Airbus has launched the next phase of its Wing of Tomorrow development program, kicking off a three-year effort to assess the benefits and challenges of extended-length wingspans. With the first experimental folding wings due to commence assembly imminently, the company hopes to start testing the concept in flight on an Airbus A321neo around the second half of next year.

The FAA has cleared Heart Aerospace to start flight tests with the X-1 demonstrator for its planned ES-30 hybrid-electric regional airliner program. On July 23, the start-up announced it has received a special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category, allowing it to start flights from Plattsburgh International Airport (KPBG) in New York immediately.

Japanese leasing group Marubeni Aerospace is helping Archer Aviation find use cases for the Halo autonomous aircraft it unveiled at the Farnborough International Airshow last week. The hybrid-electric model is part of a family of dual tiltrotor drones being developed by Archer and Anduril that also includes the Thunder military platform launched on July 20.

Pratt & Whitney Canada is entering the next phase for its RTX Hybrid-Electric Flight Demonstrator project with the launch of ground testing on the flight-standard propulsion system and propeller in Longueuil, Quebec. Once complete, the system will be installed on a de Havilland Dash 8-100 experimental aircraft for flight tests beginning in 2027.

Moya Aero has started manufacturing the first full-scale prototype of the Moya 760, the larger of two autonomous cargo eVTOL models the Brazilian start-up is developing for logistics and agricultural missions. The first major structural component—the upper surface of the aircraft’s 7.4-meter (24.2-foot) rear wing—emerged from its tooling just days before the Farnborough International Airshow opened. The company aims to fly the aircraft by the end of 2026, Andre Stein, Moya’s board director and president of Americas, told AIN.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will build Elroy Air’s Chaparral hybrid-electric autonomous VTOL cargo aircraft at its factory in Sacramento, California, with the first production airframes planned for late 2026. San Diego-based Kratos, which Elroy Air named its exclusive U.S. manufacturer under a five-year agreement in September 2025, said on July 20 that it will fulfill all U.S. customer orders from the site.

Virgin Atlantic stepped up its plans to provide eVTOL air-taxi services by formalizing its alliance with Joby Aviation last week at the Farnborough International Airshow. The companies now have a binding, multiyear agreement running in tandem with a similar deal with major Virgin shareholder Delta Air Lines, building on a 2025 commitment.