Military Aviation

Sikorsky and Boeing have selected Honeywell’s new HTS7500 turboshaft engine to power the Defiant X advanced military helicopter. According to Honeywell, the 7,500-SHP engine is 42 percent more powerful and yields an 18 percent reduction in specific fuel consumption compared to the T55-714A. The company says the HTS7500 also offers the lowest total weight compared […]

Flying squadron colors as a form of establishing camaraderie and teamwork is a tradition that goes back to “pursuit” (later called “fighter”) pilots of World War I, the first air war. The legacy picked right back up in World War II, with the added incentive of enabling fighter pilots to instantly identify squadron mates by […]

Leaked video that appears to show the crash of an F-35C on the USS Carl Vinson last month shows the aircraft sinking well below the approach path before as it approaches the carrier in the South China Sea. What appears to be cellphone video of the Pilot’s Landing Aid Television (PLAT) showing the crash sequence […]

The U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) announced this week that it scrambled Typhoon jet fighters to intercept four Russian bombers that were approaching British airspace. The Typhoons are from the RAF’s Quick Reaction Alert base at RAF Lossiemouth in northeast Scotland. They intercepted two Tupolev Tu-95 Bear H long-range bombers accompanied by a pair of […]

Bell announced on Wednesday that it has completed its first Nacelle Improvements Modification on a CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor for the U.S. Air Force. Part of an ongoing Bell-Boeing upgrade program, the modifications include improvements to wiring components within the nacelles and a change to the nacelle structure designed to reduce maintenance time and costs while […]

A decorated career officer, tireless volunteer and famed member of the Tuskegee Airmen, Brigadier General Charles McGee died in his sleep at home overnight Jan. 16 at the age of 102. “The day we all have dreaded has arrived and we are sad to report that our mentor, hero, and inspiration has passed,” the Commemorative […]

The first Tupolev Tu-160M ​​supersonic strategic bomber to be manufactured in more than 25 years successfully completed its initial flight on Wednesday. The flight, which launched from the airfield at Tupolev’s Kazan Aviation Plant in Kazan, Russia, lasted about 30 minutes. According to the company, maneuvers were preformed to check the stability and controllability of […]

The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract to AgustaWestland Philadelphia (Leonardo) for 36 TH-73A helicopters, according to an announcement from the company. The order is the third batch of TH-73A trainers purchased for the Navy’s Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS), which will be used to train student aviators from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and […]

NATO announced this week that, of some 370 total missions flown by its combat aircraft in 2021, 290 involved “response to the activities of Russian aircraft.” Most of those were warplanes operating in northwest Europe that “were flying too close to the airspace of member countries.” Most of the intercepts played out in the Baltic […]

The French Armament General Directorate (DGA) has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters for the development and procurement of the new H160M Guépard helicopter. The agreement covers the development of multiple prototypes along with an initial fleet of 30 aircraft. The French Ministry for the Armed Forces is expected to order 169 H160Ms in total […]