Defense Business Brief: Budget Day, maybe; Airbus bests Boeing; Roper’s next job, and more.

Mark your calendars for May 3! But also include an asterisk. That’s when the Pentagon is planning to release its fiscal 2022 budget request, our friends at Bloomberg report. The date is not concrete; the White House Office of Management and Budget controls the exact timing of when the Biden administration sends its budget plan to Congress.

Turkey has hired a Washington law firm to help lobby its way back into the F-35 stealth fighter program, Reuters reports. Remember, Turkey was kicked out of the project in 2019 after it bought Russian S-400 air-defense missiles.

Europe’s Airbus has topped rival Boeing with $60.4 billion (€49.9 billion) in 2020 sales. Boeing’s 2020 revenue totaled $58.2 billion. Airbus’ defense and space business booked $12.7 billion (€10.5 billion), compared to the $26.3 billion booked by Boeing’s defense and space business.

Remember when we told you about Israeli companies set to participate for the first time in the International Defence Exposition and Conference, better known as IDEX? Well, that’s no longer happening. Israel has pulled out, citing COVID-19 travel concerns. The conference begins tomorrow and the exhibits are scheduled to open on Sunday.

Speaking of Israel, the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have started work on the Arrow 4 interceptor — “the next generation of endo-exoatmospheric interceptors for the Arrow Weapon System,” the organizations announced this week. Israel Aerospace Industries is the prime contractor for the project.

Back in the U.S.: Will Roper, the forward-thinking former head of Air Force acquisition, has joined Pallas Advisors as a senior counselor. That pretty much closes the door, at least in the near term, on Roper heading back to the Pentagon, something he made no secret about  wanting to do. "Fully unlocking private sector innovation for the military was my passion while serving in government,” Roper said in a statement. “I am excited to work with the Pallas team to continue this important pursuit."

Speaking of Trump administration Pentagon appointees: Kari Bingen, who was deputy defense undersecretary for intelligence and security, has joined HawkEye 360 as its chief strategy officer.

From Defense One

Antitrust Regulators Extend Review of Lockheed's Proposed Purchase of Aerojet Rocketdyne // Marcus Weisgerber

The announcement comes the day after Raytheon's CEO said his firm would challenge the deal.

New Plane Key to Special Ops Vision for Africa, General Says  // Marcus Weisgerber

Air Force Special Operations Command is planning flight demonstrations in coming months.

Space Lasers Will Revolutionize Military Communications, If They Work // Patrick Tucker

The Pentagon has ambitious plans to launch hundreds of communications satellites in the years ahead. But getting them to talk to one another isn't easy.

Russia Is Working to Pair Combat Jets and Drones, Too // Patrick Tucker

In moves to match the U.S. military, experiments are aimed at producing mixed air regiments that are tied into a wider battlefield network.

White House Prepping Multi-Part Executive Order on SolarWinds Hack // Mariam Baksh

The official leading the effort said changes are necessary to improve information sharing within the federal government.

Photos Reveal Damage from Deadly Rocket Attack at US Base in Iraq // Katie Bo Williams and Defense One Staff

Monday night's attack caught U.S. personnel in their bunks and destroyed contractor living facilities.

China's Military-Civil Fusion Strategy: What to Expect in the Next Five Years // Alex Stone and Peter W. Singer

Even as the term has all but disappeared from official documents, its tenets are being strengthened and extended.

Don't Downgrade Space // Dan Tomanelli

Moves and hints portend a worrying shifting of priorities under the Biden administration.