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Magazine Issue

Aviation Week & Space Technology, April 4, 2016

VOL. 178 NO. 14 April 04, 2016

Business

article

UAS, Space Big With Venture Capital A&D Investors

Mar 31, 2016
Suddenly, venture capitalism appears to be invading the Western A&D sector.
article

Airbus Ventures Prepares For Long Haul

Mar 31, 2016
Airbus Ventures CEO Tim Dombrowski on the new fund specifically and A&D’s overtures to tech generally.
article

New Investor Group To Harness A&D Entrepreneurialism

Mar 31, 2016
Starburst Accelerator is a two-year-old global A&D and security technology incubator and investor matchmaker—the first dedicated to the aerospace sector.

Space Propulsion

article

Four Engines Competing To Send Military Satellites Into Space

Mar 30, 2016
More important than the political struggle over how many Russian RD-180 engines to allow for national security launches is the intense commercial competition to replace it altogether.
article

Meet The Commercial Engines Competing To Launch Military Satellites

Apr 01, 2016
Here are the main-stage and upper-stage engines being developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin, Orbital ATK, SpaceX and XCOR Aerospace.
article

Engine Competition Extends To Upper Stages

Mar 30, 2016
The modern day space race for new U.S. engines is taking place at both ends of the rocket.

Defense

article

Work On Pilotless KUS-X Steps Up Following KF-X Launch

Apr 01, 2016
South Korea's Agency for Defense Development plans to build an apparently full-scale mockup of its proposed stealthy design, for assessment of radar cross-section, and eight sub-scale test aircraft.
article

As China Builds Up Carrier Force, The Mission Remains Unclear

Apr 01, 2016
A clear challenge for China in using aircraft carriers in war is that they must be protected against submarine attack. The navy has long been weak in this area.
article

Could Argentine Trainer Family Boost Fadea’s Fortunes?

Apr 01, 2016
The Argentine government wants to revive the fortunes of the Fadea aircraft company by focusing on the training market, where the manufacturer has had some success.
article

The Week In Defense, March 31-April 7, 2016

Mar 31, 2016
India-Russia team up on helo sustainment; sale of P-8s to U.K. advances; Lockheed receives F-35 modernization modification; and Space Fence opens test facility.

Space

article

Pentagon Backs Raytheon’s Troubled GPS Ground-Segment

Mar 30, 2016
In past year, the total program cost of the Orbital Control System network has grown 16% to more than $4.1 billion, largely to software development issues.

Commercial Aviation

article

Cheap Oil Boosts Business Case For Older Aircraft

Mar 29, 2016
Airlines are retaining some aircraft types longer thanks to the drop in oil prices that make this a financially viable decision.
article

Assembly Of Production MRJs Will Begin This Year

Apr 01, 2016
If the MRJ can be sold at 10 a month and prices close to those in the original business plan, the economy of running production facilities at twice the planned rate and at their limit should go far to offset the program’s development overruns.
article

U.K. Company Sees Big Future For Hybrid Airship

Apr 01, 2016
British company plans to support remote oil and gas and mining installations with fleet of hybrid airships.
article

Taming Turbulence With Tape: Conformal Vortex Generators

Apr 01, 2016
Peter Ireland’s company, Edge Aerodynamix, is about to receive FAA approval for a new type of drag reduction device that seems too good to be true. His job now is to make believers of the airlines.

MRO

article

Aftermarket Analytics Gaining Ground, But Questions Remain

Apr 01, 2016
OEMs are out front now, but several factors indicate their advantages could be short-lived.

Technology

article

NASA’s Traveler To Demo ‘Trustworthy’ UAS Autonomy

Mar 28, 2016
NASA researchers, together with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are planning demonstrations of an autonomous unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capable of planning, launching, navigating and refueling itself.
article

Canada’s ING Robotic Pioneers Beyond-Line-of-Sight UAS Ops

Mar 28, 2016
A mission to count moose footprints is the first commercial unmanned-aircraft mission in Canada to be approved for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operation.
article

The Week In Technology, March 28-April 1, 2016

Mar 28, 2016
Onera studies hybrid electric UAS; APL’s Cracuns lurks underwater; AFRL eyes attritable UAS; unmanned cloud-seeding in Nevada; DHS looks at acoustic counter-UAS

Up Front

article

Opinion: Boeing’s Single- Or Twin-Aisle Quandary

Mar 29, 2016
The choice is effectively between market potential maximization and operating economics: A single-aisle jet offers lower production and operating costs but would miss much of the replacement market; a twin-aisle could stimulate new demand but would be more expensive to produce and operate.

Inside Business Aviation

article

Corporate Angel Network’s 50,000th Cancer Patient

Mar 30, 2016
A philanthropic business aviation group—Corporate Angel Network—marks a major “miracle” milestone, transporting its 50,000th cancer patient for treatment free of charge.

Leading Edge

article

Opinion: Can Supersonic Interest Bring Startup Thinking To Aircraft?

Apr 01, 2016
Supersonic travel attracts venture capital interest, but is it enough to enable a startup to break into commercial-aircraft manufacturing?

In Orbit

article

Pentagon Is Still Preparing For The Last War—In Space

Mar 30, 2016
The Cold War era bigger-equals-better approach to space hardware is drawing to a close, and the trend extends into the power of rocket engines.

Washington Outlook

article

Pentagon Explores Its Deep-Learning Options

Apr 01, 2016
Work, Dunford discuss improved intelligence analysis; Senate to ask TSA administrator about airport security; elements of NASA’s SLS face delays and cost growth.

Viewpoint

article

Opinion: U.S. Needs ATC Reform Now

Apr 01, 2016
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker says the plan is not to change technology or direction, but to assure steady, long-term financing and move forward with NextGen quickly and decisively.