Follow aircraft programs, flight-test milestones, defense aviation, spaceflight records and aerospace industry announcements with editorial context.
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman have completed the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II critical design review, moving the carrier-borne radar aircraft from design into integration, retrofit and eventual flight test.
Japan’s H3 rocket launched the QZS-7 navigation satellite on August 10 UTC, carrying the second U.S. Space Force hosted sensor built to watch geosynchronous orbit over the Indo-Pacific.
Heart Aerospace’s full-scale X1 demonstrator flew for 27 minutes on August 12, reaching 1,100 feet and delivering more than one megawatt of electric power.
Boeing and Northrop Grumman demonstrated machine-to-machine mission tasking between P-8A Poseidon and simulated MQ-4C Triton systems using open standards and a satellite relay.
The modified F-16D testbed completed 27 AI-controlled intercepts across eight flights, using a Legion Pod’s live infrared track of a T-38 to close the sensor-to-maneuver loop.
The FAA issued the 737 MAX 7’s amended type certificate on August 3 after requiring flight-control, cockpit-alerting and engine anti-ice changes.
The largest 737 MAX variant has completed its planned certification flight campaign after 976 flights and more than 2,060 flight hours, but regulatory reviews remain.
Kyiv and Stockholm finalized a 16-aircraft new-build Gripen E agreement on June 30, 2026, the first tranche of a fleet that could grow past 100.
The Air Force cleared both the General Atomics YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury into production — its first fighter-designated aircraft with no cockpit, ~150 by 2030.
NASA’s X-59 quiet-supersonic demonstrator exceeded Mach 1 for the first time on June 5, 2026, then reached its target Mach 1.4 at 55,000 ft on June 12 — clearing the way for the community overflights meant to replace the sonic boom with a soft thump.