Aircraft & Propulsion

One of the bidders in the F-15EX propulsion competition thinks the U.S. Air Force’s plan to buy 144 aircraft is only the beginning.

Tempest was one of the winners in the UK government’s Integrated Review securing £1.2 billion for technology development.

Leonardo has confirmed it will offer its AW149 twin-engine multirole helicopter platform as a potential replacement for the UK’s Airbus Puma helicopters, after the government’s Integrated Review confirmed the type would be replaced with a new medium rotorcraft.

DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB, Arizona—The U.S. Air Force is beginning a lengthy process to warehouse four aging B-1 aircraft for future spare parts, storing them in a state in which they cannot immediately get up to a flying standard if the U.S. goes to war.

Belgian MRO firm Sabca has secured a contract with the U.S. Air Force to maintain its Europe-based F-16s.

MDA awards NGI contracts; Priorities for incoming Indo-PACOM chief; U.S. budget scuffling and UK’s defense procurement reforms.

A second program named Autonomous Attritable Aircraft Experimentation will start experimenting with operating candidates for future Skyborg aircraft.

The U.S. Marine Corps is studying reliability improvements for the Bell Boeing V-22, but not a new aircraft.

The first of the Royal Navy’s new Crowsnest Airborne Surveillance and Control helicopters has been inducted into service and will be ready for the UK’s first Carrier Strike Group 21 deployment in May.

A novel active landing gear designed by electric aircraft startup Metro Hop to enable ultrashort takeoffs and landings is to be tested under the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime advanced air mobility program.

A $14.3 billion modernization program risks delays unless Lockheed software developers and military bureaucracy can dodge obstacles.

New defense plans boost Future Combat Air System, Typhoon upgrades, but leave intelligence-gathering fleets in tatters.

UK aerospace maintenance firm Marshall Aerospace says it is “disappointed” about the UK government’s decision to retire its Lockheed C-130J Hercules fleet.

Sustainability and environmental, social and governance investing are set to remake the A&D industry from the inside out.

A Boston startup is taking a new look at wing-in-ground-effect vehicles through the lens of distributed electric propulsion, advanced flight control and hydrofoil lifting surface technology.

Airbus and Dassault try to reconcile views in thorny FCAS negotiations as a political deadline nears.

Airbus has signed a new cooperation deal with Romania’s Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) which could see the Romanian company customize, service and support H145M twin-engine light multirole helicopters.

Belgium’s F-16 fleet has returned to operations after being grounded over engine problems.

Sergei Chemezov, Rostec CEO, will personally lead the consolidation process after appointing himself to lead the UAC Board of Directors, Rostec announced on March 18.

Technical Refresh (TR)-3, which updates the F-35's mission computer, display computer and the spherical camera array, is “currently tracking seven months later than originally planned,” according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

France has declared the F3R version of the Dassault Rafale operational, with upgraded aircraft now in service with the country’s air force and navy.

Organizers of the Farnborough Airshow have said the event will not be impacted by plans to develop part of the exhibition space into a film set.

Startup Jetoptera is to compare the noise generated by its fluidic propulsion technology with that produced by conventional propulsors used on unmanned and mobility air vehicles under a contract from the U.S. Air Force.

Germany’s single Euro Hawk derivative of the Global Hawk unmanned air system is to be put in a museum almost a decade after the program failed.

A congressionally imposed hiatus is almost over, and the competition for the prized 75-aircraft contract is set to heat up this summer.