Military Aviation

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 […]

The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron conducted the last flight using its F/A-18 A/B/C/D Hornets on Wednesday. The aircraft, which the Blue Angels have flown for 34 years, will be replaced with F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets beginning with the team’s 2021 show season. The Hornets departed Florida’s Naval Air Station Pensacola at around […]

It’s not often the deadly serious nature of a fighter intercept is greeted with roaring approval from the commander in chief and his political supporters but a NORAD F-16 took center stage at a Trump rally last week. The Viper was scrambled to confront an aircraft that had strayed into the TFR around President Donald […]

A Navy flight instructor and student pilot were killed in the crash of a Navy Texan II training aircraft on Friday in Foley, Alabama. The aircraft hit a house but there were no reports of injuries or deaths on the ground. Authorities are asking for witnesses to supply photos or videos of the accident, which […]

An unstable approach, a misaligned helmet and an “overwhelmed” flight control system led to the crash of an Air Force F-35 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida last May. An Air Force accident report released a few weeks ago found plenty of fault with the pilot’s actions but it was ultimately the airplane that […]

Boeing’s Loyal Wingman unmanned military aircraft successfully completed its initial low-speed taxi test this week, marking the first time the aircraft has moved under its own power. During the test, the prototype reached a speed of 14 knots while the team verified systems integration and functions including steering, braking and engine controls. According to Boeing, […]

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) officially retired its Bell AH-1W Super Cobra twin-engine attack helicopters last week after 34 years of service. The model completed its first flight on Nov. 16, 1983, and the USMC took delivery of its first AH-1W—initially called the AH-1T+—on March 27, 1986. The Super Cobra will be replaced by […]

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office says it didn’t know about or authorize the use of an RC-26B reconnaissance aircraft and a Lakota helicopter to monitor the quiet upscale neighborhood where the Air National Guard’s state commander lives while widespread rioting gripped the rest of the state last June in the wake of the death of […]

Honeywell Aerospace has signed a contract with the U.S. Army for the repair and overhaul of T55-GA-714A engines installed on its CH-47 Chinook helicopters. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, which aims to “ensure that the U.S. Army’s Chinook fleet has spare engines to sustain its future missions and overall readiness,” covers the next […]

An F-16 by any other name is apparently an F-21 if it’s being sold to India. Lockheed Martin is pitching a partly made-in-India version of the Viper that will carry the different numerical designation. For the record, Lockheed Martin says the V-21 will have a custom weapons system developed for India, a long-range infrared search […]