Thursday, October 8, 2026

F-47 on track for first flight in 2028, while F/A-XX lags

The fiscal year 2027 budget request from the White House affirms the Trump Administration’s commitment to fielding the US Air Force sixth-generation fighter, with Boeing to fly a prototype in 2028. Washington is affirming its commitment to fly a sixth-generation fighter aircraft within the next two to three years. A summary of the fiscal year…

Hermeus secures regulatory approval for supersonic flights with Quarterhorse Mk 2.1

The US Federal Aviation Administration approved Hermeus to conduct non-military flights at speeds exceeding Mach 1 with the company’s experimental Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 vehicle as part of the effort to achieve hypersonic flight. Hypersonic aviation start-up Hermeus has received regulatory approval to carry out supersonic flights with the company’s experimental Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 vehicle. Civil…

Latest A220 deliveries take total beyond 500

Airbus’s latest backlog figures show the total number of delivered A220s has exceeded 500, a decade after the type entered service as the Bombardier CSeries. Bombardier delivered 37 of the CSeries aircraft — comprising 29 CS300s and eight CS100s — before Airbus acquired the programme in mid-2018 and respectively rebranded the models as the A220-300…

Space Force Awards GPS Ground Contract amid OCX Uncertainty

The Space Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $105 million contract to continue supporting its interim GPS ground system as the Pentagon considers the future of a broader, long-delayed modernization effort. The contract, awarded April 8, is for the Architecture Evolution Plan, which Lockheed has been sustaining and upgrading since 2016. Today, AEP provides command and…

AFCENT to Spend up to $270 Million on Ultra-Long Range ISR Drones
Aviation

AFCENT to Spend up to $270 Million on Ultra-Long Range ISR Drones

U.S. Air Forces Central has awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract worth up to $270 million to a California-based company to provide an ultra-long range, solar-powered drone capable of 75 hours of flight. Kraus Hamdani Aerospace won the single-source, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract with the for its KH1000ULE drone. The contract type gives the…

Exclusive: Interview with the Chief Test Pilot of VMX-1
Aviation

Exclusive: Interview with the Chief Test Pilot of VMX-1

On the occasion of the MCAS Yuma airshow 2026, we had the opportunity to interview the Chief Operational Test Director and Chief Test Pilot of Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 1. After speaking last year with the Commanding Officer of VMX-1, Colonel John “Ike” Dirk, we realized that understanding the squadron’s mission goes…