WalkAround

Our Jamie Hunter went to Wichita to fly aboard Beechcraft’s M-346 jet trainer, which could replace the Navy’s T-45 Goshawk. Steven Helmer, a flight test and demonstration pilot for Textron Aviation and Defense, gave us a walk-around tour of the M-346 prior to taking to the skies.

The demonstrator Beechcraft is using is an M-346FA (fighter-attack) model of Leonardo’s M-346 Master family of jets. Leonardo and Textron, the latter of which owns Beechcraft, have joined forces for the Navy’s next generation trainer opportunity. The Navy’s M-346 variant will be configured slightly different, with the company giving the concept the designation M-346N. You can read all about this proposed variant here.

The next generation Navy jet trainer is unlikely to be required to land or launch from a carrier, a controversial move to say the least, but this decision has opened up the field to types that won’t require as extreme of a modification.

With all that being said, check out our walk-around tour below and stay tuned for a much deeper dive in the M-346 for the Navy in an upcoming video of Jamie’s flight.

You can also check out Textron’s pitch for the M-346N in our previous video below from Sea, Air, Space symposium earlier this year:

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We got an up-close look at General Atomics’ Mojave, which is working as a lead-in for Gray Eagle STOL at the Association of the U.S. Army’s major symposium outside of Washington, D.C. this week. Gray Eagle STOL will bring a vast array of capabilities and future adaptability into a package that can takeoff from short, rough fields and even amphibious assault ships. You can read all about Gray Eagle STOL in our recent feature here.

From the show floor, Chris MacFarland, vice president of Army Strategic Development from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), gives us the full walk-around tour of the aircraft and what it will bring to the table.

Check it out in the video below:

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On Monday, we reported on Sikorsky’s new U-Hawk cargo helicopter, which is a UH-60 Black Hawk that has been converted into an uncrewed hauler by removing the cockpit and adding clamshell doors in its place, fly-by-wire flight control systems, and additional modifications. You can read all about this aircraft, its genesis, and its capabilities in our report linked here.

Now we have gotten a tour of the actual helicopter on the show floor at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual conference just outside of Washington, D.C. Erskine “Ramsey” Bentley, Strategy and Business Development, Advanced Programs at Sikorsky, gave us the walk around, explaining all the U-Hawk’s features.

Check it out in the video below:

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