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Posted: 25th March 2025
2025-03-24
The new BRU-78 Dual Carriage System allows the MQ-9 Reaper to carry two bombs on a single hardpoint, doubling the number of free fall weapons it can employ in combat. The U.S. Air Force has released photos of the first test of the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb being loaded on the MQ-9’s newest weapons employment […] The post MQ-9 Reaper Tests GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb on New Dual-Carriage System appeared first on The Aviationist.
KC-135 Stratotanker Could Fly Past 100 Years in Service
2025-03-24
The U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command has suggested their KC-135 Stratotanker fleet may serve beyond 2050 with a life extension and upgrade program. Almost 70 years after the type’s first flight, the KC-135 Stratotanker remains the U.S. Air Force’s primary and most numerous aerial refueling aircraft. Now supplemented by the KC-46A Pegasus, which will […] The post KC-135 Stratotanker Could Fly Past 100 Years in Service appeared first on The Aviationist.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin Each Flew an X-Plane in Preparation for NGAD
2025-03-23
After the U.S. Air Force selected the F-47, DARPA disclosed that Boeing and Lockheed Martin each built a demonstrator aircraft for NGAD, which first flew in 2019 and 2022. In another bit of information released after the U.S. Air Force selected the Boeing F-47 for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, DARPA (Defense Advanced […] The post Boeing and Lockheed Martin Each Flew an X-Plane in Preparation for NGAD appeared first on The Aviationist.
Sandia National Laboratories Reveals First B61-13 Joint Test Assembly
2025-03-23
With the completion of the B61-12 program, work has now started on the B61-13, specifically designed for “certain harder and large-area military targets” in support of the Nuclear Posture Review’s need to defeat “hard and deeply buried targets.” Sandia National Laboratories has started to work on the B61-13 nuclear bomb program, as shown in an […] The post Sandia National Laboratories Reveals First B61-13 Joint Test Assembly appeared first on The Aviationist.
USS Nimitz Sets Sail For Likely Final Deployment
2025-03-23
Almost 50 years on from its commissioning date, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) departed Naval Base Kitsap on Mar. 21, 2025, for a deployment to the Indo-Pacific. The Nimitz, now the oldest active aircraft carrier in the world, leads Carrier Strike Group 11 (CSG 11), comprising Destroyer Squadron 9 (DESRON 9) and […] The post USS Nimitz Sets Sail For Likely Final Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.