Vulnerabilities in interconnected civil aircraft

At some point, mainland China will need more than three international hub airports. Funneling the international traffic of a country of 1.3 billion people through Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will not make sense forever, and even now the geographical distribution of the three is awkward. The hubs, each the base of one of China's three biggest airlines, are on the eastern and southern periphery of China's main population zone, so the country lacks a central or western gateway.

Second delay makes 2016 delivery target untenable.

The Russian aerospace industry's ambitious strategic goal is to return to its Soviet-era position in domestic and international markets. But achieving that goal is not easy. The defense sector, which survived the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to export contracts, is consolidating its gains with the help of big orders from the Russian air force. The civil segment, backed by massive government subsidies, is trying desperately to win back a market lost to foreign manufacturers.

Five manufacturers, including market leader ATR, are clamoring to design the next generation of turboprops.

Airports in war of words over options for future capacity growth

Rockwell Collins CEO Kelly Ortberg uses a telecommunications analogy to sum up the company's Aug. 11 purchase of communications provider Arinc: If Rockwell Collins is the iPhone, then Arinc is the cell phone network. Though simple, the metaphor is notionally correct—an iPhone is relatively useless without connectivity. The same is true of an information-enabled next-generation flight deck.

Sooner or later, Russia's aerospace and defense industry will have to leave the post-Soviet era behind. It's not easy. Russia still has some enviable technology: combat aircraft flight control, missile systems and rotorcraft, to name three. But it takes more than technology to compete in markets around the world. The upcoming MAKS 2013 air show should yield a few answers to the questions raised in the following pages. How good is the T-50 fighter, and when will it be fully operational? Can Russia's industry become a player in the world's commercial markets?