U.S. Air Force (USAF)

By Guy Norris
The startup’s blended wing plan is moving forward with new airline funding and a growing development team.
Emerging Technologies

By Garrett Reim
SpaceX leans on fellow operators of the company’s 3D printers in a pinch.
Emerging Technologies

By Vivienne Machi
The first U.S. military payload to be hosted aboard an international partner’s spacecraft is now in orbit.
Space

By Graham Warwick
The U.S. Air Force has awarded startup SandboxAQ additional funding to further develop its quantum-sensor magnetic navigation system.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Brian Everstine
For the past two years, one of the U.S. Air Force’s top priorities has been “resilient basing."
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Guy Norris
The flight, which Stratolaunch has scheduled toward the end of the third quarter, is expected to round out a two-year test campaign.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The Air Force announced Aug. 9 the terms of its recently reached agreement with Boeing.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Ben Goldstein
The startup also announced a new $175 million equity raise.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Space

By Brian Everstine
Cost overruns and schedule breaches are driving a new look at engine replacement and radar modernization requirements.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The service is weighing a quick start for its next tanker while pausing the sixth-generation fighter program.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Wright Electric has received funding from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWerx innovation unit to develop high-power rechargeable thermal batteries.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
In late July, under a temporary military flight release from the Air Force, the companies conducted three test flights of a KC-135.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Military and defense industry officials want to solve both problems.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
The first of 20 operational MH-139 Gray Wolf helicopters now on contract transferred to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

J.J. Gertler
Predicting the end of dogfighting has been a cottage industry for decades, but the prospect is now very real.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force has proposed a high-altitude balloon program as an option for the broader Replicator initiative to accelerate new autonomous systems.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Brian Everstine
Senate appropriators are seeking to reverse some of the Pentagon’s proposed development cutbacks as part of an $852.2 billion fiscal 2025 defense spending bill.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force is placing more precautions on its CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor fleet after investigators found a catastrophic failure of the aircraft’s gearbox.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Vivienne Machi
The Pentagon is exploring using commercial launch vehicles for point-to-point delivery by the 2030s.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A new U.S. defense project is devoted to converting two General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-20s into air-to-air adversaries for training fighter pilots.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force and Boeing have discovered another serious deficiency on the KC-46 tanker but expect it to be resolved quickly.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force hopes to speed up its next-generation tanker program with potential new-start authority in its fiscal 2026 budget.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force has pressed “pause” on its Next Generation Air Dominance program as it decides if it should commit for decades to the design it has proposed
Defense

By Brian Everstine
The Air Force has awarded contracts to five companies to develop the autonomy software to be used to fly its first increment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft,
Aircraft & Propulsion