The Lockheed Martin short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing test fleet continues to progress towards the first vertical landing. The F-35B’s first flight test aircraft — BF-1 — completed a short landing at Patuxent River Naval Air Base, Md. Pratt & Whitney, the engine supplier, posted the video online late this evening.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. today announced the continuation of upgrades for the S-92 helicopter, which has already received more than 60 enhancements since entering service in 2004. These upgrades, combined with the aircraft’s rugged and flaw-tolerant design, have enabled the S-92 helicopter to become a leader in the highly demanding offshore oil, Head of State, and search and rescue segments.

Sikorsky, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., announced the latest upgrade efforts at the Heli-Expo show in Houston.

“The S-92 helicopter fleet has grown to 105 aircraft operating throughout the world, with the fleet recently surpassing the 200,000 flight-hour milestone. Customers have shown strong allegiance to this helicopter as we continue to keep it fully modernized with the latest technologies,” said Carey Bond, President of the company’s Sikorsky Global Helicopters business. “Our practice has been to continually improve all our products, and the S-92 helicopter is no exception.”

Starting this October, Sikorsky plans to introduce a strengthened main transmission housing that has been developed for the H-92 helicopter, a militarized variant of the commercial S-92 helicopter. The new housing is currently in the certification process and is designed to reduce unscheduled maintenance by eliminating such possibilities as the foot-mount cracks recently experienced by some operators. The new housing will have a much longer life than the current housing and will be manufactured by Sikorsky for retrofit on existing aircraft and installation on all new S-92 and H-92 helicopters.

Two U.S. Army pilots died Sunday in a helicopter accident in Iraq, the military said.

The pilots’ aircraft “made a hard landing” near an airfield on a U.S. base in northern Iraq, a military statement said. “There were no enemy forces present, and no hostile fire was reported.”

The soldiers were assigned to Task Force Marne, which is responsible for U.S. operations in northern Iraq. The location of the base and the soldiers’ identities were withheld pending family notification.

Meanwhile, at least 10 Sunni worshippers were wounded Sunday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a Sunni mosque outside Tikrit, police said.

The attack occurred about 6:15 p.m. at the Abi Manar al-Alami mosque in the town of al-Alam, east of Tikrit, police officials said.

Its imam, who has the same name as the mosque, has urged people to respect the Iraqi security forces and the law, and had issued a fatwa to forbid attacking Iraqi police and army, police officials said.

Iraq security forces believe al Qaeda in Iraq was behind the attack, officials said.

Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, is located in Salaheddin province, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) testing begins this month for Eurofighter Typhoon in India as speculation rises as to who may win the new fighter jet deal to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 aircraft.

The Hot and High trials which kicked off last year with Boeings F/A-18 are taking place in Bangalore, over Jaisalmer in the Rajasthan desert under hot weather conditions and in the Leh area of Ladakh – Ladakh meaning “land of high passes” – for high altitude testings.

After having to wait patiently for our turn, finally February sees Eurofighter Typhoon in the hot seat, with the opportunity to put our highly advanced and robust capabilities to the test.

The trials will be heavily supported by the German Air Force, who will provide both the aircraft and appropriate air and ground crews. Two aircraft set off from Rostock/Laage on Monday destined for Bangalore. Eurofighter is excited to be participating in the trials and with a proven hot weather customer, Saudi Arabia, already in service, now is as good a time as any to shine under the Indian sun.

We will make sure to keep you updated with the Typhoon’s progress in India!