The Aviationist Blog

According to the first reports, at least two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were damaged in the attack. Engels-2 airbase, located in Saratov Oblast, some 400 km southeast of Moscow and roughly 700 km from the [...]

The post Explosion Hits Engels-2 Airbase, Russia, Reportedly Damaging At Least Two Tu-95 Bombers appeared first on The Aviationist.

Here’s our second analysis of the Northrop Grumman B-21 sixth generation stealth bomber. It was short, sweet and stealthy. The rollout ceremony for the new Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider was a well-produced but succinct event [...]

The post Let’s Have A Closer Look At The B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber appeared first on The Aviationist.

The new 6th generation stealth bomber has been unveiled during a ceremony at the company’s site in Palmdale, California. It finally happened. On Dec. 2, 2022, Northrop Grumman, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, [...]

The post The New B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Has Just Been Unveiled appeared first on The Aviationist.

Italian Army’s UH-90A helicopter fleet handover complete. The Esercito Italiano took delivery of the the 60th and final UH-90A (NATO designation for the Italian Army NH90 TTH) multirole helicopter. The aircraft, assembled at Leonardo’s Venice [...]

The post Italian Army Takes Delivery Of Its 60th And Final UH-90A Helicopter appeared first on The Aviationist.

While you prepare for the Raider rollout tomorrow, take a look at its predecessor staging an impressive Elephant Walk. Eight B-2A Spirit aircraft took part in a rare stealth bomber Elephant Walk carried out at [...]

The post Enjoy These Photos Of The Recent B-2 Elephant Walk To Prepare For The B-21 Unveiling appeared first on The Aviationist.

The 5th gen aircraft suffered a nose gear down collapse during towing. An F-35B Lightning II, belonging to the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 ‘Green Knights’, was involved in an incident on the ground [...]

The post U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Nose Gear Collapse Incident At Kadena Air Base appeared first on The Aviationist.

The ALE-70 towed radio frequency countermeasure is stored under a hatch next to the dual infrared countermeasures dispenser doors, that appear to be open too. The images in this post were taken last week at [...]

The post Take A Look At These Photos Of An F-35 Flying With The ALE-70 Towed Decoy Door Open appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) combines the GBU-39 SDB with the M26 rocket motor. The Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with GLSDBs an exclusive Reuters report unveiled on Nov. 28, [...]

The post The U.S. Is Considering The Transfer Of GLSDB Munitions To Ukraine appeared first on The Aviationist.

Designed for 5th gen fighter jets, Falcon Strike 2022 increased interoperability and cooperation to obtain the air dominance, taking also into account the lessons learned from the current situation in Ukraine. Exercise Falcon Strike 2002, [...]

The post Lessons Learned In Ukraine Helped Shape Falcon Strike 22, The 5th Gen-Centric ‘European Red Flag’ appeared first on The Aviationist.

Here’s some background about one of the most famous traditions in the military. While their roots are not completely clear, “deployment mustaches” (i.e. a mustache grown by soldiers during a military deployment) have without any [...]

The post A C-2 Greyhound Pilot On The Tradition Of Growing A Mustache While Underway On Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.

Devotion Tells Harrowing True Story with Incredible Aerial Scenes and Solid Cast. Let me save you some time: director J.D. Dillard’s new film, “Devotion”, really is better than “Top Gun: Maverick”. It really is. “Devotion” [...]

The post Move Over ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Devotion’ Is Authentic Aviation Cinematography appeared first on The Aviationist.

Falcon Autumn 2022 saw the participation of Dutch, U.S. and Polish helicopters. Between Oct. 31 and Nov. 18, 2022, exercise Falcon Autumn 2022 took place in the Netherlands. Over 1,000 troops and 37 helicopters from [...]

The post More Than Three Dozen Helicopters Take Part In Exercise Falcon Autumn 2022 appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Bayraktar Kizilelma drone has successfully completed the first autonomous taxi and take-off roll test. Baykar, the Turkish aerospace company that produces the Bayraktar TB2 Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles which have played a starring role [...]

The post Turkey’s First Indigenous Unmanned Fighter Aircraft Carries Out Autonomous Taxi Tests appeared first on The Aviationist.

Some of 5th gen. aircraft have operated in “full stealth mode” to train in the most realistic scenarios. As we already reported, F-35s from Italy, United States and the Netherlands are training together at Amendola [...]

The post U.S. And Dutch F-35s Have Flown Without Radar Reflectors During First Week Of ‘Falcon Strike 2022’ appeared first on The Aviationist.

World’s Largest Aircraft Seen with Engines Running and New Test Payload at Mojave. A tip from one of the most accomplished spotters in the U.S. on Thursday, October 13, 2022, led TheAviationist to the Mojave [...]

The post Stratolaunch Prepares for Reported In-Flight Drop Test of Talon Hypersonic Testbed appeared first on The Aviationist.

Convincingly Real Darkstar Movie Prop from “Top Gun: Maverick” Will Display with SR-71. It’s a movie prop, but it’s a very convincing movie prop. The hypothetical U.S. Navy, Lockheed Skunk Works Darkstar hypersonic test aircraft [...]

The post We Got A Spectacular Close Look At The Darkstar Movie Prop That Broke Cover at Edwards AFB appeared first on The Aviationist.

The “Top Gun: Maverick” Darkstar movie prop is going to be the highlight of the Edwards AFB airshow. As already extensively reported, the Darkstar hypersonic test aircraft featured in the opening scenes of blockbuster “Top [...]

The post Here Are The First Images Of Lockheed Darkstar On Display At Edwards AFB appeared first on The Aviationist.

The SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy) aircraft leaves an important legacy of science and engineering. As announced earlier in 2022, with the end of this fiscal year, NASA retired, on September 30, 2022, its [...]

The post NASA Has Retired Its Boeing 747SP SOFIA Airborne Observatory After Eight Years Of Scientific Activity appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Italian Eurofighters deployed to Poland have carried out 16 alert scrambles to intercept 19 Russian combat aircraft in the last few weeks. An “impressive number” according to the commander of the Italian Task Force. [...]

The post Russian Air Force Activity Near Polish Airspace Is ‘Intensifying’ According To The Italian Air Force appeared first on The Aviationist.

Fictional Movie Prop From “Top Gun: Maverick” Will Appear at STEM Display. The fictional movie prop of the Darkstar hypersonic test aircraft featured in the opening scene of “Top Gun: Maverick”, will be on static [...]

The post Report: Lockheed Skunk Works Darkstar Movie Prop to be At Edwards Air Show appeared first on The Aviationist.