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TIM ROBINSON FRAeS and STEPHEN BRIDGEWATER FRAeS take a look at some of the top news and highlights ahead of the official opening of the 2025 Dubai Airshow.
UAE Air Force display team blast into show with new L-15 trainer
The team practiced in secret with the new aircraft to surprise the showgoers. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Set to wow visitors at the show with an incredible entrance, stunning display and unique ‘whistling’ noise of its jet engines, was the UAE Air Forces Al-Fursan (The Knights) flying its its new jet – the Chinese-made twin-engine, twin-seat Hongdu L-15 advanced trainer,
Previously flying the Aermacchi MB339 trainer, the first pair L-15s were delivered in late 2023, with the team training in secret to convert to the new aircraft for the 2025 Dubai Air Show. In the validation display on the Saturday, seven L-15s appeared in the team colours, with the aircraft producing a distinctive whistling howl -similar to the P-51s gunports noise. First flown in 2006, the Hongdu L-15 developed in cooperation with Yakovlev is an advanced trainer and lead-in-fighter trainer now fielded by China’ s PLAAF.
“Does my bay look big to you?”
The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II and Sukhoi Su-57 Felon open up for inspection. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Flying in the same air display for only the second time in history, the US’ F-35A and Russia’s Su-57 both performed passes with their weapons bays open on Sunday’s rehearsal. This is the first opportunity Western eyes have had to glimpse inside the Sukhoi’s bay and, to much surprise, two large missiles on show within its fuselage.
Both types flew impressive display routines, with the Su-57 notable for its advanced manoeuvrability and the roar of its two Saturn AL-41F1 afterburning turbofans.
Joby becomes first eVTOL to display at Dubai
There is an electric buzz at Dubai this year, with a dedicated advanced air mobility hall and Joby’s S4 in the flying display. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
As Joby Aviation continues testing its S4 eVTOL in Dubai, ahead of potential certification and entry into service in the UAE as early as 2026, it is fitting the the aircraft becomes the first advanced air mobility vehicle to take part in a Dubai Airshow. The S4 performs a relatively energetic display routine, including tight turns in wingborne flight and several transitions from the hover and back.
Skyports to develop eVTOL vertiport infrastructure for Abu Dhabi
Skyports will build vertiports at existing airports in Abu Dhabi. (Skyports)
Ahead of the show there was news from AAM vertiport developer Skyports, which announced it had partnered with Abu Dhabi to develop a commercial vertiport network. Construction of the first two vertiports are already underway at Zayed International Airport and Al Bateen Executive Airport, with completion expected in early 2026.
Ten vertiports are planned to be developed across the Emirate, as commercial eVTOL air taxis gear up to begin operations in the UAE in 2026.
Boeing combat drone to make live air-to-air missile test
Boeing Defense CEO Steve Parker briefing the press. (Tim Robinson/RAeS)
In a pre-show media roundtable ahead the show, Boeing Defense executives provided an update on the company’s strategic focus in the Middle East, key programmes and milestones, with the defence division still riding high after winning the “transformational” NGAD contract from the USAF with its F-47. Calling the NGAD win “humbling” BDS CEO Steve Parker, said: “the investment goes back over a long period of time, going back a decade in materials and technologies and advanced manufacturing, and engineering.”
While Parker was coy about the status of the highly-classified F-47, which the USAF has said is now in production, he did reveal that Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat UCAV, developed in cooperation with the Royal Australian Air Force will make a live AIM-120 missile shot against a drone target in Australia next month in a “tactically relevant scenario”. Said Parker of the MQ-28 “I think it is the most state-of-the-art advanced CCA in the world today”.
Boeing is also set to deliver the first T-7 trainer to the USAF next month, while Parker also said that the company had just flown the a KC-46 tanker with the new Remote Vision System (RVS) 2.0 – calling it a “huge milestone”.
Emirates Game for UTPS training
Game for a flight? (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Dubai-based Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA) is exhibiting one of a pair of Gamebird GB1 aircraft at the show. Used by EFTA to provide upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) to cadet pilots, all graduates of the scheme benefit from five hours training in the GB1. With 30 Cirrus, Phenom and Diamond aircraft in its fleet, EFTA is now training cadets on four distinct aircraft types before they graduate from the academy.
Omen of the future
Anduril and EDGE have teamed up to reveal the Omen tailsitter UAV (Anduril)
On the eve of the show US AI defence start-up Anduril revealed it had partnered with UAE military technology and drone group, EDGE to co-develop the Omen – a hybrid-electric tailsitter UAV bringing an extended range.
By using the tailsitter configuration which uses the same engines for vertical lift as horizontal cruise, means that weight and complexity is reduced – increasing endurance and range – up to three-to-four times that of comparable Class 3 UAVs.
The Omen has been in development since 2019, with “hundreds of flight hours” already achieved with 30+ prototypes according to Anduril. It has also achieved the first tailsitter drone mass production contract with an order for 50 UAVs from an unnamed UAE customer.
Skyscraper firefighting helos on display
The Ka-32 and UH-60L firefighters ready for the call to action. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
A pair of helicopters optimised for firefighting in the urban environment are turning heads at the show.
First unveiled at this year’s IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the unusually adapted UH-60L Black Hawk of the UAE’s Joint Aviation Command is fitted with a Sky Cannon system produced by Canada’s Dart Aerospace. Certified by the US FAA in 2021, the technology is now being trailed in the UAE, which is famed for its high-rise buildings and densely populated cities.
Sky Cannon consists of a 7.6 metres-long extinguishing boom that can project water jets up to 40m into a burning building. The UH-60Ls modified to carry the system have had their stub wings removed and the cabin fitted with a 3,220l water tank and 190l foam tank. The helicopters are also fitted with an infrared camera and a rangefinder and a suction pump can refill the water tank from a lake or body of water in under 45 seconds.
Also at the show and now boasting a high pressure water lance for urban firefighting is the Kamov Ka-32A11M from Russian Helicopters. Once the go-to firefighting helicopter for many nations, the Ka-32 has suffered from the sanctions employed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and the company is now focusing on the home market and ‘friendly’ nations.
Air China Cargo becomes A350F freighter customer
Airbus is exhibiting the A350-1000 demonstrator in typically spectacular fashion at Dubai this week. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Although the traditional show flurry of airliner orders had yet to start at time of writing, Airbus got off early with an announcement on the eve of the airshow that Air China Cargo had signed a purchase agreement for six Airbus A350F aircraft, becoming the first customer to order the all-new A350F in the Chinese mainland. This takes the as-yet unflown A350F’s orderbook to 74 airframes from 12 customers.
Not necessarily the nine red Hawks that you are expecting
India’s BAE Hawk 132-equipped Surya Kiran (Rays of the Sun) pull through the top of a loop in a clear blue Dubai sky. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
UK airshow audiences are used to nine red BAE Hawks performing in formation, but on this occasion the aircraft in question are from a far more unusual operator. The Indian Air Force’s Surya Kiran (Rays of the Sun) display team fly the Hawk 132 and are making a rare overseas appearance at Dubai. They are joined in the flying schedule by Morrocco’s rarely seen Marche Verte (Green March) with its Avions Mudry CAP 232. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Emirates to get Starlink WiFi?
Emirates has one of its iconic A380s in the static display, but watch out for a very special appearance in the show’s opening flypast. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Ahead of the show, the big commercial news of home airlines champion Emirates was that it is planning to retrofit its entire fleet of arliners with the high-speed broadband Starlink service from SpaceX. With Starlink currently not approved by the UAE, this represents a major win for SpaceX in getting it to equip Emirates’ 260-aircraft fleet which mostly flies internationally – as well as a potential reversal of the UAE’s own policy on Starlink.
Honda unveils hybrid eVTOL
Is Honda late to the eVTOL market, or perfect timing? (Tim Robinson/RAeS)
Having developed a successful VLJ in the form of the HondaJet after an earlier air taxi boom of the early 2000s, at the show Honda unveiled its cabin concept for a hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft. The company has already flown the design in a subscale configuration, but is taking the long view with AAM saying that “the 2030s will be the best time period for eVTOLs” due to the lack of infrastructure currently available.
Using a hybrid-electric propulsion leveraging Honda’s Formula 1 experience, the four passenger lift-plus cruise eVTOL would have a range of 400km.
Sukhoi’s LTA UCAV breaks cover
Checkmate – but without a pilot? (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Although information is scant, the Sukhoi LTA UCAV, which is appearing in model form in the Russian pavilion, appears to be based on the Su-75 Checkmate Light Tactical Aircraft (LTA) that was announced at the 2021 Dubai Airshow.
C919 flies in
Can the C919 break into the duopoly? (Steve Bridgewater/RAeS)
With the Chinese-built L-15s of the UAE’s Al-Fursan display team the most visible sign of China’s aerospace power, also at the show this year in the flying display is the COMAC C919 single-aisle airliner, as well as version of the C909 in business jet configuration.
While China is still struggling to find international buyers for the C919, COMACS next product, the C929 may face an easier time with neither Airbus now Boeing publicly having any future widebody airliners in development.
Lodd’s Hili takes flight
Lodd’s Hili becomes the latest hybrid-electric cargo drone to take flight. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
On the ever of the show, Abu Dhabi-based company Lodd, conducted the first flight of its Hili hybrid electric autonomous cargo drone. The aircraft, a mock-up of which is on display in the show’s dedicated advanced air mobility hall, performed its first hover at Emirates Falcon Aviation in Al Ain on 13 November.
The Hili is designed to transport 250kg payloads over a range of almost 700km using a hybrid propulsion system that combines electric and internal combustion engines. Lodd announced ahead of the show that it had entered agreements with ST Engineering Commercial Aerospace and Skyports Drone Services, both of whom expressed interest in operating the Hili.
Lodd believes that the use of Generative AI will ultimately allow a single pilot to operate hundreds of Hili aircraft at the same time.
BCA is back in the air display
Making a welcome return to the flying element of an international airshow, Boeing Commercial Airplanes is exhibiting its 777X airframe at Dubai. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
Home team comes out in force
The UAE F-16 Desert Falcon and Mirage 2000-9 in the rehearsal for the flying display. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
The al-Quwwāt al-Jawiyah wa al-Defa’ al-Jawiy al-ʾImārāty (United Arab Emirates Air Force) has pulled out all the stops for the 2025 Dubai Airshow with examples of all its current types on static display, a spectacular mass formation to open the show and impressive solo displays from its Lockheed Martin F-16E Block 60 (nicknamed the Desert Falcon) and the Dassault Mirage 2000-9. Other fast jets appearing in the display include France’s Dassault Rafale, an F-16C and F-35A from the USAF and a HAL Tejas from the Indian Air Force.
Dubai – officially the world’s busiest airport
Dubai’s Terminal 3. The airport is now the busiest in the world. (Dubai Airport)
Just in time to mark the success at the UAE’s largest aviation tradeshow, Dubai International Airport (DXB) has taken over the title of the world’s busiest airport from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). As of November 2025, DXB offered an impressive 5.29m available seats, surpassing Atlanta’s 5.12m seats by 2%. This milestone is even more impressive as the airport operates no domestic flights. The achievement is recognition for Dubai’s investment in infrastructure, technology and the overall passenger experience over the past decade – a concept that had led to it becoming a leading hub for international travel.
Twilight for the Hog?
As the sun sets on the A-10’s career it was fitting to see one at Dubai. (Stephen Bridgewater/RAeS)
RAeS President to give Sir Maurice Flanagan lecture
RAeS President Alisdair Wood will be giving a lecture on ‘A Defining Era for Vertical Lift’ on 20 November. (RAeS/NAL)
Meanwhile, RAeS 2025-26 President Dr Alisdair Wood will be attending the show to meet up with existing and future Members, Fellows and Corporate Partners. He will also be giving the prestigious RAeS UAE Branch Sir Maurice Flanagan named lecture, on 20 November at the Emirates Training College. The lecture is free to attend – more details here.
And finally…
Caught with our pants down? (Tim Robinson/RAeS)
For anyone with questions about dress codes to the airshow’s various social functions this week, one drone company seemed to have decided that the hot weather mean that clothes were optional…
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Stay ahead of all the news!
Catch up with all the hot news! (Tim Robinson/RAeS)
To follow all the news at Dubai don’t forget to bookmark www.aerosociety.com and follow the daily air show news on the Insight blog. For those on X, follow @AeroSociety and use the hashtag #DAS25 or #DubaiAirShow.
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Editor-in-Chief Tim Robinson @RAeSTimR
Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater @RAesSteveB
