Military Aviation

Textron subsidiary Bell introduced the new Bell 360 Invictus military rotorcraft as its entry for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Competitive Prototype program this week. The aircraft will feature lift-sharing wings to reduce rotor lift demand in forward flight, a fly-by-wire flight control system, supplemental power unit, and articulated main rotor with […]

At 96, Gen. Chuck Yeager is still ready for a fight and he’s taken on the second biggest aerospace company in the world. Yeager is suing Airbus for allegedly using his name and photo to promote a new helicopter design without paying him. The trademark infringement suit filed last week describes him as “one of […]

Air superiority will be a mainly defensive exercise as the Air Force makes plans for the next generation of fighters. While fifth-generation fighters are just getting comfortable in their roles, the crystal ballers at the Pentagon have started setting the standards for the sixth-generation aircraft that will make them obsolete. “It has to be able […]

The U.S. Navy and Boeing successfully completed the first test flight of the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueler on Thursday. The test lasted approximately two hours and included an autonomous taxi and takeoff followed by flight along a predetermined route. According to Boeing, the goal of Thursday’s flight was to “validate the aircraft’s basic flight functions […]

The U.S. Air Force’s new T-X trainer has officially been named the T-7A Red Hawk in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen “Red Tails,” the first black aviators to serve in the U.S. military. The announcement was made at the 2019 Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Monday. Col. […]

Embraer delivered its first KC-390 multi-mission military jet to the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB/Brazilian Air Force) at Brazil’s Anápolis Air Base on Wednesday. Embraer says it has already been conducting training with Air Force teams in preparation for the aircraft’s entry into service with FAB’s First Troop Transport Group. FAB placed an order for 28 […]

As the 79th anniversary of one of the most critical air battles ever fought nears in early September, the number of Battle of Britain pilots here to mark the date has dwindled to four. Canada’s last surviving Battle of Britain pilot John Hart died earlier this month at the age of 102. The remaining four […]

The Navy is investigating a landing mishap on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln that caused more than $2 million in damage to the aircraft and four others on the deck. The Navy Times says an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye missed all four arrestment wires and made “slight contact” with two F/A-18 EF Super Hornets during the […]

The Air Force has flown a Cessna 206 with a robotic pilot it says can essentially turn an aircraft into a drone and then get turned back into a manned aircraft. The ROBOpilot flew a two-hour autonomous test flight at Utah’s Dugway Proving Ground Aug. 9 handling the takeoff, flight maneuvers and landing without human […]

A Southwest pilot flew his father home last week, 52 years after saying goodbye for the last time as a five-year-old. Capt. Bryan Knight made sure he was in the left seat for the flight from Oakland to Dallas on Aug. 8 that was carrying the remains of his father, Col. Roy Knight, who was […]