Project Engineer

Textron has unveiled the first production Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3, a light business jet from its Textron Aviation division. It is the division's largest Citation light jet, with updated avionics and cabin systems. Separately, Civil Air Patrol ordered 21 Textron Aviation aircraft, adding more Cessna models to its fleet. Textron, a US aerospace and defence group, has a market value of about $13.4 billion. Its work spans aircraft, defence programmes, industrial products, and finance. Service entry for the CJ4 Gen3 and completion of the Civil Air Patrol shipments are both referenced for 2027.

UAW leads 6 unions in call for ban on stock buybacks and dividends at US defense contractors. The United Auto Workers, along with six unions representing members at the largest U.S. defense contractors, are calling on members of Congress to support a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would ban defense contractors from stock buybacks and dividends. Since 2020, the big five prime defense contractors have spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividends than capital expenditures, while defense workers fall further behind. "The working class makes the defense industry run, but instead of investing in our national and economic security, companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Woodward, and dozens more spend taxpayer dollars on Wall Street payoffs to enrich the billionaires," said UAW President Shawn Fain. "It's time we put an end to defense contractors paying off Wall Street while defense workers and taxpayers pay the price." In a letter to members of Congress, the unions call on legislators to "stand with America's defense workers and seize this opportunity to enshrine" the provision called Section 815 into law, following on an executive order by the Trump administration enacted in January. Section 815 would implement legislation introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) by imposing a blanket ban on Wall Street payouts to incentivize investment in the facilities and workers that make the industry run, instead of short-term stock market paydays. "With the industry's center of gravity progressively shifting to investor returns, workers too have paid an enormous price," the letter continues. "In contract negotiations and organizing campaigns with these employers, we hear time and again that there are not enough resources to provide workers with job security and fair compensation. In just the past two years, this has led to labor disputes and work stoppages at major defense contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Textron, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and more." The press is invited to read the full letter here, signed by the following labor organizations: United Auto Workers (UAW) United Steelworkers (USW) International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Communications Workers of America (CWA) International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) October 6, 2026

Textron, Merlin unveil autonomous SkyCourier UX concept aircraft. Uncrewed design comes in response to 'growing military interest' in autonomous contested logistics. Monday, September 14, 2026 at 02:30 PM ET Key takeaways: Just a few months after Textron Aviation announced its first military order for the Cessna 408 SkyCourier, the manufacturer on Monday unveiled a SkyCourier UX concept aircraft that would pair the twin turboprop with autonomous aviation software for a variety of military logistics missions. According to Textron, the design, presented this week at the Air & Space Forces Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, would be for mission profiles that fit somewhere between those of small tactical cargo drones and large military transport aircraft. It is intended to improve cargo accessibility, maximize usable volume, and support operations from austere locations. "Not every logistics mission requires a large airlifter, and many autonomous cargo systems lack the payload capability required for operational sustainment missions," Textron said in a news release Monday. The announcement comes amid rising interest among militaries for aircraft that could more safely and efficiently sustain forces and conduct logistics in regions such as the Indo-Pacific, where operations are spread across hundreds of miles of ocean. Textron said the SkyCourier UX was devised in response to that interest. It is being explored to address logistical challenges when normal supply routes are constrained or unavailable. "Military planners are increasingly focused on how to sustain forces across distributed and contested operational environments," said Bob Gibbs, vice president of Textron Aviation Defense and special mission sales. "The Cessna SkyCourier UX concept reflects our commitment to examining practical solutions to real-world mission challenges by leveraging real, certified products with innovative adaptation." More on the SkyCourier UX. Textron described the UX as a "light lift," medium payload, fixed-wing aircraft with the ability to take off and land on unimproved runways, creating a "new, cost-efficient, and scalable approach" to aerial logistics. The concept would be able to carry approximately 6,000 pounds of payload and accommodate up to three LD3 standard air cargo containers, which typically fly on widebody commercial jets. Textron said that "design concepts under evaluation" include a forward-loading cargo system that would provide direct access through a large nose opening, adding more volume than a traditional cockpit. It could also be integrated with cargo-loading systems and have the ability to "kneel down," or lower its nose closer to the ground. According to Textron, potential applications may include hub-and-spoke distribution, delivery of medical supplies or repair parts, and sustainment of military bases that are mobile, remote, or located on islands. It is intended as an "additional option" for final-leg transportation, complementing rather than replacing core fleets. The SkyCourier platform would be paired with Merlin Pilot, the aircraft-agnostic, autonomous aviation software of Boston-based Merlin Labs. Pilot is designed for retrofits of both military and commercial cargo aircraft, using artificial intelligence and an array of sensors and cameras to handle takeoff, landing, in-flight navigation, systems management, and hazard awareness. It uses voice and natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to communicate with air traffic control. The idea of Pilot is to minimize crew workload and allow personnel to focus on flying. Initially, Merlin is focused on enabling reduced-crew operations, but it believes that Pilot-equipped aircraft could eventually fly fully uncrewed. According to Matt George, founder and CEO of Merlin, Pilot has already conducted hundreds of autonomous flights on Cessna Caravans, Beechcraft King Airs, and other aircraft. In George's words, the SkyCourier UX is designed to "explore what an aircraft could look like when it's designed around autonomy and cargo instead of a crew." Textron said the concept, built around the FAA-certified Cessna 408, will "provide a practical foundation for evaluating future autonomous and pilot-optional logistics capabilities." The SkyCourier UX is being publicly showcased for the first time at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference from Monday through Wednesday. Market for military autonomy. Manufacturers such as Textron are seizing on an opportunity created by federal government incentives. The Pentagon's record $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal year 2027 includes $53.6 billion for autonomy, drone platforms, and contested logistics. It also calls for a $54.6 billion allocation to the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), which was allocated just $225.9 million in the previous year's budget. The DAWG is intended to handle much of the military's drone and autonomous vehicle efforts. In 2025, for example, the U.S. Air Force revealed plans to test a Cessna Caravan equipped with Merlin competitor Reliable Robotics' autonomy system. It intends to deploy the autonomous Caravan on real-world overseas missions in the Indo-Pacific, Reliable told FLYING. The Air Force is exploring a range of concepts for contested logistics under its Agile Combat Employment (ACE) effort, which seeks low-cost, attritable aircraft for operations in the Indo-Pacific. In April, Bell and Sikorsky won contracts to develop and prototype autonomous cargo helicopters for the Marine Corps' Aerial Resupply Vehicle-Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) program. MARV-EL seeks to fill the gap between small tactical drones and large airlifters with uncrewed aircraft, which could carry a logistics payload between 1,300 and 2,500 pounds over a radius of 100 nm. MARV-EL is itself part of Naval Air Systems Command's broader Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A) initiative, which is separately exploring the TRV-150 Tactical Resupply UAS (TRUAS) for shore-to-ship, ship-to-ship, and ship-to-shore capability. ULS-A also comprises Blue Water, a program to develop and demonstrate autonomous long-range UAS logistics capable of operating between Navy and Military Sealift Command ships. Another commercial manufacturer, Elroy Air, this year received a $46 million Army contract to develop its Chaparral UAS for "modular multi-mission payload delivery...in contested, austere environments." Airbus is developing the MQ-72C Lakota Connector - an uncrewed, optionally piloted version of the UH-72 Lakota - for testing under the Marine Corps' Aerial Logistics Connector program as a longer-range, higher-capacity option. Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel - and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.