Aviation Week & Space Technology

The biggest hurdle to the U.S. Air Force declaring initial operational capability for the F-35A in August 2016 as planned is work left to be done on the Autonomic Logistics Information System.
Defense

As Russia continues saber rattling in Europe, Poland has joined the small group of nations to buy the latest U.S. Air Force conventional cruise missile.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Darpa’s Gremlins mess with defenses; robotic landing gear; countering unmanned aircraft; drone collision in Norway; NASA’s airspace design challenge.
Aerospace

By Graham Warwick
FAA awards contracts to eight companies to mature technologies to reduce fuel burn, noise and emissions in commercial aircraft, beginning around 2026.
Aerospace

By Graham Warwick
Leader in lightweight metal industry invests in R&D of materials, processes and design tools for additive manufacturing of complex metal parts, with aerospace demand taking the lead.

Members of the nine-nation F-35 team are nearing decisions on how to introduce new capabilities to the forthcoming Block 4 configuration of the aircraft, with the retrofit of a new electro-optical and infrared system high on that list.
Defense

Several comments about recent Commentary pages; Air Intel and Viewpoint elicit range of responses.
Feedback

By Tony Osborne
Kuwait has selected the Eurofighter Typhoon as the country’s next generation fighter, marking the first success of the aircraft in open competition.
Defense

By Jen DiMascio, Graham Warwick
This week’s Check 6 marks the start of a series of special features running before Aviation Week & Space Technology’s 100th anniversary in 2016 with a discussion of stealth and counter-stealth technology.
Defense

If the consequences of a collision with a UAS could be detailed, that could be a powerful disincentive to irresponsible behavior.
Air Transport

By Maksim Pyadushkin
Russian government lends a hand with 30 billion rubles to push SSJ 100 sales.
Air Transport

Much of the history of stealth has taken place under a shroud of secrecy that often hid important events from insiders as well as the public. It’s been a vast and often chaotic development, driven by technology, economics and geopolitics—and even the goals set 30 years ago have yet to be met.
Defense

By Jens Flottau
With its foothold firmly in the U.S. as well as China, Airbus is on its way to achieving its expansion goals. President/CEO Fabrice Bregier discusses the ramifications of these moves.
Air Transport

By Jens Flottau, Guy Norris, Joe Anselmo, Bradley Perrett
Perception matters. And the fact that Airbus is now building civil aircraft in the U.S.” puts it alongside Boeing or Lockheed Martin as a prime,” aerospace analysts say.
Air Transport

You can assume that the T-50 is a Russian F-22, or that jammers on trucks can’t affect an air campaign. But if you’re wrong, you’re in trouble.
Defense

David P. Storch has been named president and Timothy J. Romenesko vice chairman of AAR, a global aerospace and defense company based in Wood Dale, Illinois. Storch remains company chairman and CEO, and Romenesko COO of Expeditionary Services. Steven B. Harrison becomes president of the airlift division and Randy Martinez AAR vice president-strategy and business development.

By Guy Norris
Nellis AFB first to flight-test for combat use; Australian and Italian air forces also testing refueling USAF aircraft.
Defense

In Oscar Munoz, United has a new CEO. But can he change the airline’s culture?
Air Transport

A small number of people made outsize contributions to the early development of stealth, working under intense secrecy.
Defense

By Bradley Perrett
Average altitude performance would greatly limit the Chinese market for the proposed Sino-Russian AHL helicopter. So Avicopter proposes a design that would fly far higher than most heavy rotorcraft.
Air Transport

Oct. 6-7—SpeedNews 20th Annual Business & General Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference, Los Angeles. Oct. 13-15—MRO Europe. London. Nov. 3-5—MRO Asia-Pacific. Singapore. Nov. 3-5—AerospaceDefenseChain. Scottsdale, Arizona. Jan. 21-22, 2016—MRO Latin America. Lima, Peru. Feb. 3-4, 2016—MRO Middle East. Dubai. Feb 15, 2016—ATW’s Airline Industry Achievement Awards, Singapore.March 3, 2016—Aviation Week Laureate Awards. Washington.

By Bradley Perrett
The CAAC certified the ARJ21 in December, but 14 months will pass before Comac subsidiary Chengdu Airlines puts it into service.
Air Transport

COMMERCIAL AVIATION An uncontained high-pressure compressor failure is suspected in the left General Electric GE90-85B engine of a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER that caught fire, prompting the crew to reject takeoff at Las Vegas McCarran Airport on Sept. 8. All 159 passengers and 13 crew on BA Flight 2276 to London Gatwick evacuated the aircraft.
First Take

By Michael Bruno, Joe Anselmo, Guy Norris
ULA, Blue Origin announce production deal in wake of Aerojet’s offer to buy rocket manufacturer.
Space

By Jen DiMascio
Directed energy an MDA priority; states filling void on UAV rules; FAA modernizes rules for amateur rockets and increased costs for a GPS system.
Aviation Week & Space Technology