Aviation Week & Space Technology

As the composites revolution continues, industry is shifting toward more advanced “out of autoclave” processing technology to reduce the costs of manufacturing these weight-saving components. Large and expensive, autoclaves required for curing conventional composites are major investments, particularly for smaller suppliers. Vacuum bag only (VBO) processing is becoming popular because it allows large structures to be produced outside the autoclave, reducing cost and widening the number of potential suppliers.

The military's insatiable appetite for full-motion video is putting severe pressure on the bandwidth available to downlink data from manned and unmanned aircraft, and it is getting worse with the fielding of wide-area surveillance sensors providing multiple views of the battlefield. The answer could be high-capacity optical communications using laser beams instead of radio links. The European Space Agency first demonstrated an aircraft-to-satellite laser link in 2006. When the U.S.

A key planning document the U.K. Defense Ministry has been working on to spell out its industrial strategy in the wake of the Strategic Defense and Security Review is now not expected to emerge until February. The planning document, which industry hopes will spell out areas that the U.K. government will continue to support, was due last year.

As the business jet market begins to recover from the global recession, the development of new engines proceeds. General aviation continues to be a dynamic segment in terms of turboprop use and product availability. Single- and twin-engine designs are abundant, with more on the way in the next few years.

The launch industry is still recovering from a downturn that reduced the number of competitors in the market and forced the remaining players to restructure. These companies also have become more reliant on government spending. A recovery is being driven by the reduction of launch vehicle operators and an increase in launch opportunities, but an expected decline in satellite purchases and an increase in the number of launch vehicle operators could fuel greater competition.

Launch industry managers worldwide will go after government markets as the industry continues its recovery from a downturn that has brought a reduction in the number of competitors in the market and forced the remaining players to restructure. While the reduction of launch vehicle operators and an increase in launch opportunities is driving recovery for the survivors, an expected decline in satellite purchases and rise in the number of launch vehicle operators down the road could fuel greater competition in coming years.

This time it was supposed to be different for the Franco-German aerospace giant—a smooth transition of power, with a new management team building on the foundation put in place by its predecessor.

Looking purely at facts, the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 can likely be explained as a pilot-fatigue-induced loss-of-control accident. But as a bitter dispute over the findings shows, the case is imbued with political overtones—in itself a strong reason for concerns over safety cultures.

SkyTeam may be adding five new members this year, but CEO Michael Wisbrun says he still favors integration over network expansion.

U.S. military officials are keen on saying they never intend to fight the last war. This is their way of indicating a focus on future conflicts, not on the past. Apparently, this sentiment does not apply to the interservice skirmishes at the Pentagon. The U.S. Army and Air Force are in the final throes of hashing out an updated agreement on the time-sensitive, direct-support airlift mission, the latest chapter in a years-long saga over how to ship supplies to remote soldiers despite two wars and one stunted buy of Alenia's C-27J.

The global airline industry returned to profitability in 2010 after two years of financial losses. Driving this turnaround was the growth of passenger and cargo traffic, which had flat-lined over the previous two-year period. As a direct result, large turbine engine manufacturers have seen rebounding sales and full order books for new and existing engines.

The worldwide missile systems market—worth $58.2 billion over the next five years—will see a slight increase in value during the period, from a low of $11.18 billion in 2012 to a high of $11.81 billion in 2016. At the same time, production is anticipated to drop, reflecting the high cost of some of the systems being built. In all, 197,605 missiles of all types are forecast for production in 2012-16.

Some larger operators are confident in their ability to return a profit during another year of belt-tightening, but mixed results are more likely.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is no longer heir-apparent F/A-18G Growler.

A shift around the globe to stealthy, or stealthier, combat aircraft designs is driving the market for fighters and jet-powered trainers.

As debate over the future of U.S. human spaceflight continues into 2012, NASA is moving to answer one key question: Is it feasible to store propellant in orbit and so reduce the number of heavy-lift launches required for deep-space missions? While for some the question is whether propellant depots can eliminate the need to develop the heavy-lift Space Launch System, NASA sees the two as complementary. But first it needs to understand how to reduce propellant boil-off and transfer cryogenic fluids in orbit.

After a remarkable recovery in 2010, global demand for airfreight stagnated in 2011, and the outlook for 2012 is for a continuation of sluggish growth conditions. Year-over-year cargo traffic volumes showed increases through the first four months of 2011, but turned negative in May, and as a result—when the full-year 2011 results are tallied—they are expected to show a slight decline versus the 2010 level.

Slightly recovering is a good description of the business aviation market. In some sectors, stagnant might be a better description. Amid economic uncertainty, the market continues to limp along. Nevertheless, a certain amount of market optimism is justified. The collapse of the general economy and the world's financial markets in the fourth quarter of 2008 presaged an end to what had been a boom for business jet aircraft. New orders became scarce, customers began deferring deliveries, and order cancellations started taking a serious toll on sales backlogs.

When the FAA finally issued a new crew rest rule for U.S. pilots in December—one that has been decades in the making and could become a model for the rest of the world—something was very different from the proposed rule the agency published in September 2010: The cost.

Air France

Military helicopters have been rolling off manufacturers' assembly lines in increasing numbers in recent years. Build rates will continue to rise in 2012, but beyond that, market trends point to flat and even declining annual production levels over the next several years.

The new year brings new challenges to India's suffering airline industry with signs of worse things to come. Amid the increasing debt crisis, mounting jet fuel costs, soaring losses and an inability to raise fares in a cut-throat market, airlines in India face the daunting task of protecting their air operator permits and convincing regulators that they meet safety standards at the same time as they are cutting costs.

The 21st century has seen a massive surge in procurement of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Twenty years ago, the anticipated value of this market per year did not exceed $400 million—and that figure included sales of target drones. Today the U.S. fleet has grown tenfold and the Pentagon is spending nearly $4 billion annually on unmanned systems of all types.

The U.S. unmanned aerial system fleet is tenfold what it was two decades ago, and the Pentagon is spending nearly $4 billion annually on UAS of all types. When the U.S. launched the 1991 war against Iraq, the anticipated value of the UAS market per year did not exceed $400 million, including sales of target drones. Barring major new financial crises in Europe and the U.S., unmanned platforms—along with electronic warfare and cyberoperations—are considered to be the technologies destined to survive the defense drawdown.

The heavy fighter engine market continues to be dominated by Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. The production of F100s and F110s remains active for F-15 and F-16 orders, primarily exports; after these fighters end production around 2016-17, the engine OEMs will shift production to modules to support the large world fleet.