BEIJING — The South Korean air force rates all of the Western competitors for its F-X Phase 3 fighter program, including the F-35 Lightning, as capable of meeting the in-service date of 2016, an assessment that appears to raise the chances of the Lockheed Martin aircraft. The air force does not express the same view on the fourth and most recent competitor for the planned 60-aircraft order, the Sukhoi PAK FA.

BEIJING — The Japanese defense ministry does not yet know whether newly discovered structural faults will delay delivery of the first four Kawasaki Heavy Industries P-1 maritime patrol aircraft. Cracks and tears were found in several places on two P-1s after ground tests, a ministry spokesman says. Some were in the integral fuel tanks of the mainplane and others in the fuselage near the wing root. They are 15-20 cm (6-8 in.) long.

First, deliver things to the International Space Station. Second, deliver things and bring things back. Finally, send people up and bring them back. That, in a nutshell, is the sequence that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) wants to follow as it takes the first step, launching the HTV Kounotori cargo craft, and sets out its plans for the next two.