Aviation Week & Space Technology

Debate swirls around the right way forward for air safety. But the history of air safety shows that debates and mysteries are part of the process.

After its December first flight, NATO’s first Alliance Ground Surveillance Global Hawk is being mated with its radar sensor for test flights in the U.S. and Europe.

Jan. 25-28—IMAC 34. Rosen Plaza Hotel. Orlando, Florida. See sem.org/conf-imac-top.asp Feb. 2-4—The Unmanned Systems Conference and Exposition. World Forum. The Hague, Netherlands. See tusexpo.com

AoA and Commercial Airlines, Comments on AW&ST 2016 A&D Forecast

The two leading aircraft manufacturers remain upbeat about their prospects and appear to be undeterred by warnings of overcapacity.

DEFENSE Northrop Grumman is installing the radar in the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Global Hawk following first flight of the unmanned aircraft in December. After tests at Edwards AFB, California, the first of five NATO AGS will be ferried to Sigonella, Sicily, for integration with the European-developed ground systems.

Considering defense budget changes; A-10 evades retirement; United Airlines fined for treatment of disabled passengers.

Sierra Nevada Corp. will join incumbents Orbital ATK and SpaceX.

Rockwell Collins and Thompson Aerospace are among the innovators working to meet new European tracking rules, with cost-effectiveness in mind.

It might look like fun and games, but virtual reality head-mounted displays and specialized software will become key to keeping aircraft flying and technicians trained.

Israel’s defense industry often seems a jump ahead of competitors. Technology leaders explain how it’s done.

Simulation is not the same as real flying, say Israeli engineers and aircrew. It can be far superior.

The big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas recently drew A&D eyeballs with chatter over autonomous cars, UAVs and the technology tie-in with the Pentagon’s Third Offset.

Most experts think future targets will be even harder to find and identify. Israel’s defense industry is getting ready.

Russia buys Su-35s; Hellfires to Iraq; EW for C-130Js; Korean Air to make military UAVs; B-52’s South Korean flyby.

The aircraft has changed the competitive dynamics not only between Airbus and Boeing but among international airlines.

Secrecy, nuclear weapons and (of course) the JSF will be talking points in the coming year.

Australia has gone public on its airborne electronic intelligence program. In ordering two adapted Gulfstream business jets, it could hardly avoid doing so.

Governments should be ready for the possibility of commercial UAV technology falling into the wrong hands, says think tank.

Ahead of new budget talks in late 2016, German Aerospace Center DLR and the European Space Agency are evaluating the cost of continuing support for the International Space Station beyond 2020, even as the other four space station partners pledge to fund the orbiting science lab to 2024.

Last year’s back-to-back station-cargo launch failures have not dimmed growing commercial interest in station research.

All Nippon Airways is considering new orders, and this might prove to be a boon for Airbus’s sluggish A380 sales.

Peru’s airlines want to continue expanding in spite of infrastructure constraints and slower economic growth.

Air Seoul will be Asiana Airline’s second low-cost subsidiary, but the first to focus on international routes from the key market of Seoul.

Accurately predicting the maximum-lift performance of transport aircraft is still a challenge, so Airbus and DLR are working to improve computational tools and wind-tunnel testing.