The Airbus A320 ATRA fitted with a Eurofighter nose has completed its commissioning flights at the Airbus site in Manching, Germany, and is now operational as the flying test bed for the Eurofighter’s new E-Scan radar. Airbus said on November 6, 2026, that the commissioning flights were the final step in the validation phase.

The aircraft, owned by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), carries the Eurofighter Common Radar System Mk1 that will equip new Eurofighters for Germany and Spain. Testing the radar on an airliner instead of a fighter lets engineers watch the hardware and software in real time from workstations in the cabin, and Airbus said in January 2025 that the A320 has a shorter clearance process and longer endurance than a Eurofighter.

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Which Eurofighters get the radar

“The upcoming Eurofighters of the German Quadriga and Tranche 5 as well as the Spanish Halcón programmes will be equipped with a new radar called the Eurofighter Common Radar System Mk1,” said Erik Lorch, Head of the E-Scan Mk1 Programme at Airbus. Airbus said the current focus is on equipping these jets, with retrofits of Eurofighters already in service also planned.

The radar is an active electronically scanned array (AESA), also known as E-Scan. “This radar greatly enhances the capabilities of the Eurofighter in both air-to-air and air-to-ground operations,” Lorch said.

Radar maker HENSOLDT, which developed the ECRS Mk1 with Indra, said in October 2025 that about 200 of the radars will be delivered to the German and Spanish Air Forces in total. HENSOLDT announced at the time that NETMA and Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH had signed a contract for 20 new Eurofighter Tranche 5 aircraft for the German Air Force, which will carry the radar as the Quadriga fleet already does. AirPro News has reported on the German order for 20 new Eurofighters.

How the A320 was converted

To carry the Eurofighter nose, the A320 fuselage was reinforced and hundreds of metres of data cables were laid, according to Airbus. A liquid and air cooling system was installed to regulate the temperature of the radar, and the cabin holds several workstations where specialists see everything the radar provides to the pilot as well as a full view of what is happening under the nose.

“It is a distinguished platform that has already spent years flying as a research aircraft,” said Sebastian Ritz, who leads the A320 Flying Test Bed Programme at Airbus Defence and Space. “We can monitor how the hardware performs and also test new software versions or features,” he said. “The insights we generate will inform and accelerate the maturation and further development of the system.”

The modified aircraft first flew on January 21, 2025, over DLR’s airfield in Braunschweig, Germany. In its story on that flight, Airbus said the nose had been developed and assembled specifically for the test aircraft by its engineers in Manching. Engineers and mechanics from Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Commercial Aircraft designed the new front section and reinforced the airframe, and all modifications followed the procedures of the type-certification holder, Airbus Commercial Aircraft in Toulouse. That first flight with the Eurofighter nose was made without an active radar, to test basic airworthiness.

Why test a fighter radar on an airliner

Airbus E-Scan radar project manager Thomas Hirsch said in January 2025 that the aircraft was being operated with DLR and the German Armed Forces “to test a new radar for the Eurofighter and bring it to maturity.” He added: “The A320 ATRA has a significantly shorter clearance process and can stay in the air longer than a Eurofighter.” Airbus said airborne testing on an A320 starts earlier, runs faster and lasts longer than it would on a Eurofighter, which significantly speeds up radar development.

After the first flight, the radar went through extensive ground tests before the commissioning flights. “During the recent commissioning flights, we confirmed that the aircraft and the radar also perform effectively in the air,” Ritz said. “This was the final step in the validation phase, and the E-Scan Mk1 flying test bed is now operational.”

Airbus said the A320 ATRA, short for Advanced Technology Research Aircraft, will now become a regular presence on the flight line at Manching as development of the Eurofighter’s E-Scan radar continues. The company has not published a schedule for the remaining test flights.

The U.S. Air Force has completed the final high-speed sled test of the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk escape system, a simulated ejection at 550 knots effective airspeed that tested a redesigned canopy fracturing pattern and a modernized ejection seat sequencer. The run closes the program’s sled test matrix and moves the trainer toward final qualification of its escape system.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) said in an article published on November 4, 2026, that the T-7 Program Office had executed the test. The 846th Test Squadron conducted the test at the Holloman High Speed Test Track at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on October 7, 2026. AFLCMC called the test a critical milestone in certifying the trainer’s aircrew safety systems.

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What the final sled test checked

The primary objective was to validate two safety enhancements: a redesigned canopy fracturing system pattern and a modernized ejection seat sequencer, according to AFLCMC. The test used an anthropomorphic test device representing the lightest occupant in the pilot candidate spectrum, which the Air Force said is meant to ensure that the escape system protects the full range of future aviators.

An initial review of high-speed video indicated that the modernized seat sequencer functioned as designed, deploying the stabilizing drogue parachute for an extended duration. AFLCMC said this deployment timing stabilizes the seat during separation, significantly lowering peak loads on the neck and spine and giving a smoother descent. Seat trajectory, acceleration and biometric sensor data remain under formal engineering analysis, so the result is not yet a final qualification.

“Completing this final sled test represents a major achievement in our rigorous qualification process.”

That was Col. Robert Volesky, AFLCMC’s T-7A System Program Manager. “Aircrew safety is our highest priority,” he said. AFLCMC said the event caps a comprehensive test matrix of static and dynamic sled runs, paving the way toward final qualification of the escape system and supporting future production aircraft deliveries.

How the escape system reached this point

The October run follows an earlier high-speed test of the redesigned canopy and seat sequencer. In an article published on May 2, 2025, AFLCMC said the 846th Test Squadron at Holloman ran a high-speed test of the new escape system on April 16, 2025, at 450 knots effective airspeed (KEAS), and that the system met all test objectives.

That test focused on a redesigned canopy ejection system and a new seat sequencer. According to the 2025 article, the redesigned canopy is meant to break apart in a safer pattern and protected the test mannequins from shattered glass, while the modernized sequencer deployed the stabilizing parachute for a longer duration to reduce the risk of neck and spine injury. Initial results then showed the system protected both lighter-weight and heavier-weight mannequins. AFLCMC said at the time that another test was scheduled for August.

Compared with the April 2025 run, the final test was conducted at 550 knots rather than 450 knots effective airspeed, with a test device representing the lightest occupant in the pilot candidate range, according to the two AFLCMC articles.

Production and what comes next

The escape system work runs alongside the move into production. On May 4, 2026, Boeing said the U.S. Air Force had announced that the T-7A reached Milestone C in its development life cycle, which allows the program to proceed to low-rate initial production of aircraft for instructor and student training. “Milestone C positions us to start low-rate initial production this year,” said Andy Adams, vice president and program manager of Boeing T-7 Programs.

In 2018, the Air Force awarded Boeing a $9.2 billion contract for 351 T-7A advanced trainers, 46 simulators and support, according to Boeing, which builds the aircraft at its St. Louis, Missouri site. The T-7A replaces the T-38 trainer, which Boeing said has been in service since the 1960s. AFLCMC said the Red Hawk is designed to train pilots and weapon systems officers for 4th, 5th and emerging 6th-generation fighters and bombers, working with an advanced Ground Based Training System.

The next step named by AFLCMC is final qualification of the escape system, once the engineering analysis of the October data is complete. The Air Force did not give a date for that qualification or for the first production deliveries.

The U.S. Air Force has added funding to Joby Aviation’s autonomous flight contracts, bringing its total commitment to nearly $37 million and raising the ceiling on Joby’s operational testing contract to $50 million. The money is aimed at autonomy software development and expanded operational testing in the Pacific.

Joby announced the expansion in a press release distributed on November 4, 2026, the same day it reported third quarter 2026 results. The agreements cover software integration and operational testing across two primary contracts with AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, and follow a cross-country tour in which a Joby-equipped Cessna Caravan logged 6,665 miles of autonomous flights, with landings in 11 states and integrated operations across 24 states.

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What the Air Force is paying for

According to the release, the funding supports autonomy software development and expanded operational testing in the Pacific as the Air Force moves toward sustained autonomous logistics operations. Joby said the new contracts will focus on follow-on Pacific military exercises, and that the funding also supports ongoing design updates and safety reviews to extend the autonomy stack’s capabilities.

The two figures in the announcement measure different things. Nearly $37 million is the Air Force’s total commitment, while $50 million is a ceiling on the operational testing contract. In the forward-looking statements attached to the release, Joby lists Air Force funding and appropriations limits, and the possibility that a contract ceiling is not reached, among the risks to its plans.

JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, called the expansion “a powerful validation of the adaptability of Joby’s autonomy stack.” He said the system was designed to be platform-agnostic and that the funding “will accelerate our path to sustained uncrewed operations.”

Kate Brown, Contested Logistics Tactical Airlift Lead at AFWERX, said the goal is to “sustain cargo operations in contested environments” while reducing risk to aircrews and preserving crewed aircraft for the missions that need them.

From Agile Flag to a coast-to-coast tour

The autonomy system at the center of the contracts came to Joby through its acquisition of the autonomy division of Xwing, which Joby completed in June 2024. In an August 26, 2024 release, Joby said that team flew a fully autonomous Cessna 208B Grand Caravan for more than 3,900 miles between military bases and public airports in California and Nevada during the Air Force’s Agile Flag 24-3 exercise, with a safety pilot monitoring the aircraft. The aircraft completed a fully autonomous taxi, takeoff and landing at each of 9 locations, after the Xwing team had logged more than 2,800 miles of fully autonomous flight in Agile Flag 24-1 earlier that year.

“The return on investment for the U.S. Air Force with this technology is significant,” Col. Max Bremer, Air Mobility Command Special Access Program management officer, said in that release, explaining that using the system for smaller cargo frees larger cargo aircraft for tasks such as moving large parts or engines. According to Joby, the system delivered critical replacement parts 24 hours faster than conventional logistics during Agile Flag, and during REFORPAC exercises in August 2025 an aircraft in Hawaii was operated remotely from Guam, nearly 4,000 miles away. AirPro News covered Joby’s role in the REFORPAC 2025 exercise at the time.

The cross-country tour, part of Joby’s 2026 Electric Skies campaign, took the aircraft from Concord, California, to North Carolina’s Outer Banks with zero control inputs from its onboard safety pilot. Joby said in its September 18, 2026 release that the 3,199-mile eastbound flight was supervised remotely from Joby’s Autonomy Headquarters in California and from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where the aircraft demonstrated representative military flight operations. AirPro News reported on the transcontinental autonomous flight the following day.

Across the full multi-leg tour, Joby said the aircraft performed fully autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, route navigation and landings under remote supervision from up to 2,537 miles away. The September release gave a remote supervision distance of up to 2,323 miles for the eastbound transcontinental flight. A ground-based operator monitors each flight, updates routes and communicates with air traffic control in real time, and the autonomy stack has completed more than 400 fully autonomous flights, according to Joby.

Where defense fits in Joby’s business

Joby is best known for its piloted electric air taxi, and the November 4 release presents the autonomy work as part of a dual-use strategy covering defense logistics, cargo and emergency response. Its autonomous J208 operations are part of the White House-backed eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) in Utah and North Carolina. North Carolina tour flights supported the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s eLIFT-NC initiative for statewide healthcare logistics, and western flights contributed to the Utah Department of Transportation’s multi-state uFLY coalition, which is evaluating high-altitude, extreme-environment airspace integration for the FAA.

Joby also plans to acquire Resonant Sciences, with closing expected early in 2027. In its third quarter 2026 results release, filed with the SEC on November 4, Joby described Resonant Sciences as an EBITDA-positive defense technology company with more than $100 million in trailing twelve-month revenue and said the deal would significantly expand its defense business. Closing conditions for the planned Resonant Sciences acquisition remain outstanding, according to the filing.

The same results release put third quarter 2026 revenue at $55 million, primarily from Blade, the passenger transportation business Joby operates in the United States and Europe. Joby said it is in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification and has 17 aircraft in production.