State-run Air India’s recently delivered Boeing 787s are not operating at full capacity because of technical issues. “At any given point in time, at least one of the three aircraft, which has been recently added to the [Air India] fleet, is grounded due to some technical snag,” an airline spokesperson tells Aviation Weeks. “The snag has caused massive delays in most of the domestic sectors where the aircraft has been deployed,” the spokesperson continues, adding that a team of engineers from Boeing is expected to arrive in India shortly to rectify the problem.

India has made no secret of its hypersonic ambitions whether aimed at high-speed weapons, sub-orbital passenger transport or as a stepping stone to space. Now, key tests are set to begin for a technology demonstrator that could unlock some of these possibilities.

NEW DELHI – India has delayed plans to loft Nirbhay, its first subsonic cruise missile, until early 2013. Nirbhay’s launch was to take place in November from Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast in eastern India. “It will now be done in January 2013,” a senior scientist at the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) says. He blamed the holdup on launcher modifications.