Ryan Finnerty

1 week ago | flightglobal.com | Ryan Finnerty

US defence manufacturer Kratos plans to assemble a new family of small, lightweight turbofan engines in the state of Oklahoma. The powerplants will be offered as a propulsion solution for long-range munitions like cruise missiles and the new classes of uncrewed fighter jets being developed by the US Air Force and others, leading Kratos to describe the forthcoming line of turbofans as “strike engines”.

2 weeks ago | flightglobal.com | Ryan Finnerty

High above the Persian Gulf, a rookie fighter pilot prepares to rendezvous with a tanker aircraft to refuel mid-flight. Several miles away, the tanker appears on radar, but can also be seen visually as a small speck on the horizon, above the fighter’s cockpit canopy. As the new pilot matches course to close with the tanker, it slowly comes into focus: a single vertical stabiliser pierced by a turbofan engine, two more engines mounted underwing, and critically a fuel transfer boom being lowered.

2 weeks ago | flightglobal.com | Ryan Finnerty

The USA’s top defence official has given the clearest evidence yet that the Pentagon under the Trump Administration has soured on plans to acquire Boeing’s 737-based E-7 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform. Speaking before a congressional committee on 10 June, secretary of defense Pete Hegseth said observations of China’s military build-up and the now three-year-plus war in Ukraine are driving changes to the Pentagon’s equipment strategy.

3 weeks ago | flightglobal.com | Ryan Finnerty

Video footage released by Ukraine is shedding greater light on the toll of Kyiv’s 1 June drone strike against multiple Russian air bases. The latest video footage released by Ukrainian authorities appears to show dozens of aircraft being impacted by weaponised quadcopter drones, including two of Russia’s critical Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.

3 weeks ago | flightglobal.com | Ryan Finnerty

Aviation system manufacturer Honeywell says it can deliver significant improvements to onboard power generation for the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter, even without installing new hardware on the complex jets. Honeywell is positioning itself as the low-risk choice for a much-anticipated Pentagon programme to upgrade the F-35’s power and thermal management system (PTMS), which provides electrical power to critical aircraft systems and serves as the jet’s auxiliary power unit.