The Aviationist Blog

Poland needs to make the F-35 work with other elements of the air force – as a system The dominating media narrative in the Polish public sphere portrays the F-35 acquisition as a giant leap [...]

The post All The Challenges Poland Faces Adopting The F-35 appeared first on The Aviationist.

Breaking news: British F-35B crashed this morning during operations from HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. An F-35B, one of the eight British jets embarked aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth has crashed this morning around 10AM GMT [...]

The post British F-35B From HMS Queen Elizabeth Has Crashed In The Med Sea. Pilot Reportedly Ejected. appeared first on The Aviationist.

The departure of the last two B-1s marked the end of the most recent Bomber Task Force Europe deployment. The 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron’s B-1B Lancers and nearly 200 support personnel completed their Bomber Task [...]

The post Last Two 9th EBS B-1B Lancers Have Returned To Dyess AFB After Bomber Task Force Europe Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.

A new interesting clip, released for the presentation of the “Checkmate” 5th generation light tactical aircraft at Dubai Airshow 2021, teases the unmanned version of Russia’s new stealth fighter. As already reported in detail here, [...]

The post Rostec’s New ‘Checkmate’ Promo Video Also Features Unmanned Variant Of Russia’s New Light Tactical Fighter appeared first on The Aviationist.

No injuries were reported after a sailboat collided with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier training off Toulon. On Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, at around 7.30 AM LT, a 10-meter sailboat flying the Polish flag collided with [...]

The post A 10-Meter Sailboat Collided With French Charles de Gaulle Aircraft Carrier Off Toulon appeared first on The Aviationist.

RTAF awarded contract for 8 Beechcraft AT-6 aircraft, becoming first foreign customer for latest USAF light attack aircraft. Textron Aviation Defense LLC announced on Nov. 14, 2021, a contract for eight Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine aircraft, [...]

The post Royal Thai Air Force Becomes International Launch Customer For U.S. Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine appeared first on The Aviationist.

Did you know that the E-2 Hawkeye is considered one of the most difficult aircraft to land on a flattop? Each airplane has its own peculiar features and needs to be handled differently while approaching [...]

The post Watch This: Cockpit Video Of E-2 Hawkeye Landing On USS Theodore Roosevelt In Bad Weather appeared first on The Aviationist.

A second aircraft joined the flight test campaign, while the first one performed its second flight. Boeing Australia recently announced that it has expanded the flight-test program of the Airpower Teaming System, also known as [...]

The post Boeing Expands The Test Program Of The Loyal Wingman Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Australia appeared first on The Aviationist.

The aircraft is the first of six C-130Js that will be operated together with four French ones in a joint binational squadron. The Bundeswehr announced on November 8, 2021, the maiden flight of the first [...]

The post First German C-130J Hercules Performs Maiden Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

The successful test follows last year’s failed attempt when the drones moved within inches from recovery, however one X-61 was also lost due to an unexpected power system issue. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [...]

The post DARPA’s X-61A Gremlin Air Vehicle (GAV) Recovered Inflight For The First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

From the Felon underwing pylon’s point of view: four Su-57s fly over Moscow. From Zhukovsky to Moscow and back aboard a Su-57 Felon: this is, more or less, the trip you can “fly” thanks to [...]

The post Watch This Amazing 360-degree 5K Video Filmed From The Underwing Pylon Of A Russian Su-57 Felon appeared first on The Aviationist.

Up close and personal with the Polish Competition Flying Legend: the PZL-104. A couple of weeks ago, we did an air-to-air photoshoot with two PZL-104 Wilga 35A aircraft – a legendary Polish utility aircraft that [...]

The post Air-to-Air With The Polish PZL-104 Wilga Short Take Off And Landing Utility Aircraft appeared first on The Aviationist.

Davis-Monthan Airshow in 2012, was the only time the public ever got a close look at the most expensive aircraft in history: the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser 747. This weekend, Saturday, November 6 and Sunday [...]

The post The Only Time the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed 747 Ever Came to an Airshow appeared first on The Aviationist.

Last week, Rome hosted the G20 summit. And here are some of the most interesting visitors to Rome Fiumicino airport. As already reported in detail, the presence of many Heads of State, Prime Ministers and [...]

The post Let’s Have A Look At The State Flights That Visited Rome For The G20 Summit appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Russian movie “Sky” is based on the shootdown of the Russian Air Force Su-24 over Syria in 2015 and the pilot killed after successfully ejecting from the Fencer with the weapon system officer. Almost [...]

The post Upcoming Russian Movie Recalls The Story Of The RuAF Su-24 Shot Down In Syria And The Death Of Its Pilot appeared first on The Aviationist.

The giant “Sky Dew” aerostat carries sensors that can identify incoming long-range missiles and aircraft. On Nov. 3, 2021, the Israeli Air Force announced it is about to deploy its balloon-mounted radar system with advanced [...]

The post Israel Prepares To Launch Giant Missile And Aircraft Detection Blimp Dubbed “Sky Dew” appeared first on The Aviationist.

16 A-10 Warthogs took part in a Mission Generation Exercise and staged a nice “Elephant Walk”. “Elephant Walk” events are becoming increasingly frequent at air bases in the U.S. and all around the world to [...]

The post Every A-10 Thunderbolt II Of The Maryland ANG Took Part In An ‘Elephant Walk’ At Warfield ANGB appeared first on The Aviationist.

The F-35A bound to the recently reactivated 495th FS Valkyries has flown with the new markings and the “LN” tail code for the first time. The first F-35A Lightning II sporting the markings of the [...]

The post First F-35A Destined To The 495th Fighter Squadron At RAF Lakenheath Spotted During Test Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

We interviewed Chinese military aviation expert Andreas Rupprecht to learn more about the progress of the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) Naval Aviation. Last week we reported about the the existence of two new stealth [...]

The post New Stealth Fighters, Aircraft Carriers And UCAVs: Dissecting The Real State Of China’s Naval Aviation appeared first on The Aviationist.

The one organized at Rivolto AB was much more than “just” a celebration of the Frecce Tricolori’s anniversary: unlike most of the Italian airshows it was also an opportunity to have a look at some [...]

The post Dissecting Frecce Tricolori’s 60th Anniversary Airshow And Its Pretty Interesting COMAO Demo appeared first on The Aviationist.