Aviation Engines, Propulsion & Auxiliary Power Units

AMSTERDAM - Hybrid-electric aircraft developer Maeve Aerospace has declared bankruptcy, ending the Dutch start-up’s five-year effort to bring a low-emissions regional airliner to market. A court in the Netherlands declared Maeve and its parent company, Green Transition Alliance, bankrupt on May 28, 2026, after the company failed to raise a vital €20 million ($23 million) funding round. CEO Jan Willem Heinen confirmed that prospective backers deemed the investment round too risky, particularly given that bringing the aircraft to production was estimated to cost around €2 billion.

Major carriers including Delta Air Lines, SkyWest, and Japan Airlines had all signed strategic agreements or memorandums of understanding to support the "Maeve Jet" program. On the engineering side, Maeve was collaborating with industry giants Pratt & Whitney Canada and MHI RJ Aviation Group (MHIRJ). The startup’s ambitious design evolved rapidly over its lifespan, pivoting from a 44-seat all-electric concept to the final Maeve Jet, a 76-to-100-seat hybrid-electric airliner powered by aft-mounted open-rotor engines designed to cut fuel consumption by up to 40%.

While the aircraft program has dissolved, its engineering legacy is already migrating. MHIRJ has rapidly absorbed some of Maeve's top design talent, establishing a new design office in Munich. Former Maeve Chief Technology Officer Martin Nüsseler has joined MHIRJ as vice president of aircraft and new program development, bringing at least six other senior Maeve engineers with him. This ready-made clean-sheet design team positions MHIRJ favorably at a time when the Japanese government is actively laying the groundwork for a next-generation national airliner targeted for 2035.

Source: AIN
Associated URL: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2026-06-12/hybrid-electric-aircraft-developer-maeve-goes-bankrupt

ST. LOUIS, Miss. - Boeing has officially withdrawn from the U.S. Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) competition, deciding not to submit a navalized variant of its T-7A Red Hawk. The company stated that after a careful evaluation, the T-7A does not align with the Navy's current requirements. Boeing specifically pointed to the Navy’s rigid engine qualification demands for the General Electric F404 turbofan, noting that meeting them would require long-cycle development work and jeopardize the Navy’s target timeline for initial operational capability.

Boeing's departure follows the exit of Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in April, leaving only two active competitors to replace the Navy's aging fleet of just under 200 T-45 Goshawk jet trainers. The remaining contenders are a team led by Leonardo and Textron offering the twin-engine Beechcraft M-346N, and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) - partnered with Northrop Grumman and General Atomics -offering the "Freedom Jet," the competition's only clean-sheet design. Industry analysts note that both remaining entries are twin-engine platforms, suggesting the Navy's evolving requirements may have inherently disadvantaged single-engine designs like the T-7A and Lockheed's TF-50N.

The high-stakes competition comes amid sweeping changes to naval aviation. The Navy plans to buy 216 new trainers under a revamped curriculum that, controversially, leverages virtual training to eliminate the need for traditional carrier qualifications or simulated land-based carrier landings. Despite these scaled-back training requirements, which were originally expected to lower costs, Naval Air Systems Command recently raised the program's price cap from $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion. The Navy aims to award the final contract in mid-2027, allowing Boeing to pivot its resources toward other critical programs, including the Navy's sixth-generation F/A-XX carrier fighter competition.

Source: The War Zone
Associated URL: https://www.twz.com/air/boeing-drops-out-of-navys-t-45-jet-trainer-replacement-competition
Author: Joseph Trevithick 

NEW DELHI - Honeywell has officially delivered the first batch of engines for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s (HAL) HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft, marking a major step forward for the indigenous program. The initial delivery includes three TPE331-12B turboprop engines out of a total of 16 that Honeywell will supply directly. Following these initial deliveries, HAL is slated to transition to producing and supporting the engine locally in India. Ravi K, chairman and managing director of HAL, hailed the deliveries as a "significant milestone" for the trainer program, noting that the company looks forward to deepening its manufacturing partnership with Honeywell.

This engine delivery builds on HAL's extensive familiarity with the engine family, as the smaller TPE331-5 variant already powers the Do-228 transport aircraft, which HAL produces locally. HAL originally placed an order for 88 of the TPE331-12B engines back in July 2022, about a year before New Delhi finalized a formal commitment in March 2023 to purchase 70 of the HTT-40 trainers for the Indian Air Force.

Source: Flightglobal
Associated URL: https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/2026/06/honeywell-delivers-first-three-engines-for-indias-htt-40/
Source Language: Hebrew