Aircraft & Propulsion

The first of the UK’s two new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has set sail on its initial deployment.

The trinational Future Combat Air System team is considering various arrangements between the New Generation Fighter (NGF) and its associated remote carriers, aiming to 2027 for first flight of the demonstrators.

Having identified a solution to issues that have so far prevented the successful airborne recovery of an unmanned aircraft under DARPA’s Gremlins program, Dynetics plans to resume flight tests in the fall.

Russia’s United Engine Corp. plans to complete a demonstrator of its first hybrid-electric powerplant by 2023, says Mikhail Shemet, deputy director of the PDV future helicopter engine program at Klimov.

The French Navy has ordered an additional two commercial model H160 twin-engine medium helicopters from Airbus to support the search-and-rescue mission.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has inducted the JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft into its fleet as part of an ongoing modernization.

Airbus and the Republic of Singapore Air Force say they have completed development of an automated aerial refueling capability for the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport.

If the first quarter is any indication, A&D is about to throttle up share buybacks and dividend payments into afterburn.

MH-47G buy is the first phase in UK Chinook fleet modernization.

NASA has discovered new information that may help solve the mystery behind F-35 pilot physiological episodes.

Pratt & Whitney plans to open a new engine airfoil facility in North Carolina in the second half of 2022 to support the ramp-up in global F135 production, but facility construction was delayed for six months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adversary air operator Top Aces says it has achieved FAA certification of its new fleet of F-16s.

Japan’s Subaru Corp. has begun deliveries of locally assembled Bell 412EPX helicopters, handing over the first unit to the Japan National Police Agency.

KC-46 woes continue; Colorado smallsat facility expansion; MHI SH-60L first flight; and latest SBIRS launch.

A decision point is set for 2025 on how to replace the MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator, a subfleet of the MH-60M and MH-60L troop transports operated by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

First Sea Lord Adm. Tony Radakin told the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference on May 19 that he was challenging the Navy to “create an air wing for each carrier” and “accelerate the transition to a hybrid manned/unmanned airwing.”

Experts warn that NATO’s push for a common rotorcraft for land and naval use could challenge Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability aims.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has completed the first flight of a modernized version of its SH-60 antisubmarine- warfare helicopter.

A week of experiments in the Utah desert offered a glimpse into the U.S. Army’s vision of the future of warfare.

Defense ministers from the European Future Combat Air System-developing nations say they have reached an agreement on the next steps for the program.

Between 2011 and 2017, more than a dozen U.S. Air Force F-35 pilots reported experiencing oxygen deprivation symptoms. NASA has discovered new information that may help solve the mystery behind these physiological episodes and wants to study the issue more deeply. But the F-35 Joint Program Office is disputing the findings.

The Australian Army has received its first of three Leonardo AW139 helicopters under its Army Interim Commercial Helicopter Capability.

The NATO requirements appear to emphasize the higher performance and low cost of ownership, with the proposed prices similar to that of the standard troop-transport NH90.

Promising results from next-generation adaptive combat engine tests augur well for follow-on variable cycle power developments.

Details of the operating cycles for GE’s new-generation adaptive engines remain sparse.