Military Aviation

Two active duty U.S. Air Force officers have taken the unusual step of publicly scolding their superiors over pilot retention efforts and suggesting they hire outsiders to fix the problem. Brian Kruchkow and Tobias Switzer (ranks were not provided) wrote in Defense One that Air Force brass have botched the effort so badly it’s time […]

Airbus has announced that it is closing in on completion of the campaign to certify its A400M military turboprop for helicopter air-to-air refueling operations following the conclusion of its latest flight trials. According to the company, 81 wet contacts were achieved and 6.5 tonnes (about 7.2 tons) of fuel were transferred during the flights, which […]

The Commemorative Air Force is expanding and is offering one new chapter its first classic aircraft to pamper. The CAF says it’s looking for communities that share its passion to showcase and honor U.S. military aviation history. There 83 units that care for and fly 170 aircraft worldwide and three were added last year. CAF […]

South Korea rolled out a prototype of its developmental jet fighter last week. An F-35 lookalike, the KF-21 is considered a Generation 4.5 fighter, as it does not incorporate internal weapons bays and so is not considered a Gen 5 full-on “stealth” fighter. Nicknamed the “Boramae” (“young hawk trained for hunting”), the KF-21 will carry […]

Flight simulator company Frasca International announced on Thursday that it has been named a subcontractor for the U.S. Navy TH-73A aircrew training services (ATS) contract. As part of the agreement, Frasca will install eight new TH-73 flight training devices (FTDs) and modify ten existing TH-57B/C models to better reflect the Navy’s TH-73A Advanced Helicopter Training […]

The U.S. Air Force officially introduced the F-15EX in an unveiling and naming ceremony at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base on Wednesday. Intended to replace the Air Force’s F-15C/D models, the newly named the Eagle II features fly-by-wire flight controls, digital cockpit displays and advanced avionics systems. The Air Force currently plans to procure up […]

The Navy says the forthcoming replacement for the F/A-18 will likely be a manned aircraft but it might be in the minority as part of the overall fleet. Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, who’s in charge of steering the Next Generation Air Dominance Program (NGAD), told a Navy League breakfast last week that the new carrier-borne […]

The Air Force is turning the tables on the aviation industry and is trying to attract trained civilian pilots into its corps. The Air Force is looking at two pathways to bring in pilots whose flying skills and general abilities will let them bypass some of the military training that all new Air Force officers […]

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor has logged more than 600,000 flight hours, according to an announcement from Boeing this week. The V-22 fleet currently includes more than 400 aircraft with variants operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The Osprey fleet passed the 500,000 […]

The commander of the Air Force says he needs a new clean sheet fighter to replace some of the 1,000 F-16s that long ago reached their best before date. In a news conference last month, reported by Air Force Magazine, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown said he wants a lighter, less sophisticated and […]