A group of first-class midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) had an opportunity to see up-close some of the aircraft and systems they will someday be using in the fleet during a tour of Naval Test Wing Atlantic squadrons onboard Naval Air Station Patuxent River last week.

The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) recently acquired a logistics Unmanned Air System (UAS) prototype to demonstrate long-range naval ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore cargo transport at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

Delivered in late October, NAWCAD engineers, testers and military test pilots are now evaluating the commercially procured air vehicle – dubbed Blue Water Maritime Logistics UAS – and tailoring it to requirements set by Military Sealift (MSC) and Fleet Forces Command (FFC).

Two aircraft crews from Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River played pivotal roles in the rescue of an E-2C Hawkeye crew who had to bail out along the Atlantic Coast recently.

A team of pilots and engineers from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 recently joined colleagues from other Navy and Marine Corps commands to conduct MV-22 Osprey landing and ship compatibility tests aboard the amphibious transport dock USS New York (LPD 21). The testing also included the first shipboard landings for the Navy's new CMV-22B Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) variant of the Osprey.

Cdmr. Daniel Short took command of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 during a ceremony at NAS Patuxent River on Thursday, Oct. 9.

Short took over from Lt. Col. John Ennis, who served as the squadron’s commanding officer since April 2019 and who is retiring from the U.S. Marine Corps.

The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) is the Navy's principal operator of the Northrop Grumman T-38C Talon supersonic jet trainer, with 10 of the twin-engined aircraft in its inventory. The school's T-38s fly an average of 1,100 hours per year, providing students with valuable experience evaluating its performance, flying qualities, dynamics, and transonic and supersonic flight characteristics.

A team of pilots and engineers from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River recently completed a crucial series of sea trials of the CH-53K King Stallion that not only provided them with valuable developmental test information about the aircraft, but could change the way the squadron conducts similar tests in the future.

Pilots and engineers from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River successfully tested a more stable method of flying MV-22 Ospreys to and from ships during a weeklong detachment in the Atlantic in late May-early June.

A group of Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division engineers recently expedited a flight clearance for F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets to conduct aerial refueling from Air Force KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft in response to an urgent request from a West Coast Navy fighter squadron. Thanks to their collective efforts, the clearance was approved in just five days and is now available to the entire fleet.

A year in the making, engineers from the Propulsion Systems Evaluation Facility (PSEF) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and engineers at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, will soon be collaborating on a first-of-its-kind endeavor.