kuaizhou-11 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 17 and successfully placed into planned orbit.

JA targets crystalline silicon as a lower-cost alternative to gallium arsenide in satellite power systems

The mission is JA's first attempt to validate P-HJT modules under real orbital conditions, with large-scale commercial deployment set as a long-term goal. In low-Earth orbit, the modules face intense radiation, high-energy particles and extreme temperature swings; JA will compare this performance data against ground-based simulations to assess long-term reliability and degradation rates.

Ras Al Khaimah – September 20, 2026 -- ARIDGE, formerly XPENG AEROHT and Asia's largest flying car company, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to establish what both parties describe as the world's first regulatory sandbox dedicated to personal low-altitude flight.

The agreement was signed in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, under oversight of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The deal makes ARIDGE the first Chinese flying car company to enter a national-level regulatory sandbox in the Middle East.

Fort Worth, Texas – September 20, 2026 -- Lockheed Martin handed over Germany's first F-35A Lightning II to the German government at a ceremony held at its production facility here, marking the start of deliveries under a program-of-record order for 35 aircraft.

Germany joins 20-nation F-35 operator base, 13 of them in Europe

The Luftwaffe becomes the latest air force to field the fifth-generation fighter, which is now operated or selected by 20 countries worldwide. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the jet's stealth capabilities and sensor fusion would give the German Air Force "a decisive key capability" for NATO, adding that full operational capability is targeted for 2029.

Washington – September 20, 2026 -- General Lester Lyles, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), has been named recipient of the 2026 AFA Lifetime Achievement Award by the Air & Space Forces Association. The award was presented in September 2026 during the Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Career spanned top Air Force commands and boardroom leadership

General Lyles served as Commander of Air Force Materiel Command and later as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, roles in which he shaped modernization and readiness programs for the service. Following his military career, he took on board positions at General Dynamics Corp. and Battelle Memorial Laboratories, and chaired the boards of USAA, KBR Corporation, and USRA.