As the U.S. Navy tests the F-35C carrier variant in its final warfighting configuration aboard the USS George Washington in August, the Pentagon is already looking ahead at what’s next for the fifth-generation fighter jet.
China has already begun defining its sixth-generation combat jet as the People’s Liberation Army Air Force introduces its first fifth-generation types, the Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-31.
When the U.S. resumes launching its own astronauts, they will again have a place to park as their commercially operated Boeing and SpaceX crew transports approach the International Space Station.
Boeing has received the first down payment for two of an eventual nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the U.K.’s Royal Air Force, the company confirms.
As the Pentagon looks to balance aerial refueling and surveillance requirements for the MQ-25 “Stingray,” aviation planners and industry are also examining how stealthy the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aerial system will need to be.
China has successfully test fired a large solid-propellant rocket motor that the manufacturer says could be used in a super-heavy launcher for manned Moon landings.
Self-flying aircraft are even further off than self-driving cars. But technologies that assist pilots are advancing—including one that will take control of the aircraft to avoid a collision if humans do not react quickly enough. Our editors bring you up to date and explore what might be possible.
Auto ICAS is thought to be the world’s first fully automatic integrated combat flight safety system designed to prevent both air-to-air and air-to-ground collisions.
Washington Outlook column discusses B61 nuclear weapons in Europe, FlyerRights.org congressional ratings, Texan congressman banding together on space issues.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing $2.8 billion to begin initial production of the KC-46A Pegasus, setting the stage for a fresh start for the beleaguered tanker program.
The U.S. military is considering operationally activating the nine-story Sea-Based X-band radar currently fielded as a research and development asset in Hawaii as North Korea steps up its ballistic missile testing efforts.
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON—Fresh off the flight line, Navy pilots rave about the F-35’s advanced sensors, easy handling and ability to land perfectly on a fast-moving carrier essentially by itself.
NASA ground controllers overcame an unexpected obstruction as they issued commands to the International Space Station’s robot arm late Aug. 17 and early Aug. 18 to extract the first docking assembly for use by future U.S. commercial crew spacecraft from a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule and reposition the hardware at the front of the orbiting science lab.
Hybrid Air Vehicles CEO Stephen McGlennan says potential customers and financial institutions have been showing more interest in the capabilities of the giant Airlander 10 hybrid airship in the run-up to its first flight earlier this week.
ISR experts are advocating for every aircraft to become a contributing member of a disaggregated sensor network linked seamlessly by protected, self-healing data links.
It might be stalled for now, but ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement promises to be a key priority for the U.S. aerospace and defense sector after the November elections.
OSIRIS-REx—the first U.S.-led mission to attempt a roundtrip to an asteroid for the collection of a small sample of surface materials—promises to pay dividends for planetary defense advocates as well as scientists eager for clues to the origins of life on Earth
The Missile Defense Agency probably won’t push for a fleet of ballistic missile hunting and tracking UAVs independent of a high-power laser weapon for boost-phase destruction if directed energy technology does not keep pace, the agency’s director Vice Adm. James Syring says.
