Aircraft & Propulsion

U.S. “repositions” Turkish F-35s; Airbus wins UK Skynet contract; Germany’s new Sigint aircraft; and Northrop delivers GEM 63 boosters.

British defense firm Qinetiq says it has carried out the UK’s first manned/unmanned teaming demonstration, operating a semi-autonomous multicopter unmanned aircraft system from an Airbus H125 light helicopter.

Germany is to purchase three Bombardier Global 6000 business jets to carry out its signals intelligence (SIGINT) mission.

The U.S. Army is testing two quadcopters at Fort Benning, Georgia, with the aim of selecting one later this year as its Short-Range Reconnaissance (SSR) drone.

An $862 million contract award ends the year-old mystery over the disposition of F-35As ordered by Turkey since the country's expulsion from the international fighter program.

Lockheed still boasts commitments from 13 countries to buy nearly 3,220 jets, with deliveries projected out to 2046.

Stabilizing the production system and securing a funded, long-term upgrade plan are now the main objectives for the F-35’s propulsion system.

A 2017 call to embrace a new, digital-based tack to design and production is guiding Boeing’s path to future defense and space contracts.

The Netherlands has suspended operations with its NH90 naval helicopters following a fatal accident in Aruba.

The UK has brought another seven aerospace companies into the Team Tempest consortium to develop technologies for a future UK-led combat air system.

Leaps in computing power, sensors and weapons will benefit the F-35 in the next eight years—if Lockheed can keep modernization on track.

Boeing may accelerate development of its Airpower Teaming System (ATS) to begin deliveries before the middle of the decade, amid what it said is unexpectedly strong early interest in the loyal-wingman drone.

Mainplane skins, flaperons, tail surfaces and rear fuselage are made of carbon fiber. Rollout is due in April 2021.

Milestones for the T-7 trainer; what comes after the MQ-9; Sierra Nevada’s Shooting Star and a new name for Airbus operations in the U.S.

An analysis shows that a disruptive acquisition strategy for the Next-Generation Air Dominance program would reduce costs.

The Pentagon has selected the Liteye Systems containerized anti-UAS defense system (C-AUDS) to be the first platform integrated with one of the Defense Department’s inaugural interim counter small unmanned systems (C-sUAS).

NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Force (NAGSF) has taken delivery of its third RQ-4D Phoenix radar-reconnaissance unmanned aircraft system.

Actions for this year: choose contracting arrangements, a prime contractor and foreign partners, and allocate funds.

One of the UK’s three RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft has been upgraded with a new cockpit as part of a modernization of the fleet.

China has begun volume production of a second version of the Avic Chengdu J-20 fighter, one fitted with thrust vectoring, the South China Morning Post reported.

A series of 25 flight tests with T408 engines on a CH-47 testbed was set to begin this summer, but the Army and industry demonstration team is still copping with the impact of the pandemic on a long list of pre-flight tasks.

President Matthew Bromberg on COVID-19, production increases and future development efforts.

The twin-engine T-7A is designed to train future U.S. Air Force fighter pilots, but is demonstrating “fighter-like” performance itself, Boeing said.

British aerospace firms will be less well-resourced to cope with a no-deal Brexit if the UK government and the European Union cannot come to a consensus on a future trading relationship by the end of the year, industry has warned.

The outlook for Eurofighter and F-35 looks bright, but questions remain about the future of the Hawk jet trainer.