Here are photos of some of the things Aviation Week editors saw at the Association of the U.S. Army show in Washington this week.

Access past issues of Defense Technology International

Aviation Week has been reporting on and, in one case unwittingly, furthering the cause of nuclear-powered aircraft for more than 60 years. Spurred on by the promise of the ‘Atomic Age’ and the potential strategic benefits of limitless range and endurance, the U.S. Air Force launched the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft project in 1946.

Defense news from around the Web

Defense news from around the Web

The theory that the use of airpower and advisers can help local allied forces achieve victory on the ground is being tested again in operations against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria. While the air threat is remote enough that French Rafales flew with a single defensive missile, the reach and mobility of fast jet aircraft with tanker support were important, allowing operations to be supported from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, Al Dhafra AB in the United Arab Emirates and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

At 7,000 troops, the Peace Mission 2014 military exercise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was not large militarily. But its geopolitical importance was considerable: It was the biggest exercise to date for a budding anti-democratic alliance that includes two nuclear powers and could soon gain three more.

Pan-European cooperation in military Earth observation could see progress by the end of this year as France presses for allied contributions to the next-generation Optical Space Component (CSO) system in exchange for access to its high-resolution imagery.