Aircraft & Propulsion

Key figures in Germany’s government have signaled that Berlin will no longer oppose a British sale of Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia.

This marks the second extension of the Air Combat and Electronic Attack Sustainment contract, which initially came into effect in July 2016.

Denmark will explore whether its planned 27-strong fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters should be expanded as it seeks to bolster defense.

The crew of a Rockwell B-1B Lancer ejected safely before the swept-wing bomber crashed at Ellsworth AFB.

Atlanta-based high-speed system developer Hermeus has completed ground tests of its first fully integrated Quarterhorse “dynamic iron bird” evaluation vehicle.

The Indonesian defense and finance ministries have decided to delay the acquisition of 12 Qatari Dassault Mirage 2000-5s due to “limited fiscal capacity.”

The MiG-UTS will be designed for affordability—in production and operations.

The Pakistan Air Force is planning to acquire the Chinese J-31/FC-31 combat aircraft.

The U.S. Army on Jan. 3 announced it ordered one Bombardier Global 6500, with options for two more.

DARPA has decided to move forward with a new X-plane designed by Aurora Flight Sciences.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Air Force have announced a joint research program on AI for UAVs to operate alongside crewed fighters.

Korea Aerospace Industries announced that it has delivered all 12 FA-50GFs to the Polish Air Force, 15 months after contract signature.

Shield AI said on Dec. 29 that it raised an additional $300 million, adding to a previously announced $200 million through debt issuance, as part of the autopilot startup’s Series F round.

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration has announced a Maritime Operation Helicopter program.

All 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the A350 managed to escape the burning aircraft, but five of the six on board the Coast Guard aircraft died.

The platform, which had been widely expected to fly this past summer, finally got airborne on Dec. 28.

DAPA said the deal was signed in early December, and that the F-35As will have “significantly improved performance” over its current 39 F-35As.

The Myanmar Air Force has taken delivery of two more Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30SME multirole fighters.

The competitors for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft are progressing well.

Major events in aerospace and defense during 2023.

An agency of Italy, Japan and the UK will run the Global Combat Air Program, supported by a yet-to-be formed industrial joint venture.

Fleets are set to grow in all sectors except military and year-over-year growth is projected to be highest for the commercial and business aviation aftermarket.

AVIC is in the process of certifying the firefighting variant of the MA60 turboprop.

Turkish uncrewed air system developer Baykar says its new Bayraktar TB3 uncrewed air system has demonstrated flight endurance of 32 hr.

Airbus is getting ready to offer outsized cargo services to external customers in 2024 with the BelugaST after obtaining an air operator certificate.