Aircraft & Propulsion

The UK’s National Police Air Service (NPAS) has been granted funding to buy additional helicopters, in addition to aircraft already on order from Airbus.

The Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program is expanding to include the acquisition of recoverable “bomber” types of uncrewed aircraft systems.

More B-21s, longer service lives for B-2s and B-1s, and a possible new bomber type are now in the mix for the U.S. Air Force’s long-range strike fleet.

New service component operational concepts such as Agile Combat Employment (ACE), Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARP), and the deployment and sustainment of multi-domain task forces have increased the demands for airlift support.

U.S. Air Force Futures has approved a requirements document for an aircraft that will replace the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-9A Reaper.

AIRO unveils Jaunt UAS with five-fold range increase, adds ISR variant for military and civil uses and targets delivery by 2027.

British defense startup Rotron Aerospace says it successfully launched and flown its SkyLance one-way effector.

South Korea considers delaying KF-21 Block 2 production to 2035 as rising costs, inflation and supply chain issues impact the program.

GE Aerospace has taken another step toward building the first XA102 adaptive-cycle engine under the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion program.

The Pentagon is reducing its reliance on clandestine contractor aircraft as military operations ramp up and new tech is deployed.

MQ-9 Reapers fired BAE Systems precision-guided rockets during a recent demonstration by General Atomics Aeronautics Systems Inc. and the U.S. Air Force.

Canadian training and simulation giant CAE confirmed May 11 it is interested in selling or divesting its aviation software business Flightscape.

The Turkish defense ministry says its Research and Development Center has produced six experimental Guchan fighter engines for the indigenous Kaan fighter.

AIRO Group revealed plans on May 11 to produce the RQ-70 Dainn uncrewed aircraft system as a follow-on to the company’s smaller, hand-launched RQ-35.

RTX’s Collins Aerospace is expanding a facility in Largo, Florida, to accelerate production of radars for the FAA’s air traffic control modernization push.

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Pratt & Whitney is advancing parts procurement for the first XA103 adaptive combat test engine after completion of a fully digital assembly readiness review.

The French Navy has taken delivery of the first of three Pilatus PC-24 aircraft from Jet Aviation.

Edge To Arm Baykar’s Akinci With Al Tariq Bombs

Turkey has joined the small club of countries that have demonstrated autonomous collaborative platform operations between crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

Turkish Aerospace Industries is working with domestic industry to adapt the new Gokbey twin-engine utility helicopter into an anti-submarine warfare platform.

DARPA wants the ability to autonomously store, launch and recover swarms of Group 1 through 3 drones.

Sora Aviation is studying a conceptual hybrid-electric version of its planned 30-seat eVTOL aircraft for UK Navy helicopters.

Rheinmetall would plan to build Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bats collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) at its facility that is also building Lockheed Martin F-35 parts if it can convince the German government to buy the drone.

The UK Defense Ministry is getting close to picking a tactical UAS under the so-called Corvus program and replacing the Thales Watchkeeper system.