Aircraft & Propulsion

BAE Systems' sales growth generated in Europe is poised to accelerate after with the business there now surpassing the British defense company’s sizable Saudi Arabian activities.

Aging aircraft, potential new fighter buys and a long-discussed service merger leave the Royal Saudi Air Force at a strategic inflection point.

Production of JetZero’s BWB demonstrator is underway, beginning with assembly of the pressurized cockpit section and forward fuselage.

Spain has added a signals intelligence capability to its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) fleet.

An air-launched missile-carrying UAS developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for DARPA’s LongShot project has been designed the X-68A.

The EU plans to establish what it calls a Military Mobility Transport Group in a move that could be a boon to Airbus by paving the way for more A400M orders.

Slovakia is considering the purchase four more Block 70-model Lockheed Martin F-16s to add to the 14 it has already acquired.

BAE Systems will transform the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II with dual-mode seekers to make the 2.75-in.-dia. guided rocket more effective at shooting down volleys of large numbers of one-way attack munitions.

A Boeing 757 adapted to test sensors for the trinational Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) has completed its first flights equipped with a new fighter nose fairing.

Editors are joined by analyst Sash Tusa to discuss the fallout of the Munich Security Conference and Saudi Arabia's World Defense Show.

The service’s special operations forces are arguing for their relevance as upgrade plans evolve.

Saudi Arabia will acquire four Leonardo C-27J airlifters for maritime patrol, giving the kingdom a fixed-wing maritime patrol capability for the first time.

General Atomics is hoping to build U.S. Navy interest in its MQ-9B SkyGuardian uncrewed aircraft system through an upcoming leasing program with the service.

High-speed aircraft developer Hermeus has begun taxi tests of its Pratt & Whitney F100-229-powered Quarterhorse Mk. 2.1 supersonic flight demonstrator.

The U.S. Navy is handing over 10 Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopters to the Sri Lanka air force, the service announced.

Turkey’s Defense Industries Agency has released imagery of the second prototype of the indigenous Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Kaan fighter.

India is targeting greater than 50% localization of components for future Dassault Rafale fighters made in-country, Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed that his government spent additional money to reserve slots on more Lockheed Martin F-35As.

German defense electronics firm Hensoldt has tested a scaled demonstrator of its proposed High Altitude Drop Infiltrating System (HADIS) disposable autonomous supply glider.

European efforts to develop a future medium airlifter are steadily moving toward a concept, an Airbus official says, but he warns that if the program is to move into development, the number of nations and partner industries will need to be narrowed down.

Denmark will provide its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to support Arctic Sentry, a new NATO mission in the region.

Flight tests of an experimental low-drag laminar flow stub wing section are underway at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Aviation Week’s recently released 2026 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast identifies open requirements for the delivery of 6,513 new-build military aircraft worth $250 billion over the next decade.

The war in Ukraine has evolved into combat dominated by the use of drones.

U.S. Special Operations Command wants to progress quickly through long-awaited upgrades to the MC-130J through a different approach to addressing issues.