Military Aviation

An Air Force accident investigation says a Tulsa Air National Guard F-16 was destroyed after an off-the-books intercept of a private light aircraft near a Louisiana airport last March. Investigators found the pilot of the $26 million fighter mistakenly thought he’d lost control of the fighter as he closed in on the unidentified light aircraft […]

The world’s first “sixth generation” military aircraft was unveiled to friend and foe when Northrop Grumman and the Air Force rolled out the first B-21 Raider on Friday. The flying wing was also vaulted to the pointiest end of the stick at the ceremony, which took place at the company’s Palmdale, California, facility. “The B-21 […]

The 2,000th target drone produced by Airbus Defence and Space’s Target Systems & Services has rolled off the production line in Friedrichshafen, Germany, the company announced on Monday. Target drone number 2,000 is a Do-DT45 model intended for use in a military training exercise with Airbus partner Andøya Space Defence. Launched by ramp, the Do-DT45 […]

The RAF flew one of its Voyager tankers on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and said it wasn’t just a publicity stunt. In a news release, the RAF said it’s serious about becoming the world’s first net-zero Air Force and “leading the way in improving operational resilience and developing future operating capability in a […]

Under a contract worth up to $3 billion, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) last August chose the AT-802U Sky Warden, a single-engine turboprop with an interesting difference for a modern military aircraft. The service plans to acquire up to 75 for “counterterror” duty. Derived from the Leland Snow-designed Air Tractor agricultural application aircraft […]

The Air Force has grounded 116 C-130Hs, more than 20 percent of the fleet, after it was determined that inscriptions scratched in the propellers documenting inspections for cracks actually caused cracks. “The process used to engrave serial numbers on the propellers likely contributed to cracks that are being found on the C-130Hs,” Maj. Beau Downey, […]

Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have completed their first demonstration for the U.S. Army of logistics and rescue missions using an uncrewed “optionally piloted” Black Hawk helicopter. The demonstration simulated missions including an 83-mile autonomous medical resupply carrying 400 units of real and simulated blood, delivery of a […]

Bell Textron announced on Wednesday that it has handed over its 189th AH-1Z Viper twin-engine attack helicopter to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). In addition to completing the program of record (POR) for the model, the delivery is also the last for the USMC’s H-1 upgrade program, which was launched in 1996. Bell completed deliveries […]

The Air Force has flown two single-pilot sorties with KC-46 Pegasus tankers. The Oct. 25 flights were the first to test an experimental set of procedures it says are planned for use in grim circumstances. Earlier this year, the Air Force floated the idea, saying it was afraid it would run short of tanker pilots […]

Anyone who wonders what it’s like to eject probably won’t come much closer than a video making the social media rounds. The brief helmet cam clip glimpses the split second destiny changes that are part of the drill for jet jockeys and this one seems to take the time to reflect on that. The video […]