Flight Testing
Hungary's first KC-390 airlifter takes flight
The first KC-390 Millennium tanker-transport for the Hungarian Air Force (HuAF) completed its maiden flight from Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto facility in Brazil on February 8, months later than was originally planned
Spanish Navy’s first NH90 MSPT now in testing at Albacete
The Spanish Navy’s first NH90 Maritime Spanish Tactical Transport Helicopter (MSPT) arrived at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Albacete, Spain, on January 17, following a ferry flight from the firm’s plant at Donauwörth in Germany, where the aircraft completed its maiden flight on December 15, 2023
Spanish Typhoon testbed supports Sniper pod trials
The Spanish Air and Space Force is currently using its Eurofighter EF-2000 Instrumented Production Aircraft 4 (IPA4) to support a flight test campaign focusing on the integration of Lockheed Martin’s AN/AAQ-33 Sniper advanced targeting pod onto the Typhoon fleets employed by the air arms of Kuwait and Qatar
USAF welcomes first T-7A Red Hawk at Edwards AFB
The USAF’s first T-7A Red Hawk arrived at Edwards AFB in California on November 8, marking a milestone that formally kicks off the air arm’s developmental flight test programme for the new advanced jet trainer
USAF's third F-15EX Eagle II takes flight ahead of delivery
Boeing completed the first flight of the third F-15EX Eagle II for the USAF on October 27, some ten weeks after the new fighter was rolled off the assembly line. That day, two sorties were flown from the firm’s facility at St Louis Lambert International Airport in St Louis, Missouri
Turkey's Baykar kicks off Bayraktar TB3 UCAV flight testing
The new Bayraktar TB3 UCAV successfully completed its maiden flight at the Akinci Flight Training and Test Center in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ, Turkey, on October 27, neatly presaging the nation’s 100th annual Republic Day celebrations
USMC’s first XQ-58A Valkyrie takes flight at Eglin AFB
The first of two XQ-58A Valkyrie UCAVs for the USMC successfully completed its first test flight at Eglin AFB, Florida, on October 2, closely followed by an F-16CM Fighting Falcon (88-0441/ET) from the 40th Flight Test Squadron – a component of the USAF’s 96th Test Wing – that was flying as the ‘chase’ aircraft
USAF welcomes first Joby Aviation eVTOL to Edwards AFB
The USAF’s Emerging Technologies Integrated Test Force (ET-ITF) took delivery of its first experiment electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft at Edwards AFB, California, on September 25
Could the B-1B Lancer become the USAF’s primary hypersonic missile testbed?
The USAF could turn to its supersonic-capable B-1B Lancer strategic bomber fleet to take over as the testbed for air-launched hypersonic weapons to help mitigate availability problems with the Cold War-era B-52H Stratofortress, which is currently in the process of being modernised
Success for Royal Navy in Wildcat’s first air-to-air firing of Martlet missile
In a recent series of trials, an AW159 Wildcat HMA2 multi-mission maritime helicopter from the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm’s 815 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, carried out the first successful test firing of a Martlet lightweight multi-role missile against an aerial target