Aircraft

Scaled Composites' Model 437 Vanguard Loyal Wingman prototype has taken to the air for the first time. On August 29, 2024, the aircraft took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California with test pilot Brian Maisler at the controls.

Aerospace startup Dawn Aerospace has made a major advance in its push to create a highly reusable spaceplane. The latest test flight reached transonic speeds of Mach 0.92 and an altitude of 50,000 ft (15,000 m), or 3 times and 5 times, respectively, better than before.

Since we looked in on aerospace motor startup H3X in 2020, it's gotten its first round of motors out and signed contracts with major players like the US Air Force and NASA. Now it's working to launch bigger, badder megawatt-class machines.

Conventional helicopters have a built-in speed limit, imposed by the physical limitations of their top-rotor lift systems. This fascinating Airbus project has found a way to break through that speed limit, and it's already done it in flight testing.

At this year's Farnborough International Airshow, Britain, Italy and Japan are showing off the latest concept model of the sixth-generation fighter being developed by the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), highlighting its advanced aerodynamics.

Scientists have engineered a micro-aerial vehicle that has the potential to fly indefinitely in sunlight, using an electrostatic motor to power its ultra-lightweight unit. Until now, these tiny drones have been limited to around 30 minutes of airtime.

Northrop Grumman has released a photo of the Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration (SHEPARD) XRQ-73 stealth drone X-plane that it has built for DARPA and is expected to fly by the end of the year.

After launching a modern pulsejet engine for UAVs back in March, Wave Engine Corporation announced this week that it's delivered the first units. The loud, pulse-combustion fire-breather is officially finding its way to air-bound vehicles.

An open-secret American spy plane has broken cover after the US Air Force released photos of its Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft (ULTRA). Built by DZYNE, the semi-classified drone is now confirmed as deployed and active.

The US Air Force has released a video of the maiden flight of its XQ-67A demonstrator drone. Taken on February 28, 2024, the footage shows the autonomous aircraft strutting its stuff in the skies over Gray Butte Field Airport, Palmdale, California.

Bringing some flash to military aviation, Airbus is showing off its Wingman drone concept this week at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin. The 1:1 scale mock-up is the aerospace equivalent of a "show car" for highlighting ideas.

Aurora Flight Sciences has revealed its latest concept for a low-drag, fan-in-blended-wing body design for DARPA's Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program aimed at producing a high-speed VTOL aircraft for Special Forces missions.