BEIJING — Indonesia will work with South Korea in joint development, production and marketing of the KF-X fighter that Seoul has previously planned to develop with support from foreign companies but not foreign governments. Indonesia will pay 20% of the development costs and buy about 50 of the aircraft, which South Korea aims at developing to the standard of generation 4.5, having given up hopes of achieving fifth-generation technology.

The Japanese government is under pressure from the country’s largest business association to ease its restrictions on arms exports so the country can join international projects. The association, Nippon Keidanren, argues that the country is becoming technologically isolated as the rising complexity and cost of defense equipment increasingly forces other countries to collaborate on its development.

Qantas and Boeing have brought forward delivery of Boeing 787s to the Australian airline by two years to 2012. The first 787s delivered to the group will be 787-8s, of which 15 are on order. Eight will arrive from mid-2012, and the other seven, along with 35 787-9s, will enter service from 2014. The carrier will allocate the first aircraft to its Jetstar low-cost subsidiary.