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In April, NASA took another major step toward reintroducing supersonic flight with an award to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company to design, build, and test a supersonic aircraft to reduce sonic boom.

Last month, AeroVironment, Inc. began accepting orders for their new Puma 3 UAS. As an “all environment” UAS, Pumas have operated effectively in some of the harshest climates on Earth.

Today’s airframe manufacturers have taken on more of the role of systems integrators, putting the focus on the aircraft as a system-of-many-systems. Sean Barker, FBCS CEng and a former research scientist at BAE Systems in the UK, approaches aircraft as a system of systems (SoS) from a business process perspective in his new book from SAE International in Warrendale, Pa.

The first Airbus A330-800 commercial jet, flight test aircraft MSN1888, took off today from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport on its maiden flight over southwestern France during which the aircraft performed dedicated flight-physics tests required for the variant.

Aerion Supersonic in Reno, Nevada, and Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix are collaborating on a revolutionary, connected cockpit for the Aerion AS2, regarded as the first supersonic business jet in history.

A growing number of organizations, including leading aerospace and defense (A&D) companies, are implementing model-based systems engineering (MBSE), a practice developing and exploiting a set of related system models that help define, design, and document a system under development – and reaping the benefits of not only increased productivity, agility, and efficiency, but also time and cost savings.

Airshow China is the country’s go-to event for debuting the their latest military and aerospace hardware. One those aircraft debuts – which might look familiar to engineers at Northrop Grumman – is the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Cai Hong 7 unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).

China will require more than 7,400 new passenger aircraft and freighters, with a total market value of $1,060 billion (U.S.) or $1.06 trillion, through 2037 to meet growing demands for mobility, including passenger and cargo transport, Airbus officials in Toulouse, France, predict. China represents more than 19 percent of the world total demand for more than 37,400 new aircraft over the next 20 years.

Today, Hartford, Conn.-based Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., incorporates more than 5000 sensors on its latest powerplant, the PW1000G high-bypass geared turbofan (GTF). The massive amount of data requires significant processing capabilities, but results in efficiencies for operators and maintainers.

“The future of urban transportation requires close partnership between regulators, cities, authorities, and the private sector. AeroMobil is closely working with cities around the world to establish opportunities to test, develop, and implement routes for safe personal transportation in the sky,” says Jonathan Carrier, vice president of corporate development of AeroMobil in Slovakia.

GE Aviation, the Evendale, Ohio-based subsidiary of General Electric has been working with DM3D Technology, LLC. of Auburn Hills, Michigan and Windsor, Connecticut-based Barnes Aerospace to develop DM3D’s proprietary DMD technology for a ramp-up to full-scale production of 3D-printed GE9X fan blades in 2020.

Continental Aerospace Technologies is partnering with Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH of Austria to provide a new powerplant for the DA50 general aviation aircraft. Continental also recently expanded its portfolio with a “cash and in-kind contribution” investment in Ampaire Inc., an electric aircraft and propulsion company.

In contrast to the stiff, rigid wings found on most commercial aircraft, flexible wing technology is considered essential to next generation, fuel efficient aircraft. However, flexible wings are susceptible to “flutter,” or highly destructive aeroelastic instability. To better understand and mitigate flutter, engineers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) equipped the X-56 with fiber optic sensing (FOS) technology.

The first Airbus BelugaXL has rolled out of the paint shop, sporting a special, beluga whale-inspired livery selected by Airbus employees.

“We originally thought solar cells would be standard on the airplane’s wings,” says George E. Bye, founder and CEO of Bye Aerospace Bye. “However, with eFlyer’s primary markets being flight training and air taxi services, it makes more sense to make the price of the airplane as reasonable as possible.”

A cowling, or engine cover, is a critical airframe component that reduces drag and directing airflow into the engine. For the E-8C JSTARS, an aircraft with four massive Pratt and Whitney JT3D-based TF33-102C turbofan engines, each set of engine cowling components can cost up to $80,000 per set. Even a slightly warped cowling renders the entire housing unsafe and unserviceable.

Bell Helicopter will partner with Rolls-Royce to develop an optimized propulsion system for the Bell V-280 Valor and unmanned V-247 Vigilant vertical lift tiltrotor aircraft – the company’s candidate platforms for the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

The new Advanced Technology and Training Center (ATTC), which opened yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony, will focus on breakthroughs in condition-based maintenance and the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation within that domain.

Four of these technologies – smart coatings for corrosion detection and protection, aluminum alloys for high temperature applications, particle contamination mitigation technologies, and thermal and environmental barrier coating systems – are among NASA’s most in-demand technologies and have been applied to mainstream engineering projects.

The Global 7500 business jet from Bombardier Inc. in Montreal appears to be on the fast track to entering service, thanks in large part to high-tech engineering design, simulation, and test tools. Bombardier engineers and officials are crediting the program’s extensive use of proven engineering tools, digital simulation, innovative ground testing systems for helping to ensure: a mature aircraft at the start of flight testing, an efficient flight validation program, test aircraft that exceed original performance goals, and completion of one lifetime of simulated flights, which exceeds the requirements at time of certification.