Northrop Grumman subsidiary scores $3.4B Navy contract
Northrop Grumman Systems, a subsidiary of Falls Church aerospace and defense giant Northrop Grumman, has been awarded a $3.459 billion contract by the Navy to engineer and manufacture new nuclear aircraft, according to announcements from the Department of Defense and the Navy last week. E-130J jets will take the place of the Navy’s current E-6B […]
Yagen makes $100M donation to Military Aviation Museum
Gerald “Jerry” Yagen, founder of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and Centura College, has made a $100 million gift to Virginia Beach’s Military Aviation Museum, including his private collection of 70 vintage military aircraft, the museum announced last week. In the 1990s, Yagen began collecting aircraft from the first 50 years of aviation history, from […]
V2X lands up to $747M Navy contract
V2X has received an up to $747 million U.S. Navy contract to maintain F-5 supersonic fighter jets used in military training exercises, the McLean-based Fortune 1000 aerospace and defense contractor announced Monday. Under the single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, V2X will be responsible for providing critical support and operational readiness of the F-5 aircraft, which t[...]
Boeing lands $2.56B Air Force contract
Boeing has won a $2.56 billion U.S. Air Force contract for two rapid prototype E-7A airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) Wedgetail aircraft, the Arlington-based Fortune 500 aerospace and defense company announced Friday. The contract modification to a previously awarded undefinitized contract action includes life-cycle development, training and support for the Air Force’s E-7A flee[...]
Electra aircraft backlog hits $8B
Manassas-based aviation startup Electra.aero has surpassed 2,000 orders for the electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft it’s developing, totaling an $8 billion backlog, the company announced Tuesday. Electra signed a letter of intent in December 2023 to deliver its blown-lift, fixed-wing eSTOL aircraft to Finnish regional private air carrier startup Lygg, followed by similar [&he[...]
Blackstone vertiport receives landmark approval
Move over, North Carolina. The Tar Heel State may have been first in flight, but Virginia landed a first for the advanced air mobility industry in September 2023 when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration granted conditional approval for the nation’s first public-use vertiport, a landing and launch site for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft […]
Electra’s hybrid prototype aircraft takes first flight
This story was updated Dec. 1. A Manassas aircraft manufacturer that’s developing an electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft logged a significant milestone Nov. 19 when it completed its first hybrid-electric flight. Electra’s EL-2 Goldfinch took off from Manassas Regional Airport and flew 23 minutes, reaching an altitude of 3,200 feet and covered about […]
Boeing reaches $40B deal with Ryanair
Irish air carrier Ryanair plans to order as many as 300 Boeing 737 MAX-10 aircraft from Arlington County-based Fortune 100 contractor Boeing Co. in a $40 billion deal, the two companies announced Tuesday. Subject to approval by Ryanair’s stockholders, the deal includes a firm order from the airline for 150 aircraft and an option for […]
Manassas company to develop short takeoff, landing aircraft for Air Force
Manassas-based aerospace company Electra.aero Inc. has received a Strategic Funding Increase award from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX arm that secures up to $85 million for development of a prototype electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft. The award, announced Thursday, secures funding between private investments, government funding and matching Small Business Innovation Research [...]