Breaking Defense reports Lockheed Martin is “doubling down on its internal investments” in the Vectis stealth drone program, announcing plans to build four additional prototypes beyond the aircraft already in production. The expanded fleet is intended to accelerate testing of the Skunk Works-developed aircraft while helping validate the production processes needed for the program.
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Tag: Aviation
Joby eVTOL Begins Week of eIPP Flights across North Texas
Aviation International News reports Joby Aviation has launched a week of electric air taxi demonstration flights across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, marking the first Texas operations under the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). The flights are part of Project Nexus, a regional initiative spanning Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana designed to encompass what officials describe as a “deliberate mix of dense urban airspace, a coastal energy corridor, and rural sovereign land.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
GE Aerospace Targets Major Fighter Engine Production Expansion
Aviation Week reports GE Aerospace is working to overcome supply chain bottlenecks and introduce broad production system improvements to accelerate fighter, trainer, and helicopter engine assembly. The transformation comes amid what the company describes as a “resurgence in demand” for engines powering advanced fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, along with a new wave of fighter trainers, prompting changes across GE facilities and its wider supply chain.
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Boeing Delivers 51 Jets in August as Dreamliner Handovers Decline
Aviation News reports Boeing delivered 51 commercial aircraft in August, with a slowdown in 787 Dreamliner handovers contributing to the decline from both July and the same period last year. Aviation News reports Boeing delivered just four Dreamliners during the month, compared with nine in August 2025, but said the lower total “was not caused by production, supply chain or certification problems.” The company continues to target between 90 and 100 Dreamliner deliveries for 2026.
Full Story (Aviation News)
PAL-V Reaches Key EASA Certification Milestone for Flying Car
Aerotime reports Dutch flying car developer PAL-V has moved another step closer to bringing its aircraft to market after receiving European Production Organization Approval (POA) from EASA. PAL-V called the certification a “significant step toward bringing certified FlyDrive mobility solutions to market” and says it is the first FlyDrive developer within Advanced Air Mobility to secure the approval, placing it “well ahead of both American and Chinese initiatives within the sector.”
Full Story (Aerotime)
Navy Details Plans for Carrier-Based Collaborative Combat Aircraft
Defense Daily reports the U.S. Navy is offering new insight into its plans for a future carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). A notice published this week “revealed several details of what the service is seeking,” including plans to test two fully functional unmanned autonomous prototype air vehicles.
Full Story (Defense Daily)
Sceye HAPS Completes First Transpacific Flight from U.S. to Japan
Aerotime reports U.S. firm Sceye, which develops High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) for communications and surveillance, announced it has completed its “first ever transpacific deployment” of the ST1, an airship-like, long-endurance vehicle. The HAPS traveled more than 15,000 km through the stratosphere from New Mexico to Japan over 13 days before conducting operational trials over Japan.
Full Story (Aerotime)
Video
Sceye HAPS Launch
Sceye Inc.; YouTube
Airbus Flexrotor Begins European Maritime Surveillance Missions
Aviation News Daily reports Airbus Helicopters has “commenced operational maritime surveillance missions” using its U030 Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system on behalf of the European Maritime Safety Agency. The long-endurance VTOL aircraft operates from naval patrol vessels, providing real-time intelligence to national coast guards and border authorities.
Full Story (Aviation News Daily)
FAA Marks Milestone with Remotely Piloted Hybrid-Electric Cargo Aircraft
Aerospace Global News reports, “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a significant milestone” in next-generation aviation with demonstrations of a remotely piloted hybrid-electric aircraft designed for cargo operations, advancing efforts to integrate new propulsion and autonomous technologies into the National Airspace System.
Full Story (Aerospace Global News)
FAA-Backed LIFTOff Louisiana to Test Electric, Autonomous Aircraft
Flying Magazine reports, “The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) said Thursday that it and its partners officially launched LIFTOff Louisiana—one of eight projects comprising demonstrations of electric, autonomous, and other novel, precertified aircraft being overseen by the FAA.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
