The Navy Reserve’s KC-130T Hercules fleet, upgraded with the NP200 propeller system, is cleared to aerially refuel a significantly wider range of aircraft across the carrier airwing following envelope expansion testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) which concluded in early 2025.

The test effort expands Hercules’ mission – and that of the Navy’s fleet reserve, which exclusively operates the aircraft – beyond its primary focus on logistics and cargo transport.

By: Janina Lamoglia 

The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) held a graduation ceremony for Class 165 on Dec. 13. Thirty-one students successfully completed the intense, 11-month course of instruction and received their designations as Engineering Test Pilots, Engineering Test Flight Officers and Test Project Engineer.

Good boys and girls of all ages across Southern Maryland should keep their eyes on the skies as Adm. Saint Nicholas conducts pre-deployment mission planning over parts of Southern Maryland on Dec. 10 from 11:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET.

Regional residents looking up might spot Nicholas, known by his festive call sign "Claus," as he soars through the skies aboard a U.S. Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter with his trusty elves and holiday helpers from NAWCAD’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21.

Ian Hawkins, a Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) materials engineering supervisor, was recently accepted into the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Fellow Program coordinated by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s (NAWCAD) during an award ceremony held at NAVAIR headquarters in Pawtuxet River, MD.

Cmdr. Jessica Barrientos relieved Cmdr. Charles Larwood as the commanding officer of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 during a change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Oct. 3. 

Cmdr. Travis Hartman took command of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) from Lt. Col. Aaron Kia during an airborne change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station Patuxent River on June 27.

Former USNTPS Commander Capt. Glenn Rioux, Military Director for Engineering at the Naval Air Systems Command, presided over the ceremony.

Hundreds of university and high school students from more than 70 schools across the globe will descend on Southern Maryland to compete their self-built unmanned systems at the 22^nd annual RoboNation Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) Competition on June 25-26 at the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport.

Engineers from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) successfully installed core software in the Air Force’s future Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) facility at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada bringing the service closer to operating its own next-generation training and test facility.

As part of a technical exchange with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, 24 test pilots under instruction from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s (NAWCAD) U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) were invited to spend a week at NASA to evaluate the Orion spacecraft controls and displays during orbital maneuvering and re-entry procedures. The Johnson Space Center is where astronauts primarily train for their missions to space.