Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

The U.S. Air Force says the YFQ-48A Mission Design Series acknowledges Northrop Grumman’s Project Talon as a “strong contender” for the CCA program. The U.S. Air Force has announced that it has assigned the Mission Design Series (MDS) YFQ-48A to the Northrop Grumman Project Talon Collaborative Combat Aircraft on Dec. 22, 2025. The company unveiled the new unmanned platform on Dec. 3 at the Mojave Air and Space Port, after developing it largely in secrecy. YFQ-48A The YFQ-48A’s designation marks a key step forward in the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, as the Air Force prepares to select designs for the…

This sounds like an absolutely awful flight, and I can’t help but wonder just how widespread this issue was… Family sues Delta & KLM over bed bug infestation On December 18, 2025, a lawsuit was filed against Delta and KLM, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. This involves a trip that a family living in Virginia took on March 21, 2025, as they traveled on Delta from Roanoke (ROA) to Atlanta (ATL), and then on KLM to Amsterdam (AMS) and then Belgrade (BEG). The family of four (a father, mother, and two sons) booked…

Supporting aerial firefighting missions, the Boeing 767 is set to become the next chapter in Coulson Aviation USA’s Very Large Airtanker program (also known as VLAT). The program will mark a significant advancement in the capabilities of aerial firefighting and is intended to provide a more sustainable replacement to current VLAT platforms. This comes as the world was forced to ground the MD11 and DC10 fleets, which has put immense pressure on firefighting agencies. The 767 is now being developed to support these agencies with an aircraft that can support a greater payload, while also offering lower fuel burn and…

The PhantomStrike AESA radar will be integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s X-62 VISTA as part of the recently announced Mission Systems Upgrade to expand autonomy testing. The U.S. Air Force’s X-62 Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA) will receive Raytheon’s PhantomStrike AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar as a part of its Mission Systems Upgrade (MSU), announced RTX on Dec. 19, 2025. We recently reported here at The Aviationist about the MSU, part of a strategic investment from the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) meant to expand autonomy testing in more complex scenarios. The X-62 is assigned to…

I recently wrote about how the miles & points world has changed over the years. As is the case with just about any industry, things evolve over time, and some developments are positive, while others are negative. When it comes to actually redeeming points for airline award tickets in premium cabins, I’d argue there’s one trend that we’ve been seeing a lot of, and I suspect this practice will only continue to spread. While I’ve mentioned this in passing and have written about specific instances of this, I’d like to take a big picture look at this practice. How airlines…

When Airbus unveiled the A321XLR, it was clear that the European manufacturer was aiming to push the limits of what a narrowbody aircraft could achieve. Building on the success of the A321neo and the long-range A321LR, the XLR (Extra Long Range) has been designed to connect thinner long-haul routes more efficiently than ever before, reshaping airline network planning and the onboard passenger experience. In this article, we will take a closer look at what makes the Airbus A321XLR the perfect aircraft for long, thin routes. We will also examine how one major carrier, American Airlines, is likely to deploy its…

Hydrogen-electric propulsion startup ZeroAvia has secured funding to ‘power the next phase for the company’ after investors provided financial support for the next two years of development. The British-US technology firm announced in May 2025, that it was working towards raising $150 million in Series D funding to continue progression towards certification of its hydrogen-electric engines. On December 22, 2025, ZeroAvia said that the latest round of investment had been led by Barclays Climate Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Horizons Ventures, Summa Equity, and AP Ventures, with participation from the National Wealth Fund and the Scottish National Investment…

The development of the Izdeliye 177 appears to be driven by the need to upgrade the earlier Su-57 production models and offer a new powerplant to international customers. Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) announced on Dec. 22, 2025  the test flight of an Su-57 Felon (airframe T-50-052) with a new Izdeliye 177 (Russian for ‘Product 177’) Gen. 5 engine – a powerplant it had revealed in the Dubai Air Show. Photos and videos released by UAC on its Telegram channel showed the Product 177/Izdeliye 177 engine installed on the Su-57’s port (left) side, distinguished from the older engine by the…

Air Tahiti, the regional carrier operating turboprop flights in French Polynesia, will soon be introducing an all-new way to travel. It’s mighty swanky, and tickets for the product are now on sale (thanks to MaxPower for flagging this). Air Tahiti’s 26-seat, all-business class ATR 72-600 Air Tahiti operates a fleet of roughly a dozen turboprops, with the largest plane being the ATR 72-600. All of Air Tahiti’s current ATR 72-600s are configured with 70 seats, in an all-economy layout, with a 2-2 configuration. Air Tahiti plans to continue to grow its fleet, and in late 2026, the airline plans to…

Longer, thinner wings are on the horizon as NASA and Boeing continue to research what the future of aviation could look like with new revolutionary designs for wings that could make them more efficient, offer less drag, and potentially mitigate the vibrations the aircraft encounters with turbulence. These wings could be a game-changer for aircraft, with experts from NASA and Boeing now exploring the development and challenges associated with this new technology. Longer, but thinner wings will reduce drag, making them flexible in flight and minimizing the movement felt during turbulent conditions. The Future Is Near Credit: NASA The Integrated Adaptive…