Aviation Week & Space Technology

Best of the Best

From his war on Gulf carriers and the Ex-Im Bank to engineering a merger that began consolidation, the CEO has had impact.

Virgin America is acquiring new aircraft, but instead of adding many new markets, the airline is expected to shore up existing ones.

Talent and technology innovation have shaped society’s past, and they will surely shape its future. But all stakeholders must understand what spawns innovation.

Jan. 4-8—AAIA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference. Manchester Grand Hyatt. San Diego. See aiaa-scitech.org/SDM Feb. 2-4—The Unmanned Systems Conference and Exposition. World Forum. The Hague, Netherlands. See tusexpo.com

FAA "drone" regulations decried; additional notes on propulsion history; merits of amassing aircraft-transmission data weighed; assessing "true" bomber costs.

With the A320neo delivery and 737 MAX rollout under their belts, Airbus and Boeing, respectively, mark a new era in aircraft manufacturing.

Shelby vs. McCain continues. NASA gains $1 billion. And international travelers to U.S. face new restrictions.

A former Smithsonian Air & Space Museum staffer, Reuters photo editor and Aviation Week's executive editor, art director and data analyst/planespotter collaborate to select the year's best aviation and aerospace photos.

COMMERCIAL AVIATION Boeing plans to fly the 737 MAX at the end of January following the Dec. 7 rollout of the first aircraft, a 737-8 designated 1A001. Airbus will deliver the first A320neo to Lufthansa on Dec. 22—rather than Qatar Airways as planned—because of operational restrictions on the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan.

Through partnerships and investments, defense primes and OEMs are increasingly turning the page away from the old playbook of acquiring and subsuming new technology.

Fighter operators and Pentagon acquisition troops are talking past each other. That can’t end well.

Shareholders bail over future of aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce, despite restructuring efforts.

From Aegis Ashore to Pakistani nuclear-capable missiles—a look at some of the latest developments on the missile technology and missile defense front.

The six-nation UCAV demonstrator completed an initial phase in November 2015, but will continue flight trials in 2016 and potentially beyond. In a parallel effort, Britain has just completed a third round of flight tests of its Taranis UCAV demonstrator. And a four-nation effort, led by Germany, is to begin designing an unmanned ISR platform in the spring of 2016.

Directed-energy weapons and thermal management will be key, Northrop Grumman executives say.

France’s defense ministry will begin work on three new major space-system developments in the coming year, including an international collaboration with Germany in the area of remote sensing and an operational follow-on to the Elisa signals-intelligence demo.

2015 could well turn up in the history books as the year humankind finally realized it could be a spacefairing species, and started reaping the benefits.

With a rapid ramp-up of new aircraft using new materials, MRO providers need to increase R&D to develop repairs.

“So we are finally—after years of destroying capital—delivering the minimum level of profitability that an investor would expect,” says IATA CEO Tony Tyler.

China has always preferred administrative allocation of runway access. Now the national drive against corruption has evidently prompted a trial period of auctioning and trading slots.

Virgin Atlantic is using proceeds from collateralizing Heathrow slots for the purchase of new aircraft, including Boeing 787s.

The EC should focus on defending consumer interests rather than protecting Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Group from competition.

UP Aerospace takes its experience building and operating low-cost suborbital sounding rockets and applies it to a dedicated launch vehicle for tiny cubesats.

Jails fear UAV smuggling; France leads UAV smallsat launcher; Darpa aims for ubiquitous lidar; Roke takes cellular to high altitude; Airbus Perlan glider moves to new test phase.