The U.S. Marine Corps’ newest helicopter, the CH-53K, completed its first external load flight test carrying a 20,000 lb. load May 26 at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation’s Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Envelope expansion tests will continue with incrementally increasing speeds with the 20,000 load, and then on to the CH-53K’s requirement, a…

A pair of King Stallions conducted external load flight tests June 7 at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation’s Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Each CH-53K carried 12,000 lb. loads; one aircraft conducting flight expansion tests, the other a training flight in preparation for operational test with U.S. Marine Corps Operational Test Pilot Lt. Col….

Navy photograph The MQ-4C Triton prepares for a flight test in June 2016 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. During two recent tests, the unmanned air system completed its first heavy weight flight and demonstrated its ability to communicate with the P-8 aircraft while airborne. The Navy recently demonstrated two key capabilities for the…

Army photograph Many tests of the parachute system to be used aboard NASA’s Orion space capsule have taken place at Yuma Proving Ground in the past. This is what the test would have looked like had it not been aborted. Conducting an individual test can be an unbelievably complicated undertaking, particularly when dealing with an…

Air Force photograph by A1C Gwendalyn Smith Maj. Brian Jones, 458th Assistant Chief of Training, works on pre-flight checks July 6, 2016, at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. The visual inspection or walk around is done by the pilot as the final airworthiness check. From the F-15 Strike Eagle to the X-51 Waverider, every aircraft…

The Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, along with small business contractor Intelligent Automation, Inc., has developed and demonstrated a unique tool that will make routine aircraft engine exhaust inspections faster and more accurate.

Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base plans to restructure the 57th Operations Group to enhance its focus on close air support integration, Air Force officials announced Aug. 16.

A team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen from the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test re-entry vehicle Sept. 5 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

Air Force photograph by Staff Sgt. Robert M. Trujillo A U- 2 approaches an altitude near 70,000 feet above California, March 23, 2016. Worldwide flying operations for the U-2 have not been impacted as a result of a recent crash at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 20, 2016. Worldwide flying operations for the U-2…