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Testbeds

Latest in Testbeds

Boeing’s 757 Flying Test Bed was recently spotted carrying a stealthy underwing infrared sensor pod under its fuselage.
Testbeds

F-22’s ‘Catfish’ 757 Testbed Spotted Carrying Raptor’s New Infrared Sensor Pod

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 11, 2026

There's an unusual twist here with the specific plane that NASA is now eyeing: it currently belongs to the U.S. Air Force and is part of a "classified military program." There is a strong possibility that the aircraft in question is a mysterious 737 that the service acquired in 2020, and that has been the subject of much speculation as to its purpose ever since.
Testbeds

Is This Secretive Air Force 737 About To Become NASA’s Next ‘Vomit Comet’? (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 10, 2026

Perhaps the most extraordinary-looking aircraft to have taken to the air in many years, the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology experimental test aircraft, or QueSST, has made its first flight.
Testbeds

X-59 Supersonic Test Jet Takes To The Air (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Oct 28, 2025

Announced today, the Quarterhorse Mk 1 first took to the air last week at Edwards Air Force Base, California, when it “achieved stable flight and landed smoothly,” according to the company. “Mk 1's flight validated our rapid, iterative approach to airplane development and advanced our mission to radically accelerate aviation,” Hermeus added.
Testbeds

First Flight For Quarterhorse Prototype That Aims To Lead To A Reusable Hypersonic Jet

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 28, 2025

RATT55 737
Testbeds

World’s Most Secretive 737 Just Made A Very Rare Appearance

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on May 23, 2025

Aurora Flight Sciences has provided new details about the demonstrator design it is working on for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Liberty Lifter X-plane program.
Testbeds

Liberty Lifter Ekranoplan Demonstrator Aims To Lift C-130-Sized Payloads

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 29, 2025

X-36 was an early progenitor that lead to the F-47.
Testbeds

Reflections Of The F-47: Looking Back At The X-36

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 27, 2025

The first supersonic flight of the Boom Supersonic XB-1.
Testbeds

Boom! The XB-1 Demonstrator Jet Has Gone Supersonic

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 28, 2025

NASA’s new flying laboratory, an ex-commercial Boeing 777 airliner, has arrived in Waco, Texas, for modifications ahead of its entry to service. The aircraft will replace the agency’s now-retired Douglas DC-8.
Testbeds

NASA’s ‘New’ Boeing 777 Undergoes Modifications For Its Future Flying Laboratory Role

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 21, 2025

A video and pictures have emerged showing testing of Chinese high-flying and high-speed uncrewed air vehicles related to a design called MD-22, including aerial releases from a TB-001 drone and a high-altitude balloon.
Testbeds

China Launches Hypersonic Test Planes From Drones, Balloons

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 16, 2024

The United Kingdom has taken an important step toward its Tempest next-generation fighter, with the start of a trials campaign for the Flight Test Aircraft (FTA), nicknamed Excalibur, which will serve as a flying laboratory for the new combat aircraft. Based on a Boeing 757 airliner, the FTA joins a growing band of dedicated trials aircraft that are being used to prove out technologies for current and future-generation fighter programs, also in the United States and China.
Testbeds

UK’s 757-Based ‘Excalibur’ Avionics Testbed For Tempest Future Fighter Emerges

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Dec 9, 2024

A U.S. Air Force F-16C Viper fighter has conducted the first release of a test version of the Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) missile.
Testbeds

Stand-In Attack Missile Released From Fighter For First Time In USAF Test

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 2, 2024

As if it didn’t have a distinctive enough look already, Boeing’s remarkable 757 Flying Test Bed — better known as “The Catfish” due to its unique and highly modified nose profile — has got some striking new colors. The red, white, and blue scheme is a direct reference to the livery this very same aircraft originally wore, as the prototype for the 757 family.
Testbeds

Boeing’s 757 ‘Catfish’ Flying F-22 Avionics Testbed Emerges With Retro Look

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Oct 22, 2024

Experimental Fly-By-Wire UH-60M Black Hawk To Become Autonomy Testbed
Testbeds

Experimental Fly-By-Wire UH-60M Black Hawk To Become Autonomy Testbed

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Oct 14, 2024

Aurora Flight Sciences has released new renderings of an uncrewed fan-in-wing vertical take-off-and-landing capable demonstrator aircraft it is currently working on, as well as of a revised vision for a scaled-up stealthy cargo aircraft based on the same technology.
Testbeds

New Vision For Lift Fan Aircraft Family Grows From Special Operations X-Plane Program

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Oct 9, 2024

The U.S. Air Force is interested in adding an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar to its X-62A test jet. The radar is part of larger plans to acquire a new modular sensor suite for the uniquely modified F-16 specifically to help expand its ability to support advanced autonomy developments.
Testbeds

New Radar Sought To Help X-62A Test Jet Take Next Leap In Autonomy Testing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 24, 2024