Aircraft

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In aviation circles, the debate is often which came first: the military or civilian variant? Case in point: Archer Aviation's announcement at Farnborough of Halo, the civilian counterpart to the Thunder autonomous attack aircraft.

Airbus has announced an upcoming flight-test phase for its Wing of Tomorrow program. The project aims to develop next-generation airliner wings so long that they will need to fold at the tip to operate at existing commercial airports.

The Farnborough International Airshow in the UK is one of the world's premier aerospace events, where major industry announcements and billion-dollar deals are as common as muffins. New Atlas is on the ground at this year's record-breaking event.

India's eVTOL industry sees major progress as Sarla Aviation's Sylla 1.0 demonstrator has gone from the drawing board to mid-air in under a year, completing integrated flight testing for the ambitious company's upcoming air taxi.

A team of students in Pisa has turned the humble paper airplane into a full-blown engineering project. ICARUS didn’t just look hugely impressive on the ground, it flew far enough to earn a Guinness World Record.

The FAA is clearing the way for the return of commercial supersonic air travel by revamping regulations for faster-than-sound aircraft for the first time since 1973 – to reflect progress in aviation engineering and the removal of prejudicial attitudes.

Electric flight seems to be all the rage, but its place in the aviation market has yet to be worked out. We talked to Ralph Müller, CEO of H2Fly, to discuss the state of play of electric aircraft, hybrid hydrogen fuel, and the future of the industry.

Toyota-backed SkyDrive's multicopter has achieved stable flight at 100 km/h, proving its wingless design handles real aerodynamic loads. The milestone feeds Japan's JCAB certification process and keeps 2028 commercial launch in sight.

For more than a century, pilots have relied on the same basic toolkit to steer a plane: flaps, ailerons, rudders – hinged surfaces that physically deflect airflow to change direction. A radical new experimental drone aims to throw all of that out.

An electric aircraft that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like a regular plane just completed its first piloted flight with a new full-scale prototype. Vertical Aerospace is accelerating toward commercial certification, targeted for 2028.

At this year's ILA Berlin Air Show, Airbus Helicopters unveiled its latest entry into fully autonomous flight, the U145 twin-engine helicopter. Based on the company's H145 platform, the aircraft replaces the cockpit with clamshell cargo doors, freeing up additional space for payloads.

Electra provides a glimpse of the airliner of 2050 with its hybrid aircraft concept capable of carrying over 100 passengers while using electrification, advanced aerodynamics, and integrated airframe-propulsion design to up efficiency and cut emissions.

A crewed aircraft named the Helios Horizon has flown on solid-state batteries for the first time, logging a 60% energy density leap over lithium-ion that could finally make commercial electric aviation a reality.

To cut costs and emissions, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is rolling out a pilot program using a semi-robotic ground tug called TaxiBot that allows pilots to taxi airliners around the airport without using their main jet engines.

The venerable Cold War SR-71 Blackbird may be looking nervously at its laurels after Hermeus's latest Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 uncrewed prototype broke the sound barrier at Spaceport America over the White Sands Missile Range airspace in New Mexico in March.