The Air Force is adding ground and air test apparatus and developing new live-fly test ranges in anticipation of a more frequent and aggressive hypersonic test capacity, officials with the Air Force Test Center said.
As the B-52 fleet prepares for new engines, radar, communications, and other tech upgrades, a team of test pilots and engineers at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. wants to make the aging bomber easier for crews to operate.
A sleek, futuristic, six-rotor aircraft stood behind a red ribbon at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 25—marking the latest milestone in the Air Force’s involvement in the “electric air taxi.” The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Joby Aviation was unveiled at ...
Boeing submitted paperwork to deliver the first T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet to the Air Force on Sept. 12, marking the latest step as the service aims to achieve initial operational capability in 2027.
The Air Force will officially take ownership of its first production-representative T-7A trainer jet “in the coming weeks” and quickly move into flight testing from contractor Boeing’s St. Louis facility, a service official said last week. After that, the first two Red Hawks will transfer out ...
In another step toward first flight, the initial B-21 Raider has had its first “power-on” test, Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden announced. The company still expects first flight—and a contract for low-rate initial production—by the end of 2023, she said in the company's second quarter ...
“Electric air taxis” are coming to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., early next year, as the Air Force and Joby Aviation announced a deal April 25 as part of the service’s Agility Prime program. The deal’s announcement comes just a few days after Air Force pilots ...
The first F-35A fitted with the Tech Refresh 3 update flew Jan. 6 from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the Joint Program Office announced. The TR-3 suite of more powerful processors and memory is the enabling upgrade on which most of the planned F-35 Block ...
As the Air Force’s test and evaluation enterprise faces a surge of new weapon systems it needs to test, existing range space must be preserved and ground testing needs to be better resourced, said Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., outgoing head of Air Force Materiel ...
The Air Force has revived hypersonic sled testing, dormant for 18 years, in order to add another means to the limited portfolio of hypersonic test capabilities. Sled tests at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., demonstrated that hypersonic speeds can be achieved on a test track ...
The first B-21 expected to fly is largely assembled and has been moved to a calibration facility, one of the last steps before powering systems and making final checks ahead of first flight, Rapid Capabilities Office director Randall Walden reported.
Preparing for conflict in the Pacific will require more than learning to fly fighters out of austere locations—it will also call for small bomber crews to go on quick consecutive missions at unfamiliar locations. In a "bomber agile combat employment" (BACE) exercise Dec. 6-8, two ...