Aviation Week & Space Technology

The Air Force requires the fighters to hit the tanker every 30-40 min. during an ocean crossing.

In 1917 Aviation Week’s founding editors issued an urgent warning about the lack of preparedness of the U.S. to fight an air war. Such concerns prompted President Woodrow to take action, resulting in the establishment of NASA Langley.

After almost seven decades of development and testing in high-speed flight, the U.S. finally looked set to become the undisputed leader in hypersonics. What changed? Listen in as our editors discuss.

The proliferation of types and versions means the Chinese air force and navy remain quite dissatisfied with the modernity of their fighters, even as successive models are increasingly competitive against the combat aircraft of rival countries.

Saab alone has hopes of snagging fighter contracts of both the Indian navy and air force. Its JAS 39E/F Gripen meets the air force demand for just one engine, and a carrier-based version is in the works.

NASA, Boeing, United, Honeywell live-test new algorithms that optimize spacing between aircraft, boosting capacity at airports.

Considering South Korea’s lack of experience, there is clearly a chance that ADD and Hanwha will at some point ask Elta for assistance beyond the validation work it will be contracted for.

Arizona congressman sees an opportunity to make up for lost ground in missile defense realm.

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

Aviation Week, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and universities recognize these 20 accomplished students in aerospace fields.

Northrop Grumman Corp. promoted Stan Crow to chief executive for Japan. Robert J. LaBelle has been hired as CEO of XTI Aircraft Co.

Readers discuss the last few Person of the Year choices; query man's inherent goodness; question boundary layer ingestion benefit; applaud converting blueprints to digital mockups.

Upcoming aviation and aerospace industry events and Aviation Week Network events

While significant ongoing structural changes in the industry cannot be denied, broad alliances among European low-cost carriers will not likely be a major theme, except in specific circumstances.

China’s air-to-air missile arsenal, Taiwan modifying Chingkuo fighter as a trainer, India’s new AWACS aircraft, Orbital wins military satellite contract and a C295W training services contract for CAE.

Gordon Gekko may have been a fictional movie character, but increasingly he seems alive and well in the boardrooms of U.S. A&D companies—and he could be aiming for a corner office near you, too.

The armed services are sounding the alarm over shockingly low readiness rates driven by maintenance backlogs.

Oxford Performance Materials is making carbon-fiber-reinforced 3-D-printed thermoplastic parts for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner manned spacecraft.

A major solar event knocked out telegraph service in 1859, so imagine what a direct solar storm hit on Earth would do to our wired economies today.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince sat down with Aviation Week editors to discuss his new China-facing transportation services company, Donald Trump and other issues.

The airline is looking to expand its South Pacific network, spurred by forthcoming bilateral talks.

Despite much experimentation over the years, U.S. efforts at hypersonics weaponry have failed to produce an operational system.

The airframer is entering the busiest phase yet of its new-generation twin development plan.

The company believes the U.S. Navy could detail a plan to buy “Block 3” Super Hornets as soon as this spring.

Less than four years ago, it seemed USAF was on the brink of developing the first generation of air-breathing high-speed strike weapons. Now a classified report warns that the U.S. may be losing its lead in hypersonics to China and Russia.