Merlin has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel Aerospace Industries to jointly develop, integrate, and certify AI-powered autonomous flight technology for Part 25 cargo aircraft, giving the Boston-based start-up’s Condor program a potential route into the freighter conversion market. The non-binding agreement covers joint market exploration, engineering collaboration, regulatory preparation, and initial platform selection, according to Merlin.

The Experimental Operations Unit of the U.S. Air Force has performed further operational testing of its fledgling Collaborative Combat Aircraft fleet. During a recent exercise at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, the USAF flew Anduril’s semi-autonomous YFQ-44 Fury alongside unspecified crewed fighters in what it termed “a realistic operational environment.” 

Wisk Aero and NASA have simulated a single ground-based supervisor managing three autonomous aircraft at once in controlled airspace. The exercise tested the 1:3 supervisor-to-aircraft ratio that Wisk considers essential to making commercial air taxi service affordable. The campaign was part of a five-year Non-Reimbursable Space Act Agreement between NASA and Mountain View, California-based Wisk, focused on integrating autonomous aircraft into the National Airspace System.

The new Scottish Electric Aviation Network consortium is aiming to “demonstrate the practical role electric aircraft could play within the country’s existing regional aviation network.” Following recent confirmation of £1.5 million ($2 million) in UK government funding, test flights are set to start next year, including a three-month assessment of Beta Technologies’ Alia CX300 aircraft.

Archer Aviation’s all-electric Midnight aircraft flew a piloted round trip between Salinas and Monterey on July 30, completing each leg in less than 10 minutes and stopping for about two hours in between. The nonconforming prototype cannot transition to vertical flight, so both legs were conventional takeoffs and landings. Archer says the route previews operations it plans under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program this year.

Noemi Aerospace is seeking partners to help “participate in defining and launching” a firefighting variant of the electric passenger aircraft it is developing. The Norwegian start-up, which previously operated under the name Elfly, has concluded that the planned water-bomber would have a hybrid-electric or turbine-only powertrain in order to deliver sufficient payload and performance needed for firefighting.

Air India has agreed to help Japanese eVTOL aircraft developer SkyDrive assess the feasibility of using its three-seat SD-05 model for emergency medical flights in India. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding on July 31, along with SkyDrive’s existing financial backer and partner, Suzuki Motor Corporation.