Farnborough Airshow

Mention Zeiss, and it's likely to bring up planetarium projectors and advanced optical lenses, but aerospace products wouldn't get much of a look-in. That is, until now, as New Atlas gets hands-on with Zeiss's new holographic technology for 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.

A radically new concept in VTOL aircraft design has made its debut with the first flight of Sikorsky's Nomad 100 rotor-blown wing prototype. Announced during the Farnborough International Airshow, the milestone marks the official takeoff of the Nomad family.

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.

Lockheed Martin used this year's Farnborough International Airshow to introduce a low-cost alternative to its Patriot surface-to-air interceptor missile called the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Adapted Capability Effector (PAC-3 ACE).

This year's Farnborough International Air Show was the venue for a major announcement by Anduril. The company has developed Thunder, a group 5 autonomous tilt-rotor attack helicopter designed as a Loyal Wingman for combat choppers.

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.