Aircraft & Propulsion

The British Royal Navy has declared an initial operating capability (IOC) for its amphibious assault fleet of triple-engine Merlin Mk. 4 transport helicopters.

Airbus’ hybrid-electric technology and hydrogen power could pave the way for a greener replacement to its bestselling Ecureuil platform.

Manned-unmanned teaming is the future of air combat, and maybe not so far away.

An AESA radar has been in Eurofighter road map for more than a decade, but partner nations have been reluctant to make the investment.

U.S. Navy fixes EMALS issue; AARGM-ER clears design review; Germany reviews P-3 replacements; China’s quantum key advancement.

Ask the Editors: Whatever Bell does, it may have trouble making any serious dent in the AW139’s market lead.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Carrier Air Wing 11 operating from the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) crashed in the Philippine Sea on June 18.

Boeing officials are monitoring the impact to a long-delayed KC-46 capability milestone caused by COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions to Cobham wing aerial refueling pods.

Satellites and interceptors for hypersonic defense are in development, but fielding strategy remains mostly unfunded.

A nearly $1 billion upgrade breathes new life into old F/A-18C/Ds as the replacement selection process continues.

Leonardo Helicopters has secured European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification for the Safran Aneto 1K-powered version of the AW189 super-medium helicopter.

Boeing on June 17 delivered the first F/A-18E/F Block III to the U.S. Navy to launch a yearlong testing campaign on a new configuration with around a $60 million flyaway cost that is currently being offered to five foreign air forces.

Gulfstream Aerospace has sold its last commercially available Gulfstream G550 large-cabin, ultra-long-range business jet, clearing the way for production of the iconic jet to wind down, the company announced June 17.

Germany’s plans to upgrade Berlin’s fleet of Eurofighters with the Captor-E active electronically scanned array have been given a green light by lawmakers.

Germany has begun to hunt for a new maritime patrol aircraft after canceling a planned modernization of its Lockheed P-3C Orion fleet.

As the age of hypersonic X-planes passes, the era of Mach 5-plus weapons is set to begin.

Ottawa is lifting the operational pause on its fleet of Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone naval helicopters after investigators ruled out mechanical failure as the cause of an April 29 crash in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Sikorsky-Boeing team expects to reach its speed target for the SB-1 Defiant coaxial-rotor compound helicopter within the next few months after exceeding 200 kt. for the first time in flight testing at West Palm Beach, Florida.

Britain’s Royal Air Force has developed an in-house modification enabling an aeromedical capability for its BAE Systems’ 146 transport aircraft fleet.

Though it is hardly tailored for attack, the Surion would enjoy political support.

Critical challenges remain to be overcome before air-breathing hypersonics can be applied to wider roles.

Flight testing will increasingly augment ground tests as U.S. hypersonic development transitions to operational vehicles.

Fleet Readiness Center East is now certified to repair and test 14 F-35 components as part of a new public-private partnership with Lockheed Martin.

The U.S. Air Force has deployed General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air systems to Estonia, marking the first such deployment of the platform to the Baltic States.

The pace of hypersonic strike systems research is picking up internationally, galvanized by developments in Russia and China.