September 2, 2026 - No. 35 In This Issue : Mark your calendar for the PROS Summit! Don’t miss the opportunity to connect, learn, and stay ahead of what’s next in aviation safety. : AA Orders Boeing 787 Wing Inspections Over Fatigue Crack Risk : SFO Selects ProSafeT : Why the US crashed a real fighter jet into a concrete wall (Video) : Boeing Company Opens Major Expansion in Mississippi : American startup is weeks away from firing the core of its jet engine, a crucial machine that can resurrect supersonic luxury : Boeing secured a $163 million B-52 bomb rack upgrade contract : Rolls-Royce completes $1 billion Indiana investment to expand U.S. engine production for B-52, C-130J, MV-75 and MQ-25 programs : GE Aerospace Marks First Year of Apprenticeship Program in Wilmington : A new kind of aircraft departs an MIT classroom and arrives at an Ohio factory : The US Air Force Estimated $30,000,000,000 for a New Version of the F-22 Raptor as a Bomber That Could Hit Mach 1.8 Called the FB-22 : Coolant Leak and Unstable Approach Cause Bearhawk Crash FAA Orders Boeing 787 Wing Inspections Over Fatigue Crack Risk FAA targets 94 Boeing 787 aircraft worldwide after a structural investigation identified a potential fatigue-crack risk. By Bhavya Velani August 28, 2026 Photo: Boeing WASHINGTON- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered inspections of certain Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operated by airlines worldwide after concerns about possible fatigue cracks in wing-related structural components. The directive covers 17 Boeing 787s operating in the United States and 77 aircraft worldwide. Boeing says the issue was corrected in production and that affected aircraft can continue normal operations. Photo: Clément Alloing FAA Mandates Structural Inspections on Boeing 787 The FAA issued a final airworthiness directive requiring operators of specific Boeing 787 aircraft to inspect structural components for possible cracks. The action follows a proposed rule issued by the regulator in March. The inspections are intended to identify cracks before they can grow and potentially weaken the aircraft’s wing structure. The FAA said the affected components are located on the lower side of body splice plates near the wing skins. The directive applies to 94 aircraft in total, including 17 operating in the United States and 77 elsewhere around the world. Boeing had more than 1,100 787 aircraft in its global fleet as of last year. ↗ Photo- Heute; Wikimedia Commons Boeing Discovered the Issue During 2019 Investigation Boeing identified the structural concern during an investigation in 2019. The investigation found that some shim gaps exceeded the dimensions permitted under Boeing’s engineering specifications. A shim is used to fill a gap between aircraft components when mechanics join structural parts together. Fasteners are then used to secure the components in place. According to the FAA, Boeing’s investigation found that excessive shim gaps and high pull-up forces could contribute to fatigue cracks developing around fastener holes. Fatigue cracks can develop after repeated exposure to structural loads over time. If they remain undetected, they can potentially grow and reduce the strength of the affected structure. Photo: Riyadh Air Inspection Focuses on Wing-Body Structural Area The mandated inspections target the lower side of body splice plates positioned close to the wing skins. These structural components form part of the connection between the aircraft’s fuselage and wing area. The inspection requirement is designed to ensure that any cracks associated with the identified manufacturing or assembly condition are detected and addressed. The FAA’s final directive makes the previously issued guidance mandatory for operators of affected aircraft. Photo: Etihad 787-10 Boeing Says Production Issue Was Corrected Boeing said the airworthiness directive represents the next stage of a process that began after the company identified an outdated method for measuring shims in 2019. The company said the issue was corrected during production and that aircraft currently operating in the global fleet can continue normal operations. Boeing also said it updated its guidance for 787 operators in August 2025. Since then, the company has worked with operators to revise their inspection schedules. The manufacturer supports the FAA’s decision to make the inspection guidance mandatory. Photo: Clément Alloing Previous FAA Action Involved 787 Structural Gaps The latest directive follows earlier FAA scrutiny of structural gaps on the Boeing 787. In 2025, the FAA required inspections related to gaps in the aircraft’s aft pressure bulkhead. The regulator had warned that certain gaps, if left unaddressed, could contribute to fatigue cracking and weaken the structure. The 787 has also faced scrutiny from a whistleblower who alleged in 2024 that some gaps at major fuselage joints exceeded Boeing’s engineering requirements. Boeing disputed the safety implications and maintained that the aircraft was safe. The latest FAA directive specifically addresses the shim-gap and fatigue-crack concern identified during Boeing’s 2019 investigation. Photo: Boeing FAA Directive Targets Specific Aircraft The inspection requirement does not apply to the entire Boeing 787 fleet. It covers specific aircraft identified by the FAA based on the structural condition under investigation. For affected operators, compliance with the directive will require inspections and any necessary corrective action specified by the FAA. The action reflects the regulator’s approach of making manufacturer guidance mandatory when a known structural condition could affect continued airworthiness if it is not monitored or corrected. Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates. Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News Why the US crashed a real fighter jet into a concrete wall (Video) In April 1988, Sandia National Laboratories carried out one of the most extraordinary crash experiments ever attempted. Rather than relying on computer simulations, engineers mounted a retired McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II on a rocket sled and accelerated it to approximately 480 miles per hour before slamming it into a massive reinforced concrete target. The dramatic test was designed to answer a critical question: could key nuclear infrastructure withstand the impact of a high-speed military aircraft? Rare high-speed footage captures the instant the fighter jet disintegrates on impact, producing one of the most striking crash sequences ever recorded. The experiment yielded valuable data on aircraft impact dynamics, structural resilience, and nuclear facility safety, while also becoming one of the most famous engineering tests of the Cold War—demonstrating that sometimes the only way to understand the unimaginable is to recreate it. Boeing Company Opens Major Expansion in Mississippi The facility makes advanced composite components and assemblies for specialty aircraft. IEN Staff Aug 28, 2026 From left to right: Clint Church, Phantom Works Chief Engineer, Massachusetts and Virginia sites; U.S. Congressman Michael Guest; Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves; Luke Colville, President and CEO, Aurora Flight Sciences; U.S. Senator Roger Wicker; U.S Congressman Trent Kelly. Aurora Flight Sciences Boeing company Aurora Flight Sciences recently celebrated the grand opening of a major expansion at its Mississippi manufacturing site. The expansion adds nearly 50,000 sq. ft. of new space and renovates 40,000 sq. ft. of existing space. The project brings new automation equipment, robotics, machining capabilities and non-destructive inspection technologies. The facility manufactures advanced composite components and assemblies for a range of specialty aircraft, including the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueler, military helicopters, business jets and spacecraft. The grand opening event on August 19, 2026, brought together state leaders, community partners and Aurora team members to celebrate the milestone. Luke Colville, president and CEO of Aurora, joined Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Senator Roger Wicker, Congressman Trent Kelly and Congressman Michael Guest in commemorating the facility. Aurora first established its presence in Mississippi in 2005 at Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory. Two years later, the company relocated to its current facility near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Columbus. What began as roughly 21,000 square feet of manufacturing space has now grown to more than 170,000 square feet. With approximately 120 employees currently on-site, Aurora expects to grow its workforce by more than 30 percent over the next four years. The company employs skilled technicians and offers training for individuals joining from local vocational programs, supported in part by long-standing partnerships with Mississippi State University, East Mississippi Community College and regional career technical centers. 61 years after Europe tested the Concorde’s engines, an American startup is weeks away from firing the core of its jet engine, a crucial machine that can resurrect supersonic luxury and whisk passengers from NYC to London in the time it takes to fly from LAX to Houston by Sayan Chakravarty Note: Numerous photos in the original article. Six decades after Europe began testing the engines that would eventually power Concorde, America is preparing to fire up an engine core that could determine whether supersonic luxury travel has a future. Boom Supersonic is getting ready to test the “Sprint Core,” the crucial heart of its Symphony engine, in a milestone that could bring the company one step closer to cutting the flying time between New York and London roughly in half. A Concorde lifts off on the power of four Olympus 593 engines, whose exhaustive development program established the benchmark Boom’s Symphony must now follow. Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl recently appeared on The Captain & Kennedy Air Show podcast, where he discussed the company’s progress and its preparations to test Symphony’s Sprint Core. “We’re a few weeks away from that thing running for the first time,” Scholl said. The timing is particularly striking because Boom is targeting passenger service around 2030, while Scholl has also recently made the ambitious claim that production of the Overture supersonic aircraft could begin in about two years.Image – Luxurylaunches The engine that has to make Overture possible The Sprint Core contains the high-pressure compressor, combustor and high-pressure turbine, forming the compact, intensely hot, and mechanically demanding center of Symphony. According to Boom, the core is “built as a stand-alone test article.” A rendering of the Symphony engine This is where Boom moves beyond the relatively familiar territory of XB-1. That demonstrator proved the company could design and fly a supersonic aircraft, but it relied on three established GE J85 military-derived engines that produced roughly 12,300 pounds of combined thrust. Symphony is being designed to deliver about 40,000 pounds of thrust per engine, with four engines planned for Overture.Boom’s Symphony test facility at Colorado Air and Space Port, where the 14,000-pound engine core is expected to roar to life for the first time. The upcoming run will test far more than whether the machinery turns. Boom needs to determine whether the compressor can generate the necessary pressure and airflow without unacceptable stall or surge behavior, whether the combustor can ignite reliably and maintain a stable flame, and whether turbine blades, vanes, seals, bearings and rotating components can withstand extreme heat, pressure, vibration and mechanical loads. Engineers will also examine the cooling passages and compare actual pressures, temperatures, shaft speeds and thermal expansion with their computer models. Blake Scholl the founder of Boom supersonic Earlier single-nozzle combustor tests at Georgia Tech examined ignition, flame shape, stability, emissions and high-temperature operation. Boom propulsion engineer Nishant Jain compared that first fire to “rubbing sticks and seeing the first fire.” The Sprint Core is the next major step, putting that flame together with a compressor and spinning turbine inside an integrated machine.Concorde first took flight on March 2, 1969, roughly three years and four months after its full-size Olympus 593B engine began bench testing in November 1965. A Concorde-era clock is ticking The test will take place at the Colorado Air and Space Port near Watkins in Adams County, about 35 miles from Boom’s headquarters. The company has announced a $3 million to $5 million program to adapt the site with instrumentation, data acquisition and control-room facilities. The location also has an unusually appropriate aerospace history. It was previously used by Reaction Engines for hypersonic research, including a 2019 DARPA-backed program that simulated Mach 5 airflow and exposed a precooler to temperatures approaching 1,800°F. An Olympus 593 in a sling at Patchway, England. Image – Facebook / Rowland White The historical parallel with Concorde is hard to ignore. The full-size Olympus 593B was first run on a test bed in November 1965, roughly three years and four months before Concorde’s maiden flight and more than a decade before the aircraft entered commercial service. Boom’s anticipated Q3 2026 Sprint Core test would leave only around three to three-and-a-half years before its aspirational 2030 passenger-service target.A cross section of the spirit core There is an important difference. The Sprint Core is not yet a complete production Symphony engine, making Boom’s timetable especially aggressive. A successful run would be a major milestone, but turning one prototype into a certified engine that can be manufactured repeatedly will require extensive additional testing, refinement and certification work. Symphony also faces a different thermal challenge from conventional airliner engines. Boom says its most demanding sustained operating condition will be supersonic cruise rather than takeoff. The engine therefore has to remain extremely hot and heavily loaded for an extended period, placing enormous importance on cooling, endurance and component life. Image – Boom Supersonic The luxury is speed itself If Symphony reaches production, Overture is planned as an all-premium airliner carrying approximately 64 to 80 passengers. Boom is targeting fares comparable to today’s business-class tickets instead of the exceptionally high prices associated with Concorde. A rendering of the Overture’s cabion The real luxury, however, would be time. The ideal Overture journey is straightforward, which is to leave New York after breakfast and reach London in time for an afternoon meeting. That schedule advantage could make speed itself the defining premium feature. Concorde showed how powerful that proposition could be. Its cabin was narrow, yet airlines turned the aircraft into a luxury experience with truffle pastries, bespoke tableware, fashion-designed uniforms and interiors associated with designers including Raymond Loewy and Andrée Putman. Rendering of aircrafts being assembled at the Boom supersonic factory. Boom’s planned production chain extends beyond its own facilities. Future production Symphony engines are intended to be assembled by StandardAero in San Antonio, while Overture airframes are planned for final assembly at Boom’s Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company describes its commercial pipeline as 130 orders and pre-orders, but that figure should not be presented as 130 firm orders. It includes 95 explicitly described options, consisting of 40 from American Airlines, 35 from United Airlines, and 20 from Japan Airlines. American has placed a non-refundable deposit on 20 aircraft, United has signed a purchase agreement covering 15, and Japan Airlines has made a strategic investment in Boom and obtained 20 options. For now, however, the biggest question is sitting inside that Sprint Core. XB-1 demonstrated that Boom could build and fly a supersonic aircraft. Symphony has to prove that the company can develop the propulsion system capable of powering a commercial one. If the core fires successfully, Boom will have taken perhaps its most consequential step yet toward making supersonic luxury travel a commercial reality again. Boeing secured a $163 million B-52 bomb rack upgrade contract August 26, 2026 On August 25, 2026, Boeing secured a U.S. Air Force delivery order worth up to $163 million to manufacture and deliver B-52 bomb rack modernization system kits. The contract falls under an existing indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) framework focused on B-52 Stratofortress production and sustainment. The modernization efforts will be centered in San Antonio, Texas, with a projected completion date of December 20, 2028. [1, 2] Boeing Awarded $163 Million Air Force Order for B-52 Bomb Rack Modernization 7 days ago Raytheon, Boeing Secure $766M Air Force Contracts for B-52 Modernization 6 days ago Key Details of the Agreement The newly announced contract specifically funds the following defense logistics: • Manufacturing and full-scale production of the upgraded bomb racks. • Kitting and parts assembly for deployment to the fleet. • Immediate Funding: The U.S. Air Force has initially obligated nearly $35 million from fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement funds to jumpstart the initiative. [1, 2] Context of B-52 Overhauls This weapon-system upgrade is part of a broader, multi-billion-dollar campaign to transition the aging Cold War-era B-52H fleet into the modernized B-52J variant. [1] Other core facets of this strategic modernization include: • Radar Systems: Boeing previously achieved ground integration milestone checks on the first B-52 equipped with the new AN/APQ-188 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. [1] • Commercial Engine Replacement: This bomb rack project complements a massive $2 billion task order awarded to Boeing earlier in the year. That project replaces obsolete TF33 engines with highly efficient Rolls-Royce F130 engines to keep the heavy bombers operational through 2050. [1, 2, 3, 4] • Would you like more details on Boeing's financial performance following this award, or do you want to explore the technical specifications of the incoming B-52J variant? Rolls-Royce completes $1 billion Indiana investment to expand U.S. engine production for B-52, C-130J, MV-75 and MQ-25 programs By Hannah Miller (Defence Industry Europe) Corporate | August 28, 2026 Photo: Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce has completed a $1 billion overhaul of its manufacturing, assembly and engine-test operations in Indiana after a decade of investment. The project is the company’s largest investment in the United States and expands capacity for several major American military aviation programs. The work modernized advanced manufacturing across the Indianapolis campus and added new ground-test facilities. Rolls-Royce also established an altitude test facility in West Lafayette. “This billion-dollar investment is about more than buildings and test cells — it is about delivering for the American warfighter, on time and at the standard our customers expect. We made this investment because it was the right thing to do for U.S. national security and for the future of Rolls-Royce,” said Adam Riddle, president of Defense and chief executive of Rolls-Royce North America. The Indiana operations will support future engines for the U.S. Air Force’s B-52 strategic bomber and the U.S. Army’s MV-75 Cheyenne. The campus also builds and tests engines for the V-22 Osprey, U.S. Navy MQ-25A Stingray and C-130J. Rolls-Royce said Indianapolis produces more of its defense products than any other company site worldwide. The operation employs about 3,500 people, including a workforce represented by the United Auto Workers, and supports thousands of additional supply-chain jobs in Indiana. “The engines built in Indianapolis power the aircraft our warfighters depend on, and this investment strengthens the American defense industrial base at a moment when we need it most. Rolls-Royce is proving that we can manufacture the most advanced military technology in the world right here in Indiana,” said Indiana Senator Jim Banks. Rolls-Royce has invested more than $1.5 billion in U.S. facilities and nearly $2.5 billion in research and development over the past decade. The company said its American operations contributed $6.2 billion to the national economy in 2024 and supported more than 30,000 jobs across 26 states when research spillover was included. The company estimates that every dollar invested by the U.S. government in Rolls-Royce returns about four dollars to the American economy. The Indianapolis campus also houses LibertyWorks, an advanced propulsion research organization supported by a $75 million, 10-year alliance with Purdue University. B-52 C-130J Super Hercules MQ-25 Stingray Rolls Royce U.S. Air Force Read more Air Rolls-Royce CEO says NATO commitments involving MQ-4C Triton and GlobalEye support the company’s longer-term defence growth outlook GE Aerospace Marks First Year of Apprenticeship Program in Wilmington August 25, 2026 80+ have completed company's newest apprenticeship program WILMINGTON, N.C. – August 25, 2026 – GE Aerospace celebrated the first year of its newest apprenticeship program in Wilmington, N.C., where more than 80 apprentices have graduated since it launched in August 2025. Over about eight weeks, apprentices prepare for careers as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinists. Training begins at GE Aerospace’s Wilmington site, continues with five intense weeks at Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), and concludes with several weeks of on-the-job training with mentors back at GE Aerospace. For those with previous machining experience, their training is full-time at the Wilmington site. Apprentices are paid as full-time GE Aerospace employees throughout the program, and the cost of instruction is covered by North Carolina’s NCEdge program. CNC machinists set up and operate large equipment that creates precise parts that are critical to jet engines. Recent graduate Joseph Knox said, “I joined the apprenticeship program to pursue a new career path and create a better future for myself and my family. It’s a great way to step into this field where you can thrive and make a career out of it.” “This apprenticeship opens the door to a career at GE Aerospace for people from many backgrounds, including those new to the industry,” said Mark Moon, the site leader for GE Aerospace in Wilmington. “It helps us grow the skilled workforce we need in Wilmington to deliver the critical engine parts our customers depend on.” As part of its partnership, GE Aerospace purchased new CNC machines for CFCC’s shop for hands-on instruction. “Our partnership with GE Aerospace demonstrates the vital role community colleges play in developing the skilled workforce that drives economic growth,” said Jim Morton, President of CFCC. “As GE Aerospace continues to expand its operations and invest in the Wilmington region, CFCC is proud to provide the training and talent pipeline needed to support that growth. Through this customized machining training program, we are helping individuals launch rewarding careers while ensuring one of our region’s leading employers has access to a highly skilled workforce prepared to meet the demands of advanced manufacturing.” The apprenticeship program builds on GE Aerospace’s broader workforce efforts in North Carolina. Last year, the GE Aerospace Foundation donated $500,000 to the Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes MAKE America initiative to help former service members earn their FAA mechanic license near Fort Bragg. In 2024, the Foundation also awarded Cape Fear Community College a $100,000 grant to support scholarships and machining bootcamps that strengthen the local manufacturing industry talent pipeline. Earlier this year, GE Aerospace announced plans to invest $60 million in its Wilmington site as part of more than $160 million investment across North Carolina and $1 billion in U.S. manufacturing during 2026. The Wilmington facility supports GE Aerospace’s commercial and military engine programs. The site manufactures precision parts used in the core of jet engines — including blisks, spools, and high-pressure turbine disks — components designed to operate under extreme conditions and pressure. About GE Aerospace GE Aerospace is a global aerospace propulsion, services, and systems leader with an installed base of approximately 50,000 commercial and 30,000 military aircraft engines. With a global team of approximately 57,000 employees building on more than a century of innovation and learning, GE Aerospace is committed to inventing the future of flight, lifting people up, and bringing them home safely. Learn more about how GE Aerospace and its partners are defining flight for today, tomorrow, and the future at www.geaerospace.com. A new kind of aircraft departs an MIT classroom and arrives at an Ohio factory Electra’s hybrid, fixed-wing aircraft, which grew out of a class project, could make travel easier for passengers taking shorter trips. Watch Video Zach Winn | MIT News Publication Date August 25, 2026 Press Inquiries Note: See photos and video in the original article. Electra’s hybrid, fixed-wing aircraft could make travel easier for passengers traveling the distance of short flights or long drives. Credits Credit: Courtesy of Electra Caption : The eight motors allow the aircraft to take off and land in areas about the length of a soccer field, much shorter than the runways for conventional airplanes. Credits : Credit: Courtesy of Electra Previous image Next image A former MIT class project is becoming an $850 million effort to manufacture a new kind of aircraft in Ohio. Electra began as an idea for a hybrid plane that could take off from shorter runways than traditional airplanes but have more range and speed than all-electric aircraft. Now, like other great MIT projects, it’s making an impact far beyond campus. The company’s fixed-wing aircraft is designed to make travel easier, especially for people who don’t live in the immediate vicinity of a major airport. The plane features a smaller, more efficient engine than traditional planes, along with batteries to give it added power during takeoffs and landings. With a range of around 1,200 miles and a cruising speed of around 200 miles per hour, the plane could improve the travel experience for many kinds of trips while cutting down on fuel use. And, given the much shorter runway needs and quieter operation than traditional planes, the plane can leverage unique access points such as barges, parking lots, and soccer fields to take off and land instead of traditional airports. Play video “Helping people travel between 50 and 250 miles is the sweet spot for this technology,” says Electra Director of Technology Development Chris Courtin SM ’19, PhD ’24. “This can be a better option than driving or commercial airlines for many kinds of trips. There’s a lot of people traveling in that range and a huge amount of friction in existing ground and air transport systems. This could be a big benefit to those people.” Courtin has worked on the hybrid plane concept since its inception, first as part of a class project at MIT, then as a teacher’s assistant, and finally as part of his PhD thesis. The company was founded by another alumnus, John Langford ’79, SM ’83, SM ’85, PhD ’87, and counts two MIT professors — Mark Drela and John Hansman — as its founding technical advisors. “The company has really benefited from a strong collaboration with MIT,” Courtin says. “One of the compelling things about MIT is it gives people space to marry the theoretical side with the practical side — to actually go build the airplane and see if people will buy it.” Electra has already built and flown a two-seated version of its plane. Last month, the company announced an $850 million investment to scale production of its nine-passenger aircraft in Springfield and Clark County, Ohio. The investment, which is expected to create 1,975 new jobs, means Electra will be building the next chapter of aviation in the state where engine-powered human flight first began. From concept to company The origins of Electra date back to a 2017 project among graduate students in MIT class 16.886 (Air Transportation Systems Architecting). Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft were garnering excitement at the time, and Courtin’s group wanted to compare that approach to alternative designs. “It was an open-ended, project-based class where you look at developments in aerospace,” Courtin says. “My group realized short takeoff and landing aircraft had a lot of advantages over eVTOL for getting people where they wanted to go. We started exploring using the same technology — lightweight, electric motors suitable for aviation — to make a new aircraft, which we now call the ultra-short takeoff and landing aircraft.” The idea was to use batteries and small electric motors to shorten the runway and landing space of a fixed-wing aircraft while leveraging blown wind to travel farther distances in the sky than would be possible with electric motors alone. The concept was developed further in several senior design classes co-taught by Drela and Hansman, while Courtin served as a teacher’s assistant. In the classes, student collaborators built a subscale model of the aircraft to prove it would work, testing it in MIT’s Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel and in flight. Courtin went on to work on parts of the concept for his PhD. In 2019, John Langford, who had been running the aircraft company Aurora Flight Sciences, which had recently been acquired by Boeing, got involved. Electra was officially formed that year. As a first step, Electra’s team built the EL2, a two-seated version of its aircraft. That included designing and testing the hybrid propulsion system. The EL2 completed its first test flights in 2023 and has since completed over 200 flights. The aircraft has a gas-powered generator located in its nose and two batteries under the floor, both of which feed the propellers during takeoff and landing. When cruising, the aircraft uses the generator, which can also charge the batteries. “The gas generator is like a traditional turbine engine used in a conventional aircraft, only instead of driving a propeller or fan it drives an electric generator,” Courtin explains. “That feeds power to the eight motors on the wing. It allows you to have a smaller and more efficient engine because you can size it for cruising, not takeoff and landing conditions.” The eight motors create a blown lift effect that allows the aircraft to take off and land in areas about the length of a soccer field, much shorter than the runways for conventional airplanes. For travelers, “the big benefit is you can save a lot of time,” Courtin says. “You don’t need to go to an airport, and you don’t have to go to a train station.” Operators could also maximize existing infrastructure at airports: “If you’re three hours away from the nearest major airport, there’s a lot of friction in that,” Courtin says. “With Electra, we could fly you to the nearest major airport, and you don’t need to use a runway, so it doesn’t add to congestion at these very low-capacity places.” Electra’s aircraft are also more affordable than traditional aircraft and far more quiet. “The large number of propellers means you can make them much quieter than if you only had one or two,” Courtin explains. “That’s important because helicopters are restricted from operating in places they otherwise could because of the noise.” Scaling up Construction on Electra’s 96-acre Ohio manufacturing facility will begin next year. The facility’s initial phase will be capable of producing 400 of its nine-seat aircraft each year. The next phase will expand capacity to around 800 aircraft per year. Electra’s team could see their aircraft shuttling people to major airports for longer trips or ultimately eliminating the need for conventional airports entirely. “If you don’t have an existing airport, that’s a very difficult thing to build these days,” Courtin says. “But finding a soccer field-sized area is not hard, especially with our noise reductions.” Electra’s team is also exploring applications around military logistics, cargo transport, and humanitarian missions. For the passenger aircraft application, Electra’s team believes that as it scales production, it will be able to make the passenger aircraft accessible to a broad swath of travelers. “If we can keep the fixed-wing design simplicity and make this large enough, then the per-seat cost could get to a range where a lot of people would have access to this,” Courtin says. “It wouldn’t just be a luxury product, so it could help a lot of people.” The US Air Force Estimated $30,000,000,000 for a New Version of the F-22 Raptor as a Bomber That Could Hit Mach 1.8 Called the FB-22 What if the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter could be turned into a bomber? That was the idea behind the FB-22. It never occurred, and for good reasons. By Harry J. Kazianis Published August 20, 2026 Note: See photos and videos in the original article. FB-22 Mock Up Creative Commons Image Summary and Key Points: For about four years in the early 2000s, the United States Air Force seriously considered turning the F-22 Raptor into a bomber. The concept had a champion in the Secretary of the Air Force, who kept a model of it on his desk. It had a manufacturer that had already sketched six versions. It had a fleet size, a mission, and a development estimate. What it never had was a price per airplane, a funded program line, or a survivable answer to one question about geography. The FB-22 remains the closest the United States ever came to building a supersonic stealth bomber, and the reasons it died in 2006 explain a surprising amount about the bombers, fighters, and budget fights of 2026. FB-22 Bomber: Born as an Unsolicited Idea FB-22 and F-22. Image Credit: Computer Generated Image. FB-22. Image Credit: Artist Rendition – Creative Commons. FB-22 computer generated image from Ace Combat 7. Image Credit: Screenshot. The FB-22 did not begin as an Air Force requirement. In 2001, Lockheed Martin started internal, company-funded studies of a bomber derivative of the F-22, and by early 2002, the company was briefing the concept to the Air Force on its own initiative. The design that emerged in reporting by Bill Sweetman for Jane’s and Popular Science was striking: a tailless delta, with the F-22’s fuselage stretched and widened, yaw controlled by split “decelerons” on an enormous new wing, and roll handled by movable wingtips. The briefed concept added a second seat, kept the Raptor’s supercruise, gave up some of its violent maneuverability, and traded eight internally carried small-diameter bombs for thirty, at roughly two and a half times the fighter’s range. For payload beyond the internal bays, Lockheed designed detachable faceted pods, a “wing weapons bay” intended to carry ordnance externally without wrecking the stealth signature. Boeing, Lockheed’s partner in F-22 production, was slated to build the aircraft once development was complete. The idea found its patron quickly. Air Force Secretary James Roche embraced the concept from 2002, kept the model on his desk, and told the House Armed Services Committee in February 2003 that he envisioned a force of 150 FB-22s. By 2004, the Air Force had issued a formal request for information on a regional or interim bomber, and Lockheed had submitted six distinct FB-22 variants — some stretching the fuselage, one changing only the wings — because the Air Force had not yet defined the targets, payload, or range it actually wanted. That detail mattered more than it seemed. Why the Air Force Wanted It The desire was rational, and the arithmetic behind it was grim. The Air Force of 2002 owned exactly 21 B-2 stealth bombers, a fleet so small and precious that planners treated each airframe like a national monument. The rest of the bomber force dated to the 1960s and 1970s, and the service’s own 1999 bomber roadmap did not plan a replacement until around 2037, thirty-five years away. Meanwhile, the wars of the moment, Kosovo and then Afghanistan, kept teaching the same lesson John Tirpak captured in Air Force Magazine’s reporting of the era: what commanders wanted was a persistent, survivable strike against fleeting targets, and there was nothing in the inventory that combined stealth, speed, range, and a deep magazine. The FB-22 promised exactly that combination on a shortened clock. The Congressional Research Service’s assessment of the concept recorded the appeal in plain terms: Air Force leaders described it as a bridge between the aging bomber force and the 2037 capability, and prized its speed, potentially up to Mach 1.8, for attacking moving and time-critical targets — the mission the F-111 had once owned and nothing had inherited. F-111 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. 19FortyFive Photo by Harry J. Kazianis. A stealthy supersonic aircraft carrying thirty precision weapons more than 1,600 miles, available years before any clean-sheet bomber, flown by an air force that would already operate hundreds of its fighter cousins: on a briefing slide, it was the cheapest revolution on offer. What It Would Have Cost The carried numbers are these. Lockheed estimated FB-22 development at $5 billion to $7 billion in 2002 dollars, roughly a quarter of what a clean-sheet strategic bomber would cost to develop, on the strength of claimed 80 percent commonality with the F-22’s fuselage and avionics. Congress was interested enough that the fiscal 2005 defense bill put $100 million toward next-generation bomber work and urged the Pentagon to budget for one. What never existed was an official price per airplane, and the reason is the program’s most revealing fact: with six variants on the table and the requirements undefined, there was no single airplane to price. Simple multiplication suggests the scale. At Roche’s 150 aircraft, even priced at parity with the F-22’s then-flyaway cost of roughly $130 million to $150 million, procurement alone implied $20 billion to $22 billion, and a total program plausibly in the $25 billion to $30 billion range in the dollars of that decade — with every acquisition precedent arguing the real number would land higher, since derivatives at small production runs cost more than their parents, not less. The skeptics inside the building said so at the time. Marvin Sambur, the Air Force’s own acquisition chief, pointed to the F-22A’s developmental difficulties as reason for caution about promises built on its airframe, a warning the Congressional Research Service preserved in the record. The Review That Killed It The FB-22 died with unusual cleanness for a Pentagon program: one document, one sentence of logic. The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review directed the Air Force to field a new long-range strategic bomber by 2018, and a bomber whose combat radius made it regional could not be the answer to a requirement whose first word was range. Lockheed suspended work on the concept after the review. Roche was already gone, having resigned in early 2005, and the FB-22’s rival interim concepts, Northrop’s FB-23 and the B-1R, died in the same shift. The Pentagon had looked at the map of the western Pacific, measured the distance from surviving bases to the targets that mattered, and concluded that 1,600 miles was a tactical aircraft’s answer to a strategic question. The Lessons, Twenty Years Later What were the lessons learned? The QDR’s core judgment has been vindicated completely. Range was the right god to worship, because the bases a regional bomber depends on have become the most threatened real estate in American strategy: China now aims 1,700 missiles at the Pacific airfields an FB-22 would have flown from, and an aircraft that must sit inside the threat ring to reach its targets is a hostage before it is a weapon. DF-21D image. Creative Commons. The commonality promise deserved its skepticism, too. A new wing, a new fuselage, new bays, and new controls attached to familiar avionics is a new airplane wearing an old name, and the Air Force learned the industrial version of that lesson a decade later, when its study of simply rebuilding the original F-22 found four subsystems needing outright redesign because the components no longer existed. But the FB-22’s defenders have valid points, for sure. The 2018 bomber that killed it did not arrive in 2018. The requirement wandered through a canceled program, was reborn as the Long Range Strike Bomber, and produced a contract only in 2015 — meaning the interim aircraft the Pentagon rejected as a distraction would have been flying operational missions for roughly a decade before its replacement’s first flight. And the industrial counterfactual stings the most. An FB-22 order would have kept the Marietta production complex alive well past December 2011, when the F-22 line closed instead; within five years, Congress was asking what a restart would cost, and the answer was $50 billion and a supplier base that no longer existed. This site has examined the FB-22 what-if before and reached the uncomfortable middle: the airplane was the wrong answer to the right question, canceled for reasons that were correct and expensive at the same time. What Fills the Role Now Today, the FB-22 idea at least lives on. Northrop Grumman won the Long Range Strike Bomber competition in October 2015, the resulting B-21 Raider first flew in November 2023, and the aircraft is now in production at Palmdale at a unit cost around $700 million by public estimates, with roughly 100 planned and the program funded in the $1.5 trillion defense request now before Congress — subsonic, longer-legged than anything the FB-22 promised, and nineteen years later than the bridge the FB-22 was supposed to be. The bomber that lost survives as archived Lockheed imagery of the final FB-22-4 configuration, a Congressional Research Service file closed in 2006, and the small gray model that sat on James Roche’s desk in the Pentagon, the only FB-22 ever built. Coolant Leak and Unstable Approach Cause Bearhawk Crash View of damage to the left side of the fuselage. (Courtesy of FAA) The pilot reported that after takeoff from the airport in Roxbury, Maine, he climbed and proceeded to complete a circuit of the airport traffic pattern. While in the traffic pattern, he saw a puff of white smoke, indicative of burned coolant, near the rudder pedals, and he elected to perform a precautionary landing. On approach to the runway, he was above the glide path but he elected to continue the approach. During the landing flare, the engine lost power completely, and the Bearhawk continued to float about ¾ of the way down the runway before touching down. As it approached the end of the runway, the pilot elected to force a “ground loop” to prevent the airplane from exiting the runway and going into a river. A post-accident examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector found substantial damage to the fuselage from the impact with the river embankment. The inspector also noted that there was residual coolant in the cowling. The pilot reported that there was also residual coolant around the radiator cap. He speculated that the automotive engine’s rotor coolant seal may have been compromised, allowing air from compression to enter the coolant system, resulting in an overpressurization of the system and subsequent coolant expulsion through the radiator cap. Probable Cause: The pilot’s unstable approach, which resulted in a landing with insufficient runway remaining to stop and subsequent impact with a river embankment. Contributing was the engine coolant system anomaly. NTSB Identification: 194975 To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device. This August 2024 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others. Curt Lewis