March 29, 2024

AH-1Z Undergoing Testing at Pax

AH-1Z

The US Navy has successfully completed its first joint air-to-ground missile flight test on the AH-1Z helicopter at NAS Patuxent River.

Traditional & Unmanned Aircraft Paired at Pax

unmanned aircraft

Navy and Pentagon leaders praise the successful pairing of the P-8 Poseidon aircraft with the unmanned MQ-4C Triton undergoing testing of their capabilities at Pax River.

Report: Captain at Fault in El Faro Sinking

El Faro

A Coast Guard report says the primary cause of the 2015 sinking of the cargo ship El Faro, which killed all 33 aboard, was the captain underestimating the strength of a hurricane and overestimating the ship’s strength.

Rosetta Mission Comes to An End

Rosetta Mission

Rosetta, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, is dead, setting down Friday on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Radio signals from Rosetta flatlined at 7:19 am after it did a soft belly-flop.

Pilots Surveyed Like the F-35 Best

F-35 top test pilot UK

A Heritage Foundation survey of fighter jet pilots finds every surveyed pilot likes the F-35 better than any other fighter jet.

New Ops Center for Atlantic Test Ranges

NAWCAD

Construction has begun of a new operations center for the US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Atlantic Test Ranges has begun. slated for completion in 2017. The project will boost the ATR’s ability to support simultaneous test operations for future and current naval aviation programs, including unmanned systems and virtual, live, and constructive battlespace environments.

Will US Continue to Rule the Skies?

F35

Can America retain its edge in the sky? By 2030 the most powerful air forces in the world will be very familiar. See who’s on the list?

Triton UAS Demonstrates Key Capabilities

East Coast Drone Hub Lands in Mayport

The US Navy’s MQ-4C Triton UAS, in flight, demonstrates two key capabilities: exchanging full motion video feedback with the P-8A Poseidon using a common data link, and creating ate situational awareness for P-8 aircrew by tracking a target with its electro-optical/infrared digital camera.

What’s With Military’s ‘Star Wars’ Fascination?

Pax River Navy Museum

The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum gets in on the “Star Wars” parodies on Throwback Thursday.

Runway Project Moves Pax Testing to Wallops for Summer

F-35's Gun Pod Trials Completed

A detachment from Naval Air Station Patuxent River will operate from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility this summer. The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force will conduct flight test operations at Wallops with two F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing variants and two F-35C carrier variants from mid-June to mid-July while NAS Pax is implementing a runway intersection construction project.