Aviation Week & Space Technology

South Korea ups its defense funding request to guard against North Korea’s nuclear-weapons stock and begins budgeting for the 2025 launch of the KF-X.

The Middle East states have varying degrees of influence in defense programs. The U.S. and Russia are poised to benefit, while manufacturers in Europe have been, for the most part, disappointed.

Fuel-driven retrofit opportunities and increasing needs for MRO collectively producing a positive outlook for the civil avionics market in 2015.

Many technologies first employed on business aircraft have morphed into wider uses.

When Congress began to cap Pentagon budgets in 2011, the process of recovering from a decade of failed, delayed and over-budget major procurements was only starting. Ever since, lawmakers and defense officials have been tussling over how to cull older systems to pay for future ones. And more of the same type of wrangling looks likely for 2015.

Much hinges on the outcome of the 2015 elections. In Stephen Harper’s nine-year run as prime minister, his team has attempted a number of ambitious procurements, but overall budget stringency has delayed these efforts. New faces at the helm could help or hinder the procurement process.

The model for many of the Brazil’s procurement programs is a combination of direct import and technology transfer.

Increasing commercialization, the growing popularity of small satellites, and human spaceflight are factors that will drive the launch industry and result in production of a projected 759 launch vehicles worth $67 billion over the next 10 years.

The push to have more defense industry-related manufacturing built indigenously is hurting India in the short run, but the benefits could outweigh the pain.

The long shadow of China is having an affect on all other nations in the region. This looming presence bolsters the need for aircraft and submarines and is a key element in all defense budget planning.

Jan. 27-29—Microelectronics Reliability and Qualification Working Meeting, The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, California. See www.cvent.com/d/9rqnfl Feb. 1-3—Routes Americas. Denver. See www.routesonline.com/events/172/Feb. 1-3 Feb. 3-6—National Business Aviation Association Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference. San Jose, California. See www.nbaa.org/events/sdc/2015/

Tom Williams has been named chief operating officer of the Airbus Group. He has been executive vice president-programs and succeeds Gunter Butschek, who has left the company. Didier Evrard, who has been head of the A350 program, has been appointed to follow Williams. Klaus Richter, chief procurement officer of Airbus and Airbus Group, has been promoted to a member of the Group Executive Committee. He also will be the national representative for Airbus in Germany.

All sectors of A&D have met with or are facing divergent factors that will determine much of their direction in the coming years.

Airlines are showing by their orders that they are willing to accept the reengined derivative concept for narrowbodies as well as widebodies. And manufacturers in Asia are edging further into the civil aircraft production field.

MRO providers finding growth opportunities in narrowbody heavy checks and cabin upgrades as operators seek to extend lives of existing aircraft.

Orbital Sciences Corp. will buy a new rocket engine to replace the surplus Russian engines tentatively implicated in the Oct. 28 failure of an Antares launch vehicle with a load of cargo for the International Space Station.

The tanker/transport market is shifting with the availability of competitive alternatives outside of the U.S. increasing worldwide.

IAG eyes Aer Lingus, which would broaden its reach into Ireland and the U.K., but even more attractive to the group is the Irish airline’s 3% share of London-Heathrow slots. With these, IAG could stage more profitable long-haul flying.

Something clearly needs to be done to bring more women into aerospace engineering.

The U.S. market again is playing a leading role in all major aviation segments.

Beautiful, But Misidentified The aircraft “coming slowly together within the doors of the WWI-vintage hangar,” in the beautiful photograph taken by Richard Mallory Allnutt on page 67 in your annual photo issue ( AW&ST Dec. 15/22, p.

The renewal of Germany’s rotary-wing fleet is being given a top priority as the country resumes spending on defense equipment. Officials have been charged with closing an €8 billion ($10 billion) deal, pending since March 2013, with Airbus Helicopters.

First flight of the Dassault Falcon 8X is set for the first quarter of 2015 following the Dec. 17 rollout of the ultra-long-range business jet at Merignac, France. Powered by three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307D engines, the aircraft has a projected range of 6,450 nm (11,950 km) with eight passengers and three crew and an expected maximum speed of Mach 0.9. The cockpit will feature Dassault’s EASy flight deck, based on Honeywell Primus Epic integrated avionics with optional wide-angle head-up displays.

According to company officials, the T-X Hawk is likely to feature an F-35-style single screen display in both the front and rear cockpits. It will also have a structurally different wing with fewer pylons—five instead of the current seven

"You are a demanding customer, sometimes a little bit too demanding,” Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier told Akbar Al Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways. He