Tag: Certification

Belgium Decides Not to Accept New F-35 Deliveries

FlightGlobal reports Belgium is joining the US in “not accepting new deliveries of the latest Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, pending the certification of an improved flight computer and new software.” Belgium’s defence ministry “says it will follow Washington’s lead in not accepting F-35s assembled in the new Technical Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration, which Lockheed is in the process of flight testing. The military airframer is experiencing delays completing flight certification of the TR-3 package, which prompted Lockheed to lower its F-35 delivery targets for 2023, as customers pause accepting new fighters.” On August 1, the Belgian ministry of defence said, “The refusal of the US government means that the process of certification and qualification is still ongoing and that the US government does not want to accept (and therefore pay) for hardware as long as the software is not fully finished. … This is a completely logical decision that also applies to Belgium.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

Archer Aviation Progressing Towards Certification of its VTOL Vehicle

FlightGlobal reports that start-up electric air taxi company Archer Aviation “says it continues to progress toward certification of its four-person vertical take-off and landing vehicle ‘Midnight,’ and a commercial entry-into-service date of 2025.” Company CEO Adam Goldstein “said that the company has now submitted 15 of its 18 subject- specific certification plans to the Federal Aviation Administration.” Goldstein said of the certification, “We have continued to make significant progress towards our goal of revolutionising urban mobility. We remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering safe, sustainable and low-noise urban air mobility beginning in 2025.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

Vertical Aerospace Pushes EVOTL Certification to Late 2026

Aviation International News reports that Vertical Aerospace “expects it will need at least an additional 12 months to certify its VX-4 eVTOL.” A letter to company shareholders said a review of the UK-based public company’s program timeline “has resulted in a decision by the management team to target certification by late 2026.” Vertical previously “indicated the four-passenger vehicle could be approved in 2025.” The letter cited ongoing air safety regulation work in the UK, Europe, the US, and Japan, with regulatory differences between the countries explaining the additional time required.
Full Story (Aviation International News)

Joby Aviation eVTOL Awarded FAA, USAF Certification

Aviation Today reports that “FAA Special Airworthiness Certification and U.S. Air Force Airworthiness Approval were both awarded to Joby Aviation for the company’s second pre-production prototype aircraft.” Due to the certification, Joby “will be able to ramp up flight testing in 2022 and continue working towards a commercial operations launch date in 2024.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)

FAA Doesn’t Expect Certification of Boeing 777X Before 2023

Bloomberg reports that the FAA sent a letter to The Boeing Company on May 13 expressing concerns about the company’s newest version of the 777 “because of what U.S. regulators called a test-flight incident and multiple other issues with software and inadequate data.” The FAA wrote that the agency “anticipates a significant impact to the level of regression testing, change impact analysis, and the potential to increase the number of certification flight tests that will need to take place.” The FAA told Boeing that it does not expect to certify the jet before the second half of 2023.
Full Story (Bloomberg)