Commercial and defense markets face similar demands on program performance

DEFENSE: Global hotspots and country-by-country analyses of national priorities, budgets and programs. See pages 38-47. MILITARY AVIATION: Rivals upgrade their combat aircraft as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter begins to gain international traction. Special missions become a key part of transport market. See pages 58-67. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: Europe finally may be getting its act together on UAS, but China and civil developments are moving faster. See page 68.

China opens up on development of Chang'e 3's main engine

From commercial airline fleet renewal through fighter procurement challenges to industry consolidation in the face of budget pressures, 2014 looks certain to be a pivotal year for aerospace and defense. Here are 12 areas to keep an eye on. 787

Cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy spent a frustrating eight hours outside the International Space Station during a record-setting Russian spacewalk on Friday, installing then retrieving a pair of commercial Earth observing cameras that failed to provide satisfactory telemetry.The cameras, delivered aboard the Progress 53 resupply craft on Nov. 29, were developed for UrtheCast, of Vancouver, Canada which plans to offer near real time Earth views to subscribers through the Internet in partnership with Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency.

NASA's Mission Control has re-integrated a series of crucial internal heat exchangers with the external thermal control system of the six person International Space Station, following a pair of recent U.S. spacewalks to deal with the Dec. 11 failure of a flow control valve in one of two external ammonia cooling loops.

Landing accomplished, China plans Moon rocks sample return

A&D companies and investors need to understand each other better