Rolled out at Palmdale on 22 November, 1988, the first Northrop B-2A (serial 82-1066) advanced technology bomber for the USAF is expected to enter flight testing early in 1989. An all-wing design developed by Northrop, with Boeing as a major subcontractor, the two-seat B-2A is powered by four General Electric F118-GE-100 turbofans of about 19,000 lb st (18 618 kgp) and is claimed to be almost invisible to defensive radars thanks to its use of stealth technology.

The A-5K Kong Yun is an upgraded version of the CNAMC Qiang-5 III, which, first flown on 17 September, 1988, has been developed by a French team under the leadership of Thomson-CSF. The A-5K is presumably in competition with the Italian-developed A-5M as the basis of a future large-scale conversion programme.

Both the industry teams competing for the US Army contract to develop and produce a new light attack helicopter (the LHX) - Boeing/Sikorsky and McDonnell Douglas Bell - received contracts valued at $158m each on 1 November 1988, allowing them to proceed to the demonstration/validation phase.

28 сентября 1988г.: первый полет Ил-96-300, разработанного на основе Ил-86; отличается крылом большего размаха с винглетами и более коротким фюзеляжем.
The Ilyushin Il-96-300 is currently scheduled to be delivered to Aeroflot from 1991, the first of five prototypes having entered flight test on 28 September 1989. Developed versions, the stretched Il-96-350 and -400, will have the fully rated PS-90A turbofans of 35,280 lb st (16 000 kgp) as compared with the 29,762 lb st (13 500 kgp) engines currently installed.

British Aerospace has provided more details of the projected Jetstream 41, a cabin mock-up of which was displayed at the meeting of the Regional Airlines Association held in Denver last November.

The Kamov Ka-126 programme, delayed some two years owing to non-availability of a suitable engine, has now resumed, the prototype having flown in May with a 720 shp Kopchenko TVD-100 turboshaft. The Ka-126 is fundamentally an upgraded and re-engined Ka-26 Hoodlum twin piston-engined helicopter, some 850 of which were built, including 300 for export. The majority of surviving Ka-26s are expected to he rotated through a conversion programme to Ka-126 standards, this being undertaken in Romania by ICA Brasov, with the first Romanian Ka-126 entering flight test during the course of 1989.

The prototype BO 108 twin-engined helicopter, described by MBB as a technology demonstrator, made its first flight on 15 October 1988 at Ottobrunn.