Pictured is a U.S. Air Force photo of Air Force Maj. Kevin Ueunten, T-7A test director, as he gets into the cockpit of a T-7A Red Hawk at Edwards AFB, Calif. on June 25 for a flight that "marked the first joint test sortie with both developmental and operational test aircrew," the Air Force said.

Cincinnati's GE Aerospace [GE] said on Tuesday that it is to buy Cleveland-based Consolidated Precision Products (CPP) a 6,600 employee maker of military and commercial engine castings, for $11.5 billion, including $7 billion in cash and $4.5 billion in new debt. "Investing in mission-critical casting capacity is needed to support the strong simultaneous demand across commercial engines, aftermarket and defense," GE Aerospace CEO H. Lawrence Culp Jr. said in a company statement on Tuesday. The acquisition is to become final…