Farnborough Airshow

Military variants of a civilian supersonic airliner are already on the cards after Northrop Grumman and Boom Supersonic signed an agreement at the Farnborough Air Show to develop special quick-reaction mission variants of Boom’s Overture aircraft.

There are no powered spinning propellers in nature. When evolution has found an advantage to producing thrust in a fluid, it has done it mainly by flapping things back and forth - and a new VTOL aircraft propulsion system aims to do the same with a series of flapping wings mounted in large ducts.

​The engines of an airplane are complicated machines that require careful maintenance. The future of this task, as Rolls-Royce sees it, could involve deploying different kinds of of robots that patrol these aircraft parts and quickly nip any problems in the bud. ​​

​​Aston Martin is the latest transport heavyweight to enter the flying taxi scene. It has actually teamed up with Rolls-Royce on its first vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, which it says was dreamt up with luxury, inter-city travel in mind. ​

The world got a glimpse of the fighter plane of tomorrow as Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson unveiled a concept model of the Tempest next-generation fighter jet to mark the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow.

​​The engines have been powered down after another Farnborough International Airshow. Not even foul weather could put a dampener on proceedings, with the Boeing 737 MAX and Lockheed Martin F-35 both making their airshow debut under grey skies.

At this year’s Farnborough Airshow, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc announced the second successful endurance flight of its Predator B Extended Range (ER) Remote Piloted Aircraft, which flew from June 17 to June 18 as part of a program to improve the Predator’s endurance and capabilities.

This week at the Farnborough Airshow, BAE Systems showed off its latest Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD), the Striker II flight helmet. The unit provides digital, visor-projected night vision and tracking systems that are equivalent or better than current HMD systems.

The Datron Scout Air Reconnaissance System is a lightweight Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) featuring a rugged weatherproof design and the ability to capture and transmit high quality video in winds of up to 50 km/h (31 mph).

BAE Systems has announced a second generation of HEADS sensors, which detect when a soldier has received a concussive blow to the head.

The BLOODHOUND Project team has unveiled a 1:1 scale replica of the car the team hopes will smash the world land speed record.

Zephyr, QinetiQ’s solar-powered, high-altitude long-endurance (HALE), Unmanned Air System (UAS) is currently in the air and setting a landmark unmanned flight duration record by demonstrating what is essentially perpetual flight.