Leonardo Helicopters has performed initial flight tests of its AW249 attack helicopter under development for the Italian Army. 

The Pentagon’s initial development of counter-unmanned aerial system capabilities was specifically focused on Middle East base defenses, but the Russia-Ukraine war has shown that the capability needs to be deployed globally with tactical units also able to down the drones, the U.S. Army’s officer in charge of the mission says.

The U.S. Army has halted further flight tests of the Airbus Zephyr high-altitude pseudo-satellite following the loss of one of the aircraft after a 64-day flight.

AeroVironment has acquired Plank Aerosystems, developer of autonomous uncrewed air vehicle (UAV) guidance and navigation software.

You can imagine the frustration of Airbus’ engineers. Just hours before the company’s Zephyr high-altitude pseudo-satellite looked set to break a 60-year-old flight-duration record, the solar-powered uncrewed aircraft system was lost. 

The U.S. Army has completed initial operational test and evaluation of the new UH-60V Black Hawk, the service says.

The Airbus HAPs platform was lost hours before it would have broken the world record for the longest continuous flight, which stands at 64 days 22 hr. 19 min.

The two Boeing E-3 Sentry AEW aircraft replace Chile’s single Phalcon Condor AEW platform.