Aircraft & Propulsion

Britain’s Royal Navy has commissioned the second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales.

The U.S. government halted deliveries of the F-35 for 15 days because the Defense Contract Management Agency found comingling of titanium and Inconel fasteners.

Recent layoffs at Textron Aviation and Gulfstream Aerospace are signs that the manufacturers are being “appropriately cautious” about their outlook for orders and production, analysts say.

Czech aerospace firm Aero Vodochody has flown the second prototype of the L-39NG jet trainer.

Saab has flown the first series production JAS 39E Gripen NG fighter destined for the Swedish Air Force.

Six companies and consortia have been awarded contracts to develop high-level technical concepts for NATO’s Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC).

Dowty Propellers, a division of GE Aviation, has opened a new production facility, repair operation and headquarters in Brockworth, England.

MiG Corp. has confirmed that a new family of high-speed unmanned aircraft systems is in development to partner with the MiG-35 and other manned aircraft during combat missions.

MD Helicopters announced a partnership with Elbit Systems on Dec. 5 to develop a Block II version of the MD 530G armed scout helicopter with more advanced weapons and avionics.

The U.S. Air Force has recently completed the system requirements review for the KC-46A Remote Vision System (RVS).

As Beijing’s power begins to gain influence around the alliance’s soft underbelly, NATO is taking notice.

Applying advances made by the computer gaming industry, Raytheon is supplying new portable avionics maintenance trainers to the U.S. Marine Corps for the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor.

Textron Aviation is reducing its salaried workforce here and in Independence, Kansas, as it continues “to operate with efficiency,” a company spokeswoman confirmed Dec. 5.

Israel Aerospace Industries ELTA will deliver eight ELM-2084 multimission radars to the Czech Ministry of Defense in a long-delayed, government-to-government deal worth $125 million signed on Dec. 5.

The DOD has requested to shift roughly $40 million to fix the Advanced Weapons Elevators on the USS Gerald R. Ford and complete deferred work on the warship.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) on Dec. 5 flew the second prototype of its LCH civil helicopter, the first to be built in South Korea.

The USAF has launched a new acquisition program to replace four Boeing E-4B aircraft with the Survivable Airborne Operations Center weapon system.

Spirit AeroSystems has completed its first integration of the 767 forward fuselage section, which doubles its labor content on the Boeing platform used as freighters and for the U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker.

Ecuador has ordered six Airbus H145 twin-engine light helicopters for the country’s air force.

USAF researchers are setting up a $490 million, six-year program to rapidly develop, prototype, demo and transition multiple tech to counter small, commercial UAS.

Germany’s MTU and France’s Safran say they have reached accords on the development of an engine for the fighter aircraft at the heart of the trinational European Future Combat Air System.

Along with the acquisition of the five aircraft from surplus Portuguese stocks, the package also includes a modernization of the existing fleet mission computer system.

The Pentagon is “not concerned” with how the U.S. Air Force structured its launch services competition, even though the Government Accountability Office (GAO) partially sustained a protest by Blue Origin.

CAE on Dec. 2 unveiled an advanced training system for military student pilots built around a new virtual reality trainer.

The Tempest development concept leaves room for Japan to pursue its own fighter. Conceivable alternatives are the FCAS and indigenous development.