Improved engine resumes tests as upgraded 747-8 unit nears approval

Boeing has made a not surprising choice for the headquarters of its Brazilian research and technology center: Sao Jose dos Campos, home of Embraer and the center of the country's aerospace industry. The center is to open later this year to “investigate and develop aerospace technology projects.” It is among a series of cooperative initiatives the company has made in Brazil where it is trying to win new business, including selection of the F/A-18E/F fighter by the Brazilian air force.

If stock market fluctuations are considered to be good indicators, the next big airline industry disaster is just around the corner. Because of the outbreak of avian influenza in China, airline stocks started to plunge at the start of the month. That country's carriers were hit particularly hard; some share prices were down by as much as 15%. Even European airlines experienced significant drops. And the situation escalated further when EasyJet's stock dropped by 3%, even though it had just reported significantly reduced losses for the seasonally weak first half.

The baseline funding request for fiscal 2014 for the U.S. National Intelligence Program is $48.2 billion, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says. An undisclosed additional amount will be sought as part of the supplemental, off-book budget request for warfighting. Altogether, $53.9 billion was appropriated for 2013, while $52.6 billion was requested. Meanwhile, the baseline Military Intelligence Program budget request is $14.6 billion, the Pentagon says.

Airlines can save significantly by mining the parts aftermarket, and the avenues that beget those savings just keep getting wider.

South Korea has chosen the Raytheon Advance Combat Radar (RACR) over Northrop Grumman's SABR as the centerpiece of the upgrade of the bulk of its Lockheed Martin F-16s. Subject to U.S. approval, Raytheon will supply 134 RACR sets to South Korea, the company says. BAE Systems is modernizing the same number of South Korean F-16s. Until now, the main unresolved issue in the modernization program was the selection of radar.

The FAA's fiscal 2014 request looks like another example of wishful thinking by the Obama administration. The FAA is proposing to save nearly half a billion dollars in its $15.6 billion request by cutting airport grants while increasing money for airport projects with higher ticket fees, or Passenger Facility Charges (PFC). The administration has asked to do this before—and Congress has rejected it.

As U.S. defense priorities change, Lockheed Martin Space Systems is renewing a strategy that it has used for years: tapping into Silicon Valley's penchant for sharing ideas.