NASA is moving quickly to develop a system to enable safe and efficient operation of civil unmanned aircraft systems at low altitudes outside controlled airspace.
Same Sad Story? Most pilots and engineers I know are second-guessing what took place in those finals minutes of the doomed AirAsia Flight 8501. Apparently an experienced pilot—faced with myriad extraneous and misleading data—had only a few seconds to draw from his experience and knowledge to effect a recovery.
In an effort to address potential pilot shortages in the future, NASA is conducting research on the operating concepts and ground stations that would be needed for single-pilot airliners.
With NASA’s help, air traffic controllers in the future will “team” with their computer systems to safely and efficiently manage highly automated passenger aircraft that dynamically collaborate with the ATM system to optimize routing, capacity and fuel savings.
From the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ SciTech 2015 conference in Orlando: NASA’s new research priorities; unmanned aircraft: unmanned airspace.
Aviation Week editors Graham Warwick and Guy Norris discuss with Joe Anselmo what the future looks like from the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference.
General Electric’s Passport engine is entering the final phases of certification for Bombardier’s Global 7000/8000 long-range business aircraft, the first versions of which are set to enter service next year.
The new Aviation Week app, now available for download in the Apple App Store, will allow subscribers to follow our award-winning journalists in a much more timely fashion.
A commercial aviation weather radar that can map the physical environment around a runway is showing great promise, according to its developer, Rockwell Collins.
With the cost of a fleet of new nuclear submarines threatening to crowd out other Navy shipbuilding projects, Congress has taken a “first step” toward maintaining funding for other projects, according to the Navy’s top acquisition official. Last year, lawmakers established the National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund, a place outside the traditional shipbuilding accounts to set aside up to $3.5 billion for the SSBN(X) Ohio-class submarine replacement program. Unobligated balances from other programs can be transferred into the fund.
To address new and emerging threats, the Defense Department is finalizing its long-range research and development plan, focusing on technologies that are flexible and will not pose procurement and cost issues.
China regularly cites rising personnel and training costs as the reason for its growing defense budget; the buildup of a professional noncommissioned officer corps is a visible sign of such cost pressures. However, the country is investing in a broad program of advanced weapons development as it ratchets up military activities, in its “near abroad” and globally.
