Aviation Week's Check 6 Podcast

After a busy week of news, Aviation Week defense editors break down the latest developments in the fighter, trainer and uncrewed aircraft programs in an action-packed episode.  Steve Trimble shares a special dispatch from South Korea on the KF-21 program's production progress and KAI's leadership challenges, while Tony Osborne discusses Ukraine's potential 150-aircraft Gripen deal and Germany's new Eurofighter Tranche 5 order. The team explores the UK's search for Hawk T2 replacements, with contenders including the M-346, T-7 and T-50. Plus, Shield AI's ambitious X-BAT uncrewed concept and the UK's Vanquish carrier-based drone project. 

This week Check 6 is hosting an episode from Aviation Week's MRO Podcast—European fleet growth, supply chain bottlenecks, AI, Gen Z, supplier contracts and geopolitics were all up for discussion as Aviation Week's team convened to record a special episode of the MRO Podcast live at MRO Europe in London. Find out more about Aviation Week Intelligence Network's 2026 Fleet & MRO Forecast here

Today’s satellites are cheaper, but hardly cheap. Brad King, the CEO of a propulsion supplier Orbion Space Technology, joins us to explain why.

Rumors are flying about how aircraft OEMs are working on technology for the next generation of large commercial aircraft. But a recent survey of the commercial aviation industry by McKinsey and Aviation Week shows surprising results when it comes to what industry players really think is happening. And the truth has significant consequences for how the air transport industry will operate in coming years.  Listen in to this podcast sponsored by McKinsey as McKinsey experts Frank Coleman III and John Moore talk with Aviation Week's Michael Bruno about the survey results and what companies need to do now for the next generation of aircraft. Read more

Labor contracts prohibit many U.S. airlines from refreshing their regional jets with the latest technology. Does this open the door for a novel hybrid-electric venture—and perhaps even a turboprop comeback?

Aviation Week's Steve Trimble travelled to Ukraine where he participated in a military drone event and gained insights into how Russia's UAV operations are evolving. Steve discusses his observations and other aspects of the conflict with Tony Osborne and Robert Wall, as they unpack what it means about the changing battlefield dynamics. Read Steve's dispatch from Ukraine here

After Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg warned that certification of the 777-9 will take longer still, editors break down how the certification process has changed and why it is taking so long. Thank you to our sponsor GE Aerospace. Learn how the company and its partners are defining flight for today and the future here  

The DSEI arms expo provided the backdrop for companies to unveil new weapons and for government buyers to drive home a sense of urgency to develop systems at pace. Aviation Week editors discuss what they observed and covered in their reporting. Aviation Week analyst Sonny Butterworth also joins to share his observations on the land domain. Thank you to our sponsor Siemens. Siemens Xcelerator provides the technology to accelerate transformation in aerospace and defense. Learn more    

In the decades since two modified B-29s dropped atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, bringing World War II to a close, there have been many ideas about how the power of the atom might be harnessed for other uses, including space exploration and aircraft propulsion.  On this episode, Aviation Week editors comb through our archives to discuss the legacy of the atomic bomb missions and the evolution of nuclear power in aerospace through to the present day—and beyond. “We hold in trust a power that is capable of unraveling the very fabric of our civilian…We have proved the destructive use, while the constructive applications are still in the realm of speculation.”-AW&ST, Sept. 1945 Check 6 Revisits delves into Aviation Week's more than 100-year archive. Subscribers can explore our archive here and read key Aviation Week articles related to this episode here: ‘Atomic’ Aircraft Development Seen Far Off By Industry Heads (Aug. 13, 1945) Army-Navy Post-War Plane Needs Seen Large Despite Atomic Bomb (Aug. 20, 1945) The Atom | New Source of Energy; A Tide In The Affairs Of Men (September 1945) Atomic Transports 15-20 Years Away (Feb. 6, 1956) Nuclear Reactor Tests Include B-36 Flights (Jan. 16, 1956) The Soviet Nuclear-Powered Bomber (Dec. 1, 1958) Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details (Oct. 15, 2014) Debrief: Signs Of Life For Russia’s Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile (Aug. 18, 2025)

Is free trade over in commercial aviation, or it is all just smoke and mirrors? Aerodynamic Advisory's Richard Aboulafia joins Aviation Week’s Joe Anselmo, Jens Flottau and Dan Williams to discuss.