China last year accelerated its plans to “reclaim” areas like the Spratly Islands, and the Asian giant is banking on its coast guard to protect its disputed maritime stakes in the region, according to the Pentagon.

Aviation Week's Dan Katz shares these photo highlights from the floor of Turkey's 2015 International Defence Industry Fair.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the Arsenal of Democracy World War II Victory Capitol Flyover in Washington featured aircraft flying in formations representing 15 major battles. The aircraft flew from Culpeper Regional Airport and Manassas Regional Airport, down the Potomac River and back again.

Aviation Week defense editors on the recent success of Dassault’s Rafale and Saab’s Gripen fighters and what that means for the rest of the market. Will it spell doom for the Eurofighter Typhoon? Does Boeing’s F-18 have a shot at more orders in Kuwait. And a peek at the upcoming competition for a Turkish fighter.

Our roundup of some of this week’s top stories in aerospace and defense.

Dozens of prototypes built and flown over decades have given Dassault an ability to design advanced combat aircraft that belies the company’s relatively small size for a defense contractor, says Aviation Week contributing columnist Antoine Gelain. As Dassault’s Rafale enjoys belated export success, we look back over some of those many prototypes.

By implementing common interfaces, software and hardware, the U.S. Army anticipates considerable savings in development time, testing, procurement, training and, ultimately, deployment.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force and its Navy will enhance air-defense capabilities via six Smart-L early-warning-capability radars.