Aircraft & Propulsion

About three years before its first scheduled fielding, the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft fleet has a new group of F-16-based testbed aircraft.

By moving to three shifts for nonstop operations, Israeli maintainers have allowed Israeli Air Force to continue flying F-35Is at a rate of 35-39 jets a day.

South Korea has pushed the timeline of its latest AEW competition to the right after only one bidder submitted documents that met DAPA's requirements.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Romania has significantly increased its defense spending, allocating 2.5% of its GDP and placing it among the highest spenders within NATO. To maintain its role in enhancing alliance security, the Romanian Air Force has embarked on several fleet recapitalization initiatives.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said a contract for a purchase of the French Dassault Rafale could be agreed by the summer.

USAF is planning a round of upgrades to the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk trainer starting as early as 2025 to improve pilot safety and the aircraft’s range.

Boeing has displayed a model of an armed variant of the MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based tanker featuring two Lockheed Martin AGM-158C LRASMs.

The Navy’s CCA target amounts to roughly half the Air Force’s target unit cost.

Greek lawmakers approved the purchase on April 3. Four of the 35 helicopters will serve with the country’s special operations forces.

Canada has been one of the NATO alliance members that has been lagging on reaching the alliance defense spending target of 2% of GDP.

The Osprey will take over fleet replenishment duties for Naval Air Force Atlantic beginning in 2025.

Choices by Air Force and Navy leaders highlight an age-old tension: preserve present-day capacity, or trade readiness today for capability tomorrow?

Startups Isar Aerospace, PLD Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg already have agreed to use the refurbished ELM-Diamant launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana.

Exosonic is promoting its recently flown EX-3M Trident subscale uncrewed aircraft system as it seeks additional funding to develop a full-scale version.

Italy has retired the long-serving AMX light combat aircraft after 35 years of operations, leaving Brazil as the last operator of the type.

Spanish tier-one propulsion industry provider ITP Aero says it expects significant growth in revenue and production through 2024.

Norway is to spend an extra 600 billion krone ($56 billion) on defense over the next 12 years, building up a stronger navy and ground-based air defenses.

Aviation Week experts dissect recent comments from a Chinese general on the secretive Xian H-20 and look at where the bomber would fit in the PLAAF's structure.

Opposition groups in Myanmar have conducted strikes on the country’s capital Naypyidaw, using self-developed attack uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).

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

A new Royal Air Force strategy lays out plans for the introduction of larger systems after having developed small, swarming platforms.

The U.S. Navy will buy Group 2 solar-electric uncrewed aerial systems from Kraus Hamdani Aerospace to be used by U.S. Marine Corps units.

The U.S. Air Force wants to modify 326 of its Boeing C/KC-135 aircraft to have commercial access to both secure and nonsecure satellite communications.

Safran Helicopter Engines has won a £241 million ($305.2 million) contract to support the RTM322 engines used on the UK Royal Navy’s Merlin helicopters.

Greek lawmakers have OK’d the country’s military to purchase 35 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to modernize the army’s rotary-wing fleet.