New delays in the certification of the Comac ARJ21 regional jet could force the Chinese aircraft maker to stretch out development of its C919 mainline commercial aircraft. The FAA is insisting that its shadow certification effort on the ARJ21 be completed before it begins work on the C919. But the C919 is already near the point at which certification agency involvement needs to begin; if the project advances much further without the agency’s involvement, the U.S. regulator may decide it cannot become involved.

It is not often that a government takes a more uncompromising line on military preparedness than the professional advisers in its defense department and forces. Yet this is exactly the situation that is playing out in Australia for the second time in five years. And this time, as previously, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet looks like it's gaining an unexpected order while Lockheed Martin, because of the lateness of its F-35 program, runs a risk of missing contracts that it could once have counted as in the bag.

There is no letup in Beijing's military development, particularly in higher-end activities with quality rather than mass an increasing priority, says the Pentagon in its latest annual public threat assessment of China's military and security developments. Moreover, as China tries to satisfy its ever-increasing hunger for foreign energy, it has turned to exporting everything from advanced infantry weapons to a range of increasingly sophisticated warplanes.