Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

Germany is considering a follow-on purchase of more than 35 additional F-35 stealth fighters, a move that would take Berlin’s planned fleet to more than 70 aircraft and further anchor the Luftwaffe’s modernization to US technology. The potential acquisition, reported by Reuters sources, comes as the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) remains mired in disputes over the core sixth-generation fighter. A second tranche would further bolster near-term capacity and hedge against additional FCAS slippage or a failure to unlock the next phase. In October 2025, the German magazine Spiegel already reported, citing parliamentary sources, that a confidential submission had been…

Subscription Required By Bjorn Fehrm and Scott Hamilton Feb. 19, 2026, © Leeham News: Airbus appears likely to launch the long-discussed stretched version of the A220-300, nominally called the -500, as early as the Farnborough Air Show in July. Figure 1. This illustration, created years ago by Leeham News, shows the concept of a “simple stretch” for the “A220-500.” This illustration does not include some aerodynamic improvements LNA believes are necessary. Airbus is already planning a high-density version of the A220-300. Credit: Leeham News. Lars Wagner, the new CEO of Airbus Commercial Airplanes, told Reuters in January that he favors the…

2025 was an eventful year for TAAG Angola Airlines.   AeroTime readers already got a glimpse of the projects underway at the Angolan flag carrier, and the strategic vision underpinning them, in an in-depth Executive Spotlight interview with the carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer, Miguel Carneiro. On that occasion, speaking with AeroTime during the Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June 2025, Carneiro shared insights about the carrier’s growing hub-and-spoke network and fleet renewal program.  However, a number of developments have taken place at the African carrier in the six months that followed that conversation.   During the…

Editor’s note: This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.The latest rounds of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are going well enough for now, according to the steady drip of public statements from the main parties involved.“I think they want to make a deal,” said U.S. President Donald Trump on the eve of the latest round of discussions held in Geneva on Feb. 17, 2026. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, noted progress over…

A red, white and blue color scheme championed by President Donald Trump will become the new look for Air Force One, the U.S. military said Thursday.The Air Force said a “red, white, gold and dark blue paint scheme” will be used for the updated jet that is slated to serve as Air Force One as well as other, smaller jets that routinely fly other top government officials.The military released a rendering of the new look that matches an airplane model that has been seen in the Oval Office for meetings with foreign leaders.The Air Force said a “red, white, gold…

The U.S. Air Force’s troubled Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program faces significant risks from software delays and an extended reliance on the aging Minuteman III system. However, a January 2024 Nunn-McCurdy breach has opened a window to address longstanding issues and potentially improve outcomes, according to a Government Accountability Office snapshot released Feb. 18. The report highlights the challenges in replacing the 50-year-old Minuteman III, a cornerstone of the land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, with the more advanced Sentinel system. The program, led by Northrop Grumman, is described as the Air Force’s most complex infrastructure endeavor ever, involving…

Despite being posted on Feb. 18 after news broke about the reversal to Trump’s preferred VIP livery design, the rendering is in fact identical to one that has been used by Boeing for some time.   After a U.S. Air Force C-32A broke cover with a fresh paint scheme, replacing the traditional egg-blue and white livery, sources from the U.S. Government soon confirmed that the design – based on one first proposed by President Donald Trump in 2019 – would now become the fleet standard for U.S. VIP aircraft, including those used as Air Force One.  Now, on Feb. 18, 2026,…

The Navy has launched a Programmed Structural Sustainment Repair program for the dozens of F-16s acquired from the Air Force, which will allow them to fly through 2035. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced last week two major milestones with its ex-U.S. Air Force F-16 jets used in the Adversary role. The Adversary and Specialized Aircraft Program Office (PMA-226) and Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) said they completed the “first-ever Programmed Structural Sustainment Repair (PSSR)” on a U.S. Navy F-16C Viper this month, delivering the aircraft “eight months early.” This milestone followed FRCSW and PMA-226 setting up a…

The general aviation industry closed 2025 with record billings as business jet shipments climbed to new heights.  The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) used its annual State of the Industry press conference in Washington, D.C., to release its 2025 Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report, saying preliminary aircraft deliveries for the year totaled $35.7 billion, up 14.6% from 2024.   “The state of the general aviation manufacturing industry remains steadfast,” said GAMA President and CEO James Viola, pointing to annual billings he described as “the highest it has ever been.” Viola also noted that even where deliveries slipped for some segments, all remained above 2019 levels.   Total airplane shipments rose 2.2% year over year, from 3,162 aircraft in 2024…

Claims about modifying the F-35’s software raise legitimate sovereignty questions. But cybersecurity architecture, cryptography, and sustainment realities define strict limits on what can and cannot be done. As we reported in detail in a previous story, on Feb. 15, 2026, talking to the BNR Nieuwsradio Podcast, Dutch State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman suggested that the F-35’s software could theoretically be “jailbroken,” drawing a comparison with modifying an iPhone. “I’m going to say something I should never say, but I’ll do it anyway. Just like your iPhone, you can jailbreak an F-35. I won’t say more about it.”   Needless…