Aircraft & Propulsion

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.

U.S. small drone manufacturer Skydio said it has raised $100 million in venture capital, which the company will use to accelerate product development and expand into the commercial and public-sector markets.

ANA Holdings, parent company of All Nippon Airways, is cooperating with Japanese startup Aeronext on the development of delivery drones with the goal of beginning commercial operations in 2022-23.

The Italian Army has taken delivery of the first of two commercial-model Leonardo AW169s in a move that paves the way for the wider introduction of a military version of the rotorcraft.

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston says in an interview how the RAF is adapting to COVID-19 and looking ahead to transformative initiatives such as ASTRA.

Manned-unmanned teaming and combat cloud technologies are key disruptors in Europe’s Future Combat Air System.

Airbus Defense & Space CEO Dirk Hoke talks with Aviation Week about COVID impact, Europe’s big defense initiatives and other challenges.

Italian and Swedish industry will begin joining discussions on Tempest later this year.

A country-by-country look at who will benefit from the alphabet soup of European defense and aerospace programs in progress to bolster industry.

The UK is preparing to advance to the next stage of its Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft technology demonstrator project.

Committee backs increased F-35 buy; fixing drag on F-18 readiness; Austria to retire trainers; and Brazilian Gripen production starts.

The improved version of the Klimov RD-93, which is likely a candidate to power the JF-17 Block 3, has been shipped to a Moscow-based test center.

Aero-engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has taken a £3 billion ($3.8 billion) hit to its finances as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is looking at suborbital flights.

A U.S. emergency medical services (EMS) helicopter operator has become the first commercial customer to order an instrument flight rules (IFR)-certified AW119 single-engine light helicopter.

Near-term acquisition programs are hardly altered. Most proposals will go ahead late in the 2020s or in the 2030s.

The Japanese defense ministry proposes to fly the first prototype of the Next Generation Fighter (NGF) in 2028 and begin deliveries to the air force seven years later.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has published the first photograph of the first KF-X airframe.

Completed structures will be delivered to the Saab final assembly line in Linköping, Sweden.

Part-cruise missile and part-unmanned aircraft system, Skyborg is set to redefine air combat operations.

U.S. Navy instructor pilots have begun learning to fly the TH-73A helicopter trainer at Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia.

The Serbian government has lifted the lid on its new armed unmanned air systems sourced from China, the first nation in the Balkans to acquire such a capability.

Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences is the first company to receive a contract under a new DARPA program to build an X-plane designed around active flow control.