COMMERCIAL NEWS - Al’s Big Twin Freighter continues to prove popular, CFM International launches RISE - a programme to test new turbofan engine technologies - and United Airlines announces a huge fleet revamp.
MILITARY NEWS - CAE gets approval for the acquisition of L3 Harris Technologies’ Military Training business, Germany signs for five P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft and Switzerland selects the F-35 Lightning II as its new fighter.
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - Russian academics develop an extra-durable alloy idea for aviation, the EDA inaugurates a new helicopter training system and Liebherr-Aerospace and GM collaborate on a new power generation system.
UAV FOCUS - Boeing’s MQ-25 Stingray undertakes the first ever aerial refuelling of a manned aircraft by an unmanned platform, while Wave Engine Corporation wins a US Air Force contract to build and demonstrate its Versatile Air Launched Platform.
ROTARY FOCUS - Volocopter debuts its 2X eVTOL aircraft at Le Bourget, Airbus Helicopters remains confident in the face of COVID-19’s impact on the civil helicopter market and start-up eVTOL developer Archer launches its first aircraft, the Maker.
BUSINESS FOCUS - Honda unveils a refined variant of the HA-420 HondaJetElite light jet, while GrandView Aviation is revealed as the launch customer for the Embraer Phenom 300MED convertible medical evacuation aircraft.
SPACE FOCUS - Airbus nets contract extension for UK satellite-based maritime surveillance, NASA satellite data is harnessed in the fight against ocean microplastics and Northrop Grumman launches the Tactically Responsive Launch-2 payload into orbit for the US Space Force.
DECISION TIME - With the bids in for Finland’s key fighter procurement programme, Richard Thomas looks at the platforms put forward ahead of an award announcement later this year.
ISLAND HOPPING - Tom Batchelor reports on the Royal Mail’s recent inter-island drone flights and considers the advantages drones have over conventional delivery methods.
READYING FOR LAUNCH - Robert Coppinger examines the UK’s development of a vertical space launch capability and the prospects for the defence and civil sectors in the years ahead.
TRIPLE ECO - The Airlander airship series is quieter, cleaner and more comfortable than rotorcraft or fixed-wing aircraft, developer Hybrid Air Solutions tells Nigel Pittaway.
POWER STRUGGLE - Russia’s aero engine industry is still struggling to supply enough engines for the mass-produced Russian-made rotorcraft in the 11 to 13-tonne class. Alexander Mladenov takes an in-depth look into the ongoing challenges.
KING OF THE HILL COVER STORY - Hill Helicopters wants its clean-sheet private helicopter to offer all the comfort the wealthy associate with their luxury cars - as well as the latest aviation capabilities - Mark Broadbent reports.
IRAN’S UNMANNED AMBITION - Shorn of the ability to access key international markets, Iran has had to focus on developing indigenous industries to provide its armed forces with unmanned aerial vehicles, as Richard Thomas explains.
PLAY TO WIN - Birgir Jonsson, CEO of new Icelandic carrier PLAY, talks to Thomas Haynes about the threats and opportunities posed by launching an airline during a global pandemic, along with the lessons learned from earlier start-ups.
SUSTAINING SPECIAL OPERATIONS - Scott R Gourley looks into the platforms operated by the US 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, which provides US Special Forces with the mobility needed at the tip of the combat spear.
BOOM TIMES - Britain’s flourishing space industry is developing applications and components critical to everything from robotics to Earth observation, finds Mark Broadbent.
OUT OF THIS WORLD - Tai Inbar, head of the Space and UAV Research Center at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, speaks with Joe Charlaff on Israel’s developing defence capabilities in space.
MACHINE LEARNING - Artificial intelligence is cropping up all over the aviation sector. Tom Batchelor reports on its varied uses and the improvements the technology is driving.