Aircraft & Propulsion

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

The U.S. Army plans to beef up legacy aviation platforms for future multidomain fight.

A linchpin of the Army’s aviation modernization is still on track, but pressure is growing.

A network of wide-area persistent surveillance missions, executed in large part by unmanned aircraft systems, can help provide an affordable deterrent to Chinese and Russian aggression, a Washington think tank argues.

Turkish Air Force aid flight to UK makes first use of NATO plan to speed up military airlift flights across alliance skies.

Boeing on April 13 completed the first flight of the F-15QA ordered by the Qatari Royal Air Force, passing a key milestone before a scheduled first delivery next year.

The tiltrotor is entering a new phase of life with a series of significant upgrades.

Complex CHITA model allows engineers to test loads on different aerodynamic elements of high-speed rotorcraft configurations.

A once-crippled B-1B bomber force has recovered significantly since structural and egress system problems grounded all but a handful for nearly a year, the head of Air Force’s Global Strike Command said April 9.

The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion completed an air-to-air refueling test this week, signaling the program is a step closer to wrapping up developmental testing.

Mistrusted by the federal government but appreciated by municipal authorities, Chinese drone manufacturer DJI is distributing 100 small unmanned aircraft systems to U.S. police, fire and public safety agencies to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the first U.S. Army unit performed a demonstration with one vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft that will inform requirements for the Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System replacement for the RQ-7B Shadow.

Budget cuts to ground NASA SOFIA 747SP observatory, while obsolescence prompts replacement study for DC-8 airborne science missions.

Far from being retired, the storied U-2 is being upgraded into the U.S. Air Force’s first fully open mission systems compliant fleet.

Gen. Timothy Ray, the head of Global Strike command, favors a concept not based on a modification to an existing aircraft.

The U.S. Army is aggressively upgrading its legacy AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook and HH-60 Black Hawk fleets, but is encountering some delays in these efforts related to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Boeing’s Airpower Teaming System unmanned aircraft is on its landing gear and powered up as the loyal wingman demonstrator progresses toward a first flight planned in Australia later this year.

A ride in a French Air Force Rafale B didn’t go as planned when an overstressed, back-seat passenger inadvertently ejected from the two-seat fighter, and the aircraft was saved only because of a previously undetected flaw that prevented the pilot’s ejection, a new French military report said.

Talon vehicle emerges as core of updated Stratolaunch hypersonic test fleet plan along with Black Ice spaceplane concept.

Boeing Global Services has demonstrated an autonomous cargo delivery system to the U.S. Army, the company said on April 8.

The U.S. Air Force and Boeing agreed on a dramatically redesigned version of the KC-46 Pegasus tanker’s problematic Remote Vision System.

Technology that enabled a manned helicopter to be converted into an autonomous cargo resupply vehicle has been scaled down and tested in a small unmanned logistics aircraft.

The Navy prepares to transfer the carrier onboard delivery mission from an aging high-wing aircraft to a tiltrotor.

Japan’s Next Generation Fighter acquisition program is the focus of a new informal channel set up by a Washington think tank for Japanese, U.S., British and Australian officials to discuss requirements and expectations.

The Pentagon’s leading contractor by annual sales has committed to providing $106 million in accelerated payments to suppliers, up from $53 million it promised March 27.