Aircraft & Propulsion

A crop of developmental projects are set to come to fruition over the next 12 months as new projects enter the design phase.

Airbus is continuing to target a 2021 certification for an automated aerial refueling capability on its A330-based Multi-Role Tanker Transport.

Turkey’s Navy has finally begun taking delivery of its Meltem-III maritime patrol aircraft based on the ATR 72 turboprop airliner.

The U.S. Air Force continues exploring nontraditional means to expand air-launched munitions capacity.

Skyborg protoype awards; MQ-25 flies with refueling store; Northrop sheds IT division; and new council for commercial space.

Modernization and rotary-wing fleet renewal is a priority for defense’s new spending spree.

Joby Aviation has become the first manufacturer to receive airworthiness approval for its electric air taxi under the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime initiative.

The motion of each X-61A in relation to the capture mechanism during each attempt proved larger than the designers expected, DARPA said. The X-61As instead deployed parachutes to recover safely on the ground.

Fateful decisions loom in the next 12 months for a global fighter market caught up in a pivotal debate over how much to invest in each of three

The size and mass of the FCAS Next-Generation Fighter is driving the need for a big-deck carrier.

With a Cobham drogue pod installed on the left-wing, inboard station for the 2.5-hr. flight, Boeing analyzed the aerodynamics of the company-owned T1 test asset for the MQ-25.

UAVs pioneer AeroVironment late Dec. 8 announced it has struck a deal to acquire Telerob Gesellschaft für Fernhantierungstechnik, a German provider of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for defense and security, for about $45.4 million (€37.5 million) in cash.

As many airlines, manufacturers and suppliers around the world fight for survival after the impact of the pandemic, could they be breathing a sigh of relief at

The French, German and Spanish air forces have narrowed down a list of potential architectures for the European Future Combat Air System to five.

Airbus says it is preparing to ramp up for development of the EuroDrone medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned air system after the four nations involved in the project provisionally agreed on a contract for development, production and in-service support of the platform.

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.