The Air Current

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... When Boeing personnel hoisted a prototype of its MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueling drone aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in June, the high-profile visit revealed a potential expansion of its role that has long been suspected but repeatedly denied by the Pentagon. An unpublicized test during the demonstra...

Air safety reporting is made accessible without a subscription as a public service. Subscribe to The Air Current for full access to our scoops, in-depth reporting and industry analysis. NTSB investigators are probing the role a bird strike played in the fan-blade-out accident experienced by a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 last month as it climbed out of Thessaloniki Internat...

Archer Aviation will acquire Boeing’s Wisk Aero, SkyGrid and Insitu subsidiaries in an all-stock transaction that is poised to make Boeing the largest outside shareholder in the electric vertical take-off and landing developer, the companies announced on Aug. 10. As part of the deal, Boeing and Archer will enter into a cross-licensing agreement that will allow the aer...

The Federal Aviation Administration has backtracked on a proposal that would have imposed stricter certification requirements on electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft carrying passengers for hire, instead reverting to a more conventional certification approach that more closely aligns with its existing policies for airplanes and helicopters. In its newly iss...

The U.S. Navy has asked defense contractors to develop a new uncrewed aircraft with a focus on long-range strike capability, signaling its vision for future carrier air wings and the fleet’s broader strategy as the service races to adapt to the growing threat of long-range counter-air weapons in the Indo-Pacific. A July 14 request for information (RFI) seeks proposals...