Military Aviation

Some Air Force pilots will leave the service with a tailwheel endorsement. The Air Force expects to get its first (of 75) OA-1K Skyraider II light attack fighters in the next couple of months, and its nickname pays homage to what was likely the last taildragger to actively serve. The original A-1 Skyraider was a […]

President Donald Trump is apparently rejecting Boeing’s plan to delay delivery of two new aircraft to serve as presidential transports to 2029. Fox News said its sources revealed the new date and the administration isn’t happy about it. “It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for […]

A U.S. Navy EA-18G “Growler” electronic warfare aircraft crashed this morning (Feb. 12) in San Diego Bay near Shelter Island. Both crew members ejected and were picked up within minutes by a fishing boat, transferred to a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) vessel and taken to a hospital. They are reported in stable condition. The […]

The NTSB has declined to confirm statements by Sen. Ted Cruz that the crew of an Army Black Hawk helicopter had the aircraft’s ADS-B Out transmitter “turned off” when it was in a collision with a PSA CRJ700 at Reagan National Airport in late January. The NTSB said in a media update on Saturday that […]

Online military website The War Zone reported today that the U.S. Marines are exploring possible successors to the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor. The program is advanced enough to have an acronym—the Next Generation Assault Support (NGAS) initiative. Originally planned to continue in service into the 2060s, the troubled Osprey program has faced growing scrutiny, including a […]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Investigative Update for Feb. 4 reports that most recent information shows the Army Black Hawk helicopter altitude displayed in the control tower showed 300 feet at the moment of impact. However, that readout is rounded to the nearest 100 feet, the NTSB said, suggesting the helicopter altitude could have […]

The scope being used by the controller working both the American Eagle flight and Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided Thursday in Washington, D.C., showed the helicopter about 125 feet lower than the CRJ700 it met over the Potomac River. At a press briefing on Saturday, NTSB member Todd Inman said the flight data recorder […]

The War Zone (TWZ) website is reporting that the U.S. Air Force has “dramatically plussed-up” the budgets of contracts with engine manufacturers that are working on next-gen fighter engines. Both General Electric and Pratt & Whitney now have $3.5 billion budgets to work on their Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) programs. The information was released […]

An aerospace think tank says a shortage of Air Force fighter pilots is being compounded by a shortage of airplanes and threatens its combat readiness. The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies says the impact of the shortages is exacerbated by declining pilot experience, which is threatening pilot survivability as a whole. “The Air Force’s pilot […]

On Wednesday, Defense officials said U.S. military aircraft would assist in deporting thousands of illegal immigrants out of the country. In a statement, Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said the Department of Defense (DoD) will enhance its presence at the southwest border by deploying roughly 1,500 additional ground personnel, along with helicopters and their […]