Military Aviation

The Air Force’s latest test aircraft is probably the slowest in the fleet but that’s the whole point. A CubCrafters XCub has been delivered to the Air Force Research Laboratory in Maryland where the aircraft, an updated version of an 83-year-old design, will be fitted with a state-of-the-art helmet and sensor system for “personnel recovery […]

The Air Force has ordered a review of security at all its facilities after an unarmed man was able get on the ramp at Joint Base Andrews and board a C-40, a military conversion of a Boeing 737-700 used to transport senior government officials. The Air Force isn’t releasing any details on the man’s identity […]

The latest generation of the venerable F-15 fighter took flight today in St. Louis, with Boeing chief test pilot Matt Giese at the controls. The flight lasted 90 minutes, and began and ended at Lambert field. The F-15EX is a technologically advanced version of the fighter that entered service in 1974, with fly-by-wire controls, a […]

Sikorsky and Boeing officially introduced their latest assault helicopter design for the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, the Defiant X, on Monday. Based on the Sikorsky-Boeing team’s technology demonstrator, SB>1 Defiant, the Defiant X features a coaxial rotor system, fly-by-wire flight controls, pusher prop, composite construction and retractable landing gear. According […]

An  FAA air traffic controller has been recognized for preventing the crash of a CV-22 Osprey by noticing a maintenance snag from the tower. The student crew was taking off on a challenging night brownout landing training mission at Kirtland Air Force Base/Sunport International Airport in Albuquerque when Wendy Smith, who’s been watching Ospreys take […]

Lockheed Martin announced on Monday that it has delivered its 123rd F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft this year. The aircraft, an F-35A, was built at the company’s Final Assembly and Checkout (FACO) facility in Cameri, Italy, and delivered to the Italian air force last week. According to Lockheed Martin, 74 F-35s went to the U.S. […]

Bell Textron celebrated the three-year anniversary of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor’s first flight last week, noting that the aircraft has now flown for 200 hours and completed more than 150 individual test flights. The company also announced the successful demonstrations of the aircraft’s newly installed Tactical Common Datalink (TCDL) and ability to carry external cargo. […]

Stratolaunch has started construction on its hypersonic testbed aircraft, the Talon-A, as it looks toward test flights as early as 2022. The company recently tweeted pictures of the Mach 6 aircraft’s first fuselage layups. It’s expected the first flights will be part of a military test program as the competition between superpowers for hypersonic weapons […]

Lockheed Martin has announced plans to construct a new training center for the binational French and German C-130J Super Hercules Squadron. The company has also been contracted to provide training devices, the learning management system, courseware and options for five years of training services at the facility. The center, which will train C-130J aircrews and […]

Italy-based aerospace company Leonardo has announced that it has begun final testing on the upgraded version of its C-27J Spartan twin-engine turboprop. According to the company, the next generation Spartan will feature new equipment, a new avionics system and performance gains including improved climb capabilities and a maximum takeoff weight increase. The new configuration will […]