Aircraft & Propulsion

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

A 12-year sales campaign for the optionally piloted Firebird failed to attract a production order.

Ukraine has added “heavy drones” made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. to an urgent shopping list of advanced weapons to fight against Russian invaders.

The U.S. State Department has approved a potential sale of 12 Bell AH-1Z attack helicopters to Nigeria worth an estimated $997 million.

As the service looks to cut KC-10s and KC-135s, it is expressing more confidence in the KC-46 despite continued deficiencies in its development.

Flight controls and mission systems for the next U.S. Air Force fighter will be designed to use separate software instructions, according to the service's chief of staff.

The first NATO Boeing E-3 Sentry has been flown to Italy to be inducted into the Final Lifetime Extension Program (FLEP).

Spirit AeroSystems will supply pylons and nacelles for the initial phase of a program to re-engine the Boeing B-52H fleet, the Wichita-based aerostructures company said on April 12.

South Korea will be setting aside KRW2.3 trillion ($1.9 billion) for a series of procurement and missile programs, including a requirement for large transport aircraft for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF).

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said he wants to boost the country’s armed uncrewed aircraft system capability by adding Turkish platforms to the Chinese UAS already in service.

Two prototype vehicles powered by aerospike rocket engines are on track to flight test the propulsion technology for the first time in 2023 under a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) project targeting rapid launch capability using modular engine architectures.

Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus claimed its highest-ever revenues in 2021 but the company warns that it is now facing supply chain bottlenecks.

Adding hydrogen to solar; Canada flies electric; U.S. Army eyes hybrids; Zero emissions in California; Timing tight for X-59

Annual flying hours per aircraft dropped for the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A fleet in 2021, erasing five years of steady progress, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Draken will provide adversary air using its Aero Vodochody L-159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft operated from its base at Teesside airport from July.

Revisions planned every two years for Boeing-designed loyal wingman.

Lift Aircraft has been awarded a Phase 3 contract by the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program to continue experimentation and flight tests of its single-seat HEXA electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force has ordered long-lead parts to start the production phase of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider program. The $108 million contract

Airbus says it will draw on a multidisciplined set of technologies in its proposal for NATO’s Alliance Future Surveillance and Control system, which will replace the Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne early warning platform in the mid-2030s.

India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has struck an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries to convert passenger aircraft into tankers under the Israeli company’s multi-mission tanker transport (MMTT) program.

Spain’s National Institute for Aerospace Technology has placed an order with Airbus to purchase a C295 turboprop airlifter to use as an aerial research platform.

Saab has delivered the first pair of serial production Gripen E fighters into Brazil following their passage across the Atlantic by ship.

After years of wrangling and political discussion, Germany’s parliament has moved ahead with the procurement of weapons to arm its leased fleet of Heron TP uncrewed air systems (UAS).

The Japan Coast Guard's MQ-9B SeaGuardian will operate from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Hachinohe Air Base in the northeast of Japan’s main island Honshu.

Buoyed by sales at HAI Heli-Expo, Leonardo Helicopters CEO Gian Piero Cutillo says the commercial helicopter market has turned a corner.