Aircraft & Propulsion

Textron’s Bell helicopter division has acquired Response Technologies, a Rhode Island-based startup focused on flexible, additively manufactured, textile-reinforced composites and fuel cells.

Strategic bombers are enjoying a stealthy renaissance amid renewed competition among great power states: the U.S., China and Russia.

A spat between Russian and Ukrainian aerospace firms has deepened over accusations that Ukrainian overhauls of Russian-built helicopters could be endangering the lives of U.S. and Afghan personnel.

Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager, the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound, died on Dec. 7. He was 97.

Spanish industry has formally joined European Future Combat Air System research and development efforts.

The U.S. Air Force in late November announced the re-entry into service of the USAF’s first C-21A (Learjet 35A) transport with an aft-fuselage fin modification designed to improve directional stability.

The 24-month contract awards set up a competitive pool of prototypes for the U.S. Air Force to use in a series of flight tests of Skyborg’s autonomous technology, which is scheduled to begin next year.

Rolls-Royce is studying the use of hybrid-electric propulsion for the unmanned air systems that could support the UK’s Tempest Future Combat Air System.

NATO’s new Alliance Ground Surveillance Force (NAGSF) has taken another step toward front-line operation with the transfer in ownership of assets.

The organizers of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest, have canceled the 2021 edition because of continued uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A return of scramjet and solid-fuel ramjet investment signals a shift in global hypersonic weapon priorities.

The world could see a commercial hypersonic development aircraft take flight within the next few years, predicts Mach 5 aircraft aspirant Hermeus.

France is close to finalizing a deal with Indonesia for the Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft, Defense Minister Florence Parly has disclosed.

Norway looks set to purchase additional helicopters to support its Army when it replaces its fleet of Bell 412s from 2024.

An autonomous control system supplied from DARPA’s Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) program commanded the live and simulated Avengers as a single, distributed system.

France has taken delivery of the second of eight Beechcraft King Air 350-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.

T-7A simulator production begins; Greek F-35 interest confirmed; Russia’s reusable rocket engine, and Spain to convert airliner to tanker.

The declaration means the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA)-314 at the Miramar air station in California is on track to deploy with the F-35C on a U.S. Navy carrier in early fiscal 2022.

Italy is planning to grow its Gulfstream G550 business jet-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability.

The two companies say they have developed a compact system that can be retrofitted into light single-engine aircraft, and the first target for their efforts is Airbus’ H125/AS350 Ecureuil/AStar light helicopter.

Spain is planning to purchase a trio of former Iberia Airbus A330-200s to convert them into Multi-Role Tanker Transports for the country’s air force.

Defense unmanned systems provider Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has acquired 5-D Systems.

U.S. officials have confirmed Greek interest in acquiring the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but insist that any purchase of the fifth-generation combat aircraft will be a “multiyear process.”

Hungarian officials say the country’s purchase of Embraer’s KC-390 airlifter “represents a gap-filling development” for NATO in Eastern Europe.

The French Air Force has taken delivery of the first of two second-hand Airbus A330-200s which will be converted into Multi-Role Tanker Transports (MRTT).