When Europe's second-tier airlines started their slow slide into deficits and cutbacks 10 years ago, there was always hope that somebody would make an investment and rescue them. But several years into this deteriorating situation, there is no money left in Europe to spend on bailing out airlines.

The U.S. Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system, which has not had a successful intercept since 2008, is expected to return to flight in early 2013 after a two-year hiatus. And the U.S. will continue to roll out its Phased Adaptive Approach to protecting Europe, including construction of the first Aegis shore-launch site in Romania and further flights of the improved SM-3 Block 1B interceptor.

When the first Bombardier Global 5000 business jet equipped with Rockwell Collins's Pro Line Fusion avionics entered service in May 2012, it was a big day for proponents of head-up displays (HUD) in civil aircraft. The Global is the first aircraft to be certified with synthetic vision—a computer-generated three-dimensional view of the outside world—on the HUD. Now developers want to exploit the “always daylight” environment provided by synthetic vision to enable lower-visibility landings at a wider range of airports.

Avionics makers vie for Link 2000+ customers.

“There was a time when people at the airports admired us enviously. Today, they pity us.” The candid words by a senior pilot of the state-owned Air India describe the sad plight of the airline industry in India. The high cost of operating commercial aviation in India is squeezing the lifeblood out of the airline sector, which is rated as the ninth-largest civil aviation market in the world.

Commercial, defense aerospace set to follow divergent trajectories.

A plethora of regulations, including the long-awaited TSA repair station security rule, that could affect MRO in 2013.

Weeks after North Korea's successful rocket launch, South Korea may take steps to beef up its surveillance capabilities. On Dec. 21, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency formally notified Congress that South Korea has proposed buying four RQ-4 Block-30 Global Hawks for up to $1.2 billion. The sale of Northrop Grumman's high-altitude, long-endurance UAV would help South Korea assume the lead in intelligence gathering as the U.S. plans to dissolve the Combined Forces Command in 2015, notes the agency.