Ongoing terrorist threats in the Middle East and at home motivate increases in French defense spending on equipment and to support military personnel.

With new UAVs, P-8s and Apaches, Britain is ticking off its defense review shopping list.

Russian aggression is prompting stronger European defense relationships and greater spending on military equipment modernization.

Applications for small satellites—from Earth observation to virtual reality—will continue to expand in 2017.

The commercial rotorcraft market may have been rocked by low oil prices, but the military business is going from strength to strength. And 2016 saw some novel approaches to rotary-wing aviation take flight.

Rotary-wing aircraft are usually closer to the threats than fighters and bombers. Many images convey that proximity, while others share the beauty of flight.

A beautiful sunset or interesting evening lighting can make a photo of a parked aircraft as dramatic as one in a high-g maneuver.

No one expected 2016 to be such a busy year for fighters. Momentum continued to build behind the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but the current generation of U.S. and European combat aircraft proved they still have life in them and will be around into the 2020s.