Bell Textron has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of the Navy with an estimated value of approximately $300 million. The agreement was signed in August 2026 at Bell’s manufacturing facility in Amarillo, Texas. The contract combines fixed-price, fixed-price incentive, and cost-reimbursement elements with fixed-fee provisions. The base contract, with options for extension […]

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France continues flight testing of the Airbus H160M Guépard, its next-generation multirole military helicopter. On July 31, the program reached another milestone as the second prototype completed its maiden flight. The first prototype has been in the air since July 24, 2025. The H160M is being developed for the French Armed Forces under the HIL (Hélicoptère […]

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The recent announcement by the Ukrainian Army Aviation Command identifying the UH-60 Black Hawk as the preferred future helicopter for Army Aviation brigades has sparked debate among defense analysts over the merits of this decision and the potential alternatives. Today, we take a closer look at one such alternative – the Italian-built Leonardo AW149 multirole helicopter. Development […]

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Following Germany, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom has also begun reorganizing its Army Aviation capabilities in light of the lessons learned from the Russia–Ukraine war. The British Ministry of Defence has announced plans to retire all 34 Wildcat AH.1 helicopters starting as early as 2027. So, what exactly are these aircraft […]

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Bell announced the completion of wing structures for the first two MV-75 Cheyenne II tiltrotor aircraft being built for the U.S. Army. The milestone marks another step in the production of the initial batch of eight test aircraft, six of which are already at various stages of assembly. Following systems integration, the wings will be […]

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Airbus Helicopters has officially unveiled the U145 unmanned helicopter, developed on the basis of the widely used civilian and military Airbus Helicopters H145. A full-scale mock-up of the new platform was presented ahead of the ILA 2026 international aerospace exhibition in Berlin, scheduled to begin on June 10, 2026. The use of the proven airframe […]

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Aviation start-ups and the Trump administration want to replace helicopters with electric aircraft, but the new vehicles still have to pass arduous tests before the public can use them.