World War II and the years immediately before and after were ones of soaring sophistication in aviation. Aircraft gained retractable gear, pressurized cabins, high-lift systems, ice protection, and eventually airborne radar, inertial navigation and digital computers. Pilots gained ejection seats and G suits. Propulsion technology advanced from turbocharged pistons to afterburning turbojets and bypass turbofans. They were decades of transition, the airship fading away and swept wing becoming dominant. They also heralded the future, from unmanned aircraft to solar-powered spacecraft.
What technologies lie ahead for aerospace? Reusable spacecraft and additive manufacturing for sure, but what about flying cars, jetpacks or another attempt at nuclear-powered aircraft? Only the future will tell.
From its unveiling of the B-52 bomber and Boeing 707 jet to the classified RQ-180 unmanned aircraft and China’s anti-satellite weapon, Aviation Week has produced some legendary scoops over the past 100 years. Here are some of our favorites.
The speed at which yields have dropped in recent months is a cause for concern in the boardrooms of Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and International Airlines Group.
Delta has a reputation for operating an old fleet. But that is changing. The carrier has retired more than 400 narrowbody and regional aircraft since 2009 and refreshed another 300 domestic aircraft; further modifications are slated.
The key to putting humans on Mars, developing supersonic and hypersonic commercial transports and introducing space tourism? Produce smarter humans. Learn how.
The wars of the future might start by accident, such as by a pilot hot-dogging and bumping into another plane, the loss and outrage from the accident escalating into outright battle.
The U.S. Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia—home to 16 separate commands—has been a strategically important outpost, but its lease is due to expire at year-end and some advocate against renewing.
The head of Darpa’s Tactical Technology Office says the world is on the verge of leaps in supersonic travel, vertical takeoff and landing systems, flight proficiency and safety, space launch and awareness of space.
International orders, Congress to aid Boeing’s legacy fighters; U.S. to sell Kiowas to Tunisia; Harris wins electronic warfare contract; and India buys Longbow fire-control radars.
Future space exploration will raise issues that we can only begin to consider today. Are the societal benefits derived from human exploration, expansion of knowledge and scientific progress worth the risk to human life of what amounts to a one-way trip to Mars?
Richard Branson has been a pioneer on many fronts, but he is especially intense when it comes to space exploration and the promise it holds for a better Earth.
While the U.S. is pushing for low Earth orbit commercialization as an impetus for deep-space exploration, others see a lunar polar base as a better bet.
The private sector could move quickly to help governments manage space surveillance and advise companies and spaceports on operating responsibly in orbit.
Just as the horse and buggy as a mode of travel now seems quaint to us, it can be assumed that our progeny will one day regard today’s modes of transportation as antiquated.
