DARPA has pushed Bell’s X-76 into construction, giving the United States its clearest path yet to a runway-independent aircraft that could move troops, special operations teams, rescue forces, or urgent cargo at jet-like speed from sites where conventional transports would be exposed or unusable.
More than another X-plane, the program attacks one of combat aviation’s oldest constraints: aircraft that move fast usually need prepared runways, while aircraft that can land almost anywhere usually sacrifice range, payload, and reaction time.
- DARPA disclosed the milestone after Bell completed critical design review, moving the joint SPRINT effort with U.S. Special Operations Command from concept work into manufacturing, integration, assembly, and ground testing ahead of a planned flight-test phase in early 2028.
DARPA’s X-76 aims to combine helicopter-like vertical takeoff with jet-speed cruise, giving U.S. forces a future aircraft designed for fast operations from austere or runway-denied environments
(Picture source: U.S. DoW).
On 8 March 2026, Chinese state broadcaster Xinwen Lianbo on China Central Television showed for the first time the Type 055 destroyers Dongguan (Hull 109) and Anqing (Hull 110) conducting joint training at sea, confirming their entry into active service with the People's Liberation Army Navy.
- The commissioning of these two 10,000-ton-class guided-missile destroyers, formally announced in an official notice on the Ministry of National Defense website, raises the number of operational Type 055s from eight to ten and extends the class’ presence to all three naval theater commands.
- This development is significant both in capability terms, given the Type 055’s role as a multi-mission, cruiser-scale surface combatant, and in geostrategic terms, as the two ships are assigned to the Eastern Theater Command Navy, the formation responsible for operations in the East China Sea and around Taiwan.
China has commissioned two additional Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, bringing its fleet of the advanced cruiser-scale warships to ten and strengthening naval operations in the East China Sea and around Taiwan (Picture Source: CCTV 13)
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