Aircraft & Propulsion

UK Defense Review Provokes Backlash; China’s hypersonic ambitions; Yaogan-31 satellites launched; and Pentagon awards launch contract.

High-rate composites manufacturing technology for the aerospace, automotive and air mobility industries is at the heart of a £90 million ($125 million) UK government-industry investment in five research and development projects.

Aerovel is to begin ramping up production of the Flexrotor vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft system after securing $2.5 million in Series B capital.

UK lessor Falko Regional Aircraft is to participate in the development of Electric Aviation Group’s (EAG) hybrid-powered regional airliner.

Fighters are the tip of an iceberg of uncertainty about next-gen military aircraft platforms in Europe.

The French Air and Space Force envisions a scaled-down A400M to replace C-130Hs and adversary air-to-air training as a service.

Austria has taken delivery of the first of nine modernized Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawks.

Eight Japanese companies are now working to design the nation’s F-X fighter: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Subaru, IHI, Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC.

New technologies that allow dozens of platform configurations to be tested in days will find balance for future systems.

Speed, electrification and autonomy are among technologies unlocking the potential for VTOL to perform a wider range of missions.

After breaking F-35A order monopoly last year, USAF seeks wide range of alternatives to only domestic stealth fighter in production.

The Ukrainian government is planning to nationalize aero-engine maker Motor Sich in a bid to protect the company from Chinese investors.

Airbus has ground tested a prototype mechanism to deploy an unmanned aircraft from the rear ramp of an Airbus A400M airlifter in flight as part of studies aimed at supporting the European Future Combat Air System.

The delivery marks the first of at least 144 F-15EX jets from the St. Louis plant, with the second aircraft scheduled to be handed over in April.

Germany is set to receive its first C-130J Hercules airlifter in early 2022, which will join a new Franco-German air transport unit that will become operational this September with French C-130Js.

Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said he is confident about a rapid recovery of the air transport sector after the pandemic led the company to a £4 billion ($5.6 billion) loss in 2020.

Netherlands takes on air policing role; Lawmakers to aid supply chain; Buyers interested in Piaggio; and Space Force, NRO award launches.

LiquidPiston is to study the application of its rotary diesel engine technology to hybrid-electric propulsion systems for unmanned aircraft and advanced air mobility vehicles under a contract from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX innovation unit.

The delivery begins a series of government testing on the supersonic strategic bomber, which is now powered by Kuznetsov NK-30-2 turbofan engines, Rostec said.

The Netherlands is temporarily taking over Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) air-policing duties for Belgium following the grounding of that country’s F-16 fighter fleet.

Startup Jump Aero is to study the use of an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle to calibrate navigation aids, as an alternative to a costly fixed-wing platform.

The ELM program chose the V-22’s brownout problem as an early test case for the complex, multicellular organisms that can “grow on-site, self-repair and respond predictably to their environment."

Belgium is halting operations with its F-16 fleet to undertake urgent modifications to its engines.

The unnamed suitors are proposing to purchase the two companies—Piaggio Aviation and Piaggio Aero Industries—which form Villanova d’Albenga-based Piaggio Aerospace.

In response to higher power requirements for the emerging autonomous air cargo and urban air mobility markets, Honeywell is developing a 1-megawatt turbogenerator based on the company’s HGT1700 auxiliary power unit.