The contract for the next lot of Boeing F-15EXs for the U.S. Air Force will come in at less than $80 million, despite ongoing supply chain issues and inflation that is bogging down deliberations on future contracts for other fighters such as the F-35.
The UK Royal Air Force is embedding as many U.S. Air Force personnel as it can to accelerate the American adoption of the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail as the RAF is in the beginning stages of its own program.
The UK’s plan to achieve full operational capability with the Boeing P-8 Poseidon rests on its ability to train crews in-country, with the Royal Air Force currently fielding three more aircraft than total aircrews.
South Korea’s defense procurement agency DAPA has approved a KRW3.94 trillion ($2.97 billion) budget to procure 20 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters under the F-X Phase 2 project.
Lockheed Martin has completed the major assembly step on the first F-16V Block 70/72 fighter to be built in Greenville, South Carolina, moving the single-engine fighter closer to a first delivery in late 2023, the company says in an update posted on social media.
Boston-based autonomous flight startup Merlin Labs has completed a $105 million Series B round, bringing the total funding raised so far to $130 million.
A Leonardo official says the company hopes to find additional orders for its AW101 three-engine heavy helicopter as a potential replacement for Russian-built platforms.
Rotorcraft manufacturer Bell says the 360 Invictus helicopter is 90% complete and released pictures of the first competitive prototype carrying a full load of weapons.
The French Air Force has retired the Dassault Mirage 2000C from operational service, leaving just three variants of the delta-winged fighter in French service.
Boeing is fielding more interest in its CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter in Europe, with two more nations inquiring about the aircraft after the company and Germany announced a deal in early June.
Textron is tapping into the market for low-cost intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft through new subsidiary Pipistrel, the Slovenian general aviation pioneer.
Safran Helicopter Engines and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. have agreed to jointly develop an engine for the future Indian Multi-Role Helicopter, aiming at service entry with Indian forces late this decade
The UK Defense Ministry is exploring the wider use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and alternatives to rotorcraft to undertake the roles performed by crewed helicopters.
Elbit Systems is pitching its X-Sight helmet-mounted display systems to the U.S. Army and individual companies competing for the Future Vertical Lift program.
The first of the 3,000shp.-class engines in the development program has completed more than 100 hr. of run time since an initial “light off” event on March 22, GE says.
