Aviation Week & Space Technology

In addition to the many first flights, deliveries and service entries that will occur in 2017, production increases and market questions loom.

In this week’s roundup: Italy receives Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft; Northrop adds refueling capability to E-2D Hawkeye; Antonov rolls out An-132 prototype and Bulgaria is in the market for secondhand fighters.

Digital imagery provides the model for a new approach to assembling complex aircraft structures from small and simple, mass-produced building blocks.

Carriers in South America’s biggest country look for ways to access fresh capital or consolidate to cope with ongoing economic crisis.

Private sector space initiatives are expected to continue and perhaps be bolstered under Trump administration.

Boeing touts $10 billion in cost avoidance by replacing the B-52’s TF33s with eight regional jet-class engines.

U.S. airlines' new services to Cuba still underutilized as tourism faces obstacles, but carriers remain confident about the future.

The industry must coordinate international and national rules for maintenance-technician schools and foreign repair station drug/alcohol testing among others in the new year.

The U.S. Air Force bought the legacy presidential aircraft from Boeing for just $249 million back in 1986 but expects to spend $3.2 billion on the new Air Force One.

New technologies for commercial aviation focus on greater speed, lower emissions, and improved tracking.

Developments in defense technology to watch in 2017 include drone countermeasures, jamming improvements, and directed-energy weapons.

The Missiles Defense Agency validated the shipborne Standard Missile-6 against a medium-range ballistic missile in a significant test off the coast of Hawaii.

Amazon’s latest delivery drone; Turbulence downed Facebook’s UAV; JAXA’s new turbofan testbed; Intelsat touts smaller satcom for UAVs; Drones check Texas roads and railways.

For an aircraft not even conceived as part of Boeing’s original 21st-century airliner family plan, the 787-10 has the potential to take a significant slice of the replacement market for Airbus A330-300s and 777-200s.

New engine work starts in Boeing Propulsion South Carolina as 737 MAX inlet production ramps up.

The first American to orbit Earth and the oldest person to ever fly in space was both a straight arrow and a self-promoter.

Armed German Eurofighters are supporting the expanded Baltic Air Policing Program.

New Qantas services will boost Australia’s share of longest 787 flights

Sierra Nevada Corp. and Turkish Aerospace Industries are making a surprise pitch of their Williams International FJ44-4M-powered Freedom Trainer for the T-X program.

President-elect Donald Trump's Dec. 12 Twitter attack on F-35 costs is not the first time his tweets have had an impact on defense stocks, following on the heels of his Boeing Air Force One comments the previous week.

What the space-launch upstart thinks went wrong in September, what the delay means for its customers and how the company has handled losses in the past. Plus, Orbital ATK’s Pegasus launch and a John Glenn remembrance.

Former Indian air force chief faces charges related to the AW101 helicopter scandal; the Philippines builds a fleet of FA-50 fighters; Lithuania beefs up surface-to-air missile force; and the U.S. State Department reviews munition sales to Saudi Arabia.

Soyuz maybe nudged out of many launches due to the increased payload capability of the Vega C.

Germany gives Sea Lion room to succeed as it mulls other helicopter acquisitions.

Israel is showing the aviation industry a new use for noise-reducing and efficiency-boosting performance-based navigation procedures: avoiding the rocket’s red glare.