Aviation Week & Space Technology

Progress on Warsaw’s flagship defense programs for helicopters and missile defense is mired in red tape.

In this week’s Washington Outlook, research funding for advanced helicopter engines; the SpaceX-ULA spat; managing risk at the border and the hunt for counter-UAV technology.

How airframe and engine contractors are responding to the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift plans. Oh, and a bit about the F-35, too.

In addition to NASA's hybrid-electric propulsion research for small aircraft, projects are underway in France, Russia and elsewhere in Europe.

Could short-range commuter flights to small communities lacking air service be the application that makes commercial hybrid-electric aircraft a reality?

In this week’s roundup, U.S. Army upgrades Hellfires; Philippines receive Korean light attack aircraft; Romania accepts Portugese F-16s; managing space traffic.

As the number of smallsat constellations grows, international satellite tracking bodies see increased risk of space debris problems unless mitigations measures are adopted.

The Russian airline-based S7 Group plans to modernize the Sea Launch project as it looks to diversify and venture into space launches.

The outgoing chief of the U.S. “Mighty Eighth” Air Force has thrown his support behind a reengining of the Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofan-powered Boeing B-52 heavy bomber.

Volocopter family plan could see initial urban operations by 2020, with four-seater air taxi operations starting as early as 2022.

Chinese airport officials expect relatively new intercontinental services to survive even after local government subsidies expire.

Mitsubishi Aircraft is notably failing to restate the target for first delivery of the MRJ, instead saying it is committed to achieving certification in 2018.

Solvay’s recent acquisition of Cytec may spur innovation in thermoplastics, other materials.

Airbus Group is merging with the commercial airplane unit in a move that streamlines management and strengthens CEO Tom Enders. Cost efficiencies are a key target as the group battles with struggling programs such as the A380 and A400M.

Spike supersonic bizjet; Perlan stratospheric glider; Solar Ship hybrid; Lufthansa drones for blade inspection; UPS drone deliveries.

The Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko ended with a bang and not a whimper, a planned crash into a deep pit in the comet, with final images sent on its way down.

Smuggled American-built helicopters are displayed publicly at Wonsan show.

This week’s Washington Outlook: Virginia statesman praises Clinton; debate on reorganizing military space; and FAA probes Santa Monica’s airport closure plan.

The design space remains wide open for a potential second stretch of the 737 MAX family to counter the Airbus A321neo, Boeing says, but as assembly of the first 737-9 nears, the manufacturer appears to be leaning toward a simpler, lower-risk derivative.

Elon Musk outlines plan to build a transportation system to create a self-sustaining human “civilization” on Mars and make mankind a “multiplanet species.”

Air Berlin says it is on track for profitability in 2018, but serious doubts remain as to whether its complex set of measures will work.

On one side Amazon, Google, Uber; and the other FedEx, UPS, DHL—are all looking hard at the potential for autonomous and electric aircraft to bring new ways of transporting goods and people.

Environmental NGOs are less than sanguine about a proposed global market-based measure to offset aviation emissions, in part due to the initial voluntary phase.

Air Education and Training Command chief Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson talks with Aviation Week about the Air Force’s perspective on the T-X competition.

In this week’s roundup, the U.S. Navy awards the first of two MQ-25 Stingray contracts; Europe takes another step toward a combat UAV; UK Defense Ministry backs space-based manufacturing; and Draken International helps the Japanese test a surface-to-air missile.