Aircraft & Propulsion

Bidders in Finland’s fighter contest must include the whole suite of aircraft, weapons, training and support in their €9 billion package.

Egypt to buy more Rafales; A Space National Guard proposal; Navy training system to start production and the U.S. halts Minuteman test.

Turkish Aerospace is to begin assembly of the first prototype Hurjet jet trainer in June as the company targets a first flight by the end of 2022.

A Kratos UTAP-22 Mako UAS flew a 2-hr., 10-min. flight test on April 29 from Tyndall AFB, Florida, to launch Autonomous Attritable Aircraft Experimentation program this year with the Skyborg ACS, which was integrated by Leidos.

Flight testing of the Beta Technologies’ Alia for the U.S. Air Force has begun after the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft received airworthiness approval under the service’s Agility Prime program.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an armed rebel group in Myanmar, said it shot down a Myanmar military helicopter that was part of an air strike

UK F-35s will see action again in the skies over Iraq and Syria, this time operating from the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Egypt is planning to more than double the size of its Dassault Rafale fleet after inking agreements with France for 30 more aircraft.

The settlement allows Honeywell to pay $8 million in fines over a two-year period, plus another $5 million on compliance measures.

Italy has deployed its F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for Baltic Air Policing, the first time the fighter has been used for the mission. The Italian Air

Raytheon Technologies has confirmed the U.S. Marine Corps’ fleet of aging Boeing F/A-18C/Ds will become the first U.S.-operated fighters to carry active electronically scanned array radars featuring gallium-nitride semiconductors.

Australia’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) has confirmed interest in buying additional Boeing CH-47F helicopters a day after a surprise notification of such a deal by a U.S. agency.

Australia’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed interest in buying additional Boeing CH-47F helicopters a day after a surprise notification of such a deal by a U.S. agency.

The engine manufacturers developing the powerplant for the manned fighter component of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) are to create a joint venture to develop the engine.

Sweden is proposing to replace Finland’s F/A-18 Hornets on a virtual one-for-one basis by offering 64 Gripen fighters for Helsinki’s €9 billion ($10.9 billion) HX fighter requirement.

Finland fighter bids submitted; Air Force One’s costs rise; Pentagon’s R&D nominee; and Top Aces win renewal.

Australia could receive four new Boeing CH-47F helicopters transferred from the U.S. Army inventory under a Foreign Military Sale, the Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said on April 29.

Even with the adverse impacts of the novel coronavirus on the airline industry, the U.S. Marine Corps is still losing the competition for pilots and maintainers.

Finland has received the best and final offers from governments in the bidding for the country’s HX fighter contest.

A newly formed company is planning to offer aggressor training services with Mirage 2000s that it hopes to receive by year-end.

After a blistering congressional hearing, Aviation Week editors break down some of the F-35 program’s recent struggles and cost issues to develop the program and maintain and operate the fighter.

The cost to develop, sustain and operate the multibillion-dollar F-35 fighter is mounting, and senior House Democrats are pushing back.

How does the F-35 program close a roughly 25% delta between actual and objective sustainment costs within four years, which implies a 7% annual reduction on average each of the next four years?

Over the next 12 months, the U.S. Marine Corps intends to develop options for the commandant on whether the reserve forces should operate the MQ-9 or an unmanned logistics long-haul aircraft to better compete with China and Russia in the 2030s.

A U.S. military version of Logos Technologies’ BlackKite ultralight wide-area motion imaging sensor has completed two weeks of flight testing on the Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack small tactical unmanned aircraft.