Flight Tests

In another milestone on the road to fully Autonomous Formation Flight and Autonomous Air-to-Air Refueling (A4R), Airbus Defence and Space has autonomously guided and controlled a drone using an A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) flying testbed.

The world's largest flying aircraft has reached record heights, with Stratolaunch today completing the seventh test flight of its gigantic Roc carrier plane and logging a record altitude for the huge aircraft in the process.

On June 15, Airbus' first A321XLR (Xtra Long Range) airliner completed its maiden flight over Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport with test pilots Thierry Diez and GabrielDiaz de Villegas Giron at the controls for a four-hour shakedown systems test.

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works advanced development programs division has set a new world flight endurance record for a Group 2 (5 to <25 kg (11 to <55 lb)) drone after the company's Stalker VXE remained aloft for 39 hours, 17 minutes, and 7 seconds.

The Royal Navy's 700X Naval Air Squadron has completed intensive testing of heavy-lift drones at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, UK, to determine their fitness for resupplying aircraft carriers and other frontline naval operations.

Gensler has revealed plans for a new museum in California that's dedicated to the history of test flights and historic aircraft. The building will feature an eye-catching angular roof that's inspired by the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth plane.

The US Air Force's AFWERX technology accelerator program has announced that in December 2021 it successfully completed the first flight of an electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft with an Air Force pilot at the remote controls.

With the decision on the replacement of the US Army's UH-60 Black Hawk fleet coming down to the wire, the partners behind the SB>1 Defiant have announced that their candidate advanced rotorcraft has completed its first mission profile test flights.

In an echo of the Cold War, Russia's first newly manufactured Tupolev Tu-160M (NATO designation Blackjack) supersonic nuclear heavy bomber completed its maiden flight on January 12, reaching a height of 600 m (2,000 ft) during its 30-minute test.

Palo Alto startup Archer has started flight tests with its autonomous, two-seat Maker demonstration aircraft, fulfilling a promise it made when it popped out of stealth mode 18 months ago to start demo flights by the end of 2021.

Boeing's Loyal Wingman prototype combat drone reached a new milestone as two of the autonomous aircraft took to the skies recently in separate flights over the Woomera Range Complex in Australia. This marks the first time that the second drone has flown.

Rolls-Royce's high-speed, all-electric Spirit of Innovation aircraft has flown for the first time. On September 15, the speedster prop plane took off from the UK Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down site fora 15-minute flight.