Aviation Week & Space Technology

Leading edge slats, clamshell aft cargo door with integrated elevon and other changes revealed as Boeing hones airlifter and X-plane blended-wing concepts.

Harris CEO Bill Brown talks about new opportunities in space and communications and why the aerospace industry must renew its fight for talent.

This is how Lockheed Martin intends to beat the competition in the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 tanker UAV competition.

IAI thinks about electric aircraft, fuel cells for endurance, Aeromobil’s fly/drive eVTOL, drones and robot earthmovers, and wave to the Amazon drone.

The Beluga STs have served their purpose for the OEM, but it is time for the BelugaXL to help push Airbus’ growth forward.

Defense contractors are big winners as a U.S. budget deal supercharges military funding, but commercial contractors could be casualties as a U.S.-China trade dispute escalates. Aviation Week editors weigh in on the implications.

Brazilian Air Force gearing up for KC-390’s service entry this summer. Multi-role aircraft can drop paratroopers, fight fires and refuel aircraft.

Having nearly finished its widebody replacement, the airline is turning attention to its narrowbody fleet.

Ryanair tries its hand at consolidation, a move that shows how much the airline’s strategy is changing.

Readers propose UAS for firefighting; keeping a veiled nuclear stance and recommend that nascent scientists be openminded.

Upcoming aviation and aerospace industry events and Aviation Week Network events.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

Ted Fordyce has been promoted to Elbit Systems of America vice president for Washington operations.

Utility of basic position reporting, bandwidth requirements and the need to coordinate distress responses with search-and-rescue organizations are some issues.

Boeing is about to start an exhaustive effort to transition the U.S. Navy’s carrier air wing to the new-and-improved Block III Super Hornet.

Yates Electrospace is still pursuing ever-higher electric-aircraft speeds, but its first product is a disposable cargo glider.

U.S. Marines, with the Army, are testing responsive resupply of troops in the field using unmanned aircraft of different sizes and capabilities.

UK’s new ‘Lanca’ UCAV; Australia’s naval aviation fleet takes shape; GPS OCX enters new software development phase; Stratcom head assesses plutonium pit status.

Manufacturers diversify spacecraft and operating orbits to keep up with changing markets.

View the Leisure and Business Fares: Week of March 12 chart in PDF format.

As Europeans build autonomy in space, sharing satellite capacity in a secure network would create an independent communications system for government use.

The aerostructures subsector, responsible for providing airframers the largest subassemblies, could become a lot more intimate in the next few years.

The company aims to put 200 kg into orbit every 72 hr. Photo: Rocket Lab

With commercial aircraft programs at record production rates, aerostructures OEMs are looking for technologies to produce carbon-fiber components faster.

With the next-generation jets, Embraer looks to break into segments of the airline market to which it so far has not had access.