The F-35s would reintroduce fixed-wing combat aircraft to Australian naval service after a gap of more than 30 years. However, the move lacks backing from the three armed services and looks difficult to justify, even as the government is willing to boost the defense forces with more Boeing C-17 airlifters and Airbus KC-30 tankers.
The steady drop in oil prices is not yet raising concerns at Boeing or on Wall Street that airlines will alter their emerging pattern of lining up a historically high percentage of new deliveries as replacements for less efficient, older-generation aircraft. “The price of oil still could fall a long way before our planes are anything but compelling,” Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney said last week.
Steeped in manned-aircraft experience but with a burgeoning unmanned-aircraft avionics business, Rockwell Collins is working to help UAVs fly in the national airspace system. With NASA, the company is developing a certifiable command-and-control data link allowing multiple unmanned aircraft systems to be flown from a single ground station. And now Rockwell Collins has shown that certified manned-aircraft avionics can be used in a UAS without breaking the certification chain of evidence.
More than two years after Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. carrier to announce it would substantially reduce its 50-seat regional jet fleet, its transformation is nearly complete. Although Delta Connection soon will operate a fraction of the Embraer ERJ 145s and Bombardier CRJ200s it once flew, Delta does not expect any cities to lose service.
With new and potential orders, Embraer sees bright future for KC-390 airlifter. Emphasizing its multirole capability along with the speed performance offered by its IAE V2500 turbofan—as well as the reliability and low-cost operational experience of its regional jet family—the Brazilian aerospace company hopes to take a major share of the airlifter market over the next 10-15 years. .
NASA’s commercial crew program is in court now, so the lawyers will get a say in deciding how the U.S. and its space-exploration partners will fly astronauts to orbit.
A quiet battle likely will simmer at Chicago Midway as a startup provider of anti-overrun technology takes on the heretofore uncontested ruler of engineered materials arresting systems.
Though India and Russia are nearing a deal on a “joint effort” to develop a fifth-generation fighter, Indian air force officials remain exasperated by the service’s shrinking contribution and slipping schedules.
The official unveiling of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW800 turbofan at this year’s National Business Aviation Association convention marked a sea change in the provision of engines for the world’s long-range business jets.
In contrast to Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports, Kansai has been able to use its greater available capacity to draw new flights from Japanese and foreign airlines. It is positioning itself well to take advantage of an increase in overseas visitor numbers. This has been particularly evident with LCCs, as Japan’s new budget airlines establish bases and grow their networks at Kansai. In addition, several foreign LCCs have launched service to Osaka, and more plan to follow.
Mergers and acquisitions activity in the U.S. aerospace and defense industry slowed in the third quarter, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Total deal volume slipped to the lowest level in 11 quarters, and was the weakest since the second quarter of 2005. The trend, reported by Aviation Week last month, comes as many A&D participants had once thought this year would mark the beginning of a wave of strategic M&A in Western industry. Divestitures continue to remain favorite business-shaping tools as companies divide or slice off divisions deemed non-core, slow-growth or worse.
Indian LCC IndiGo has given Airbus its largest single order to date, for 250 new A320neos. A successful IPO in a still tumultuous air transport market will be key to fund the order—and it would cement IndiGo’s position as India’s leading domestic airline.
The strong pipeline of new products, many announced but some still to come, provided a boost in Honeywell’s latest forecast for the delivery of 9,450 business jets valued at $280 billion through 2024.
