Aviation Week & Space Technology

USMC one step closer to an operational F-35B, but partners are locked in debate about what Block 4 jet will bring.
Defense and Space

By Kevin Michaels
Light and medium business jet sales are not profiting from the surge in profits in the corporate realm, but large business jets are. Here are some reasons why.
Business Aviation

By Jens Flottau
Industry officials with insight into the C919 program think that a 2018 first delivery will be challenging.
Air Transport

By Tony Osborne
Europe is pushing to expand its tanker fleet, even though fighter numbers are shrinking.
Defense and Space

By Guy Norris
Significant performance enhancements forecast by Rolls for new Trent 7000
Air Transport

By Graham Warwick
As CSeries development progresses, Bombardier turns to supporting entry into service with a dispatch reliability that impresses airlines and, hopefully, produces orders.
Air Transport

SpaceX clears hurdle to take on ULA: First up, a battle for GPS III
Space

By Graham Warwick
Recent movement by the FAA to speed rulemaking on UAS operations may be good for commerce, but is the agency now moving too fast?
Air Transport

Gregory Francis
London is leading an effort to keep satellite ADS-B off the agenda of the International Telecommunication Union.
Air Transport

'Gulf Dispute' continues to draw comments; call for use of metric system in publication; a plan for X-47B's future; questioning pitch angle versus angle of attack; Japan's approach to future air control lauded;

By Jen DiMascio
Carter asserts U.S. right to surveil international waters in the Pacific, senators demand policy on space deterrence and FAA launches pilot mental health study.

As senior Pentagon editor, there are perks to being a scribe. May 26, I had the opportunity to witness aviation history with a small group of reporters invited to the USS Wasp amphibious ship to witness a few hours of the first-ever F-35B Operational Test (OT-1) trials off the coast of North Carolina. I'm posting some of the many videos I collected to give our readers a sense of what we saw on the boat. This is a long video -- 8 plus minutes. But, if you stick with it, here's what you'll see. And, a word of caution. Turn down your speakers or headphones, or grab a cranial. It's very loud. 1:19: Notice when the lift fan doors open and nozzle angles down (the scorch marks are from repeated take offs at this 400 ft. position).

Here is a rare glimpse (at least until the F-35B IOCs in July) of a SeaHawk taking off followed by an F-35 launch onboard the USS Wasp May 26 during OT-1. The helicopter is a requirement for search and rescue in the event of a problem. I captured the rescue SeaHawk taking off and a glimpse of Lee Hudson, managing editor of Inside the Navy. It's rare to see this combination of takeoffs...so I thought I'd share with our readers.

Two non-NATO powers confront Russia across the narrow, mine-strewn choke points of the Baltic.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Fearing rogue states and a menacing Russia, NATO is pushing for European ballistic missile defense.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
NATO and aligned nations find new-technology weapons add capability faster and at lower cost than new platforms.
Defense and Space

By Guy Norris
Machining work has begun on components for the high-bypass geared turbofan’s first test gearbox.
Aerospace

“Our goal is to build rocket engine parts up to 10 times faster and reduce cost by more than 50%,” says Chris Protz, lead engineer on the project at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. “We are developing a repeatable process that industry can adopt to manufacture engine parts with advanced designs.”
Space

By Jay Menon
Astrosat, India’s first astronomy-centered satellite, is set for launch in about five months; the parameters of the spacecraft are “normal, which indicates everything is functioning well,” ISRO states.
Space

By Jen DiMascio
Vricon aims to reduce the cost and increase the speed of 3-D images for the military, intelligence and civilian customers.
Space

Real-time space vehicle data will help the FAA deploy dynamic protective boundaries around a plethora of space activities set to begin in the next few years.
Air Transport

More headwinds for Air France-KLM: Alitalia wants to exit from some joint ventures.
Air Transport

For the first time in more than two years, Virgin America will add aircraft. But where will they fly?
Air Transport

By Graham Warwick
Low-boom supersonic drop planned; Airbus shortlists Fly Your Ideas finalists; compete to print a Mars habitat; JAXA flies electric propulsion; full-speed shots for electromagnetic catapult.
Aerospace

By Guy Norris
Parts are coming together for Rolls-Royce’s Advance3 core demonstrator—an architecturally all-new concept that, for the first time in over four decades, evolves the company’s big fan engine design away from the classic RB.211.
Aerospace