Aviation Week & Space Technology

Regarding “Malaysian 777 Shootdown—Another Big Blow” ( AW&ST July 21, p. 12), even though it is well known that surface-to-air missiles emit a white exhaust plume during launch and climb, I have read of no reports of such a plume being witnessed. Is it possible the Russians have developed a stealth combustion propulsion fuel?

Unmanned aerial vehicle developers seek to dispel the public’s fear of rogue machines by insisting there will always be a human in the “kill chain.” However, in “Stealth by Routine?” ( AW&ST July 21, p. 29) the work being described—enabling the Taranis UAV to operate when deprived of data links—amounts to giving it autonomous capability. The difference between asking or not asking for permission entails nothing more than a branch in the code.

The notion that a $250 million, state-of-the-art Boeing 777-200ER could vanish without a trace seemed ludicrous until March 8.

A brief history of flight-tracking

MH370 disappearance increases pressure for streaming data and deployable recorders

Aug. 10-12—Executive Intelligence Summit, Middleburg, Virginia. Sept. 23-24—Brazing Symposium. Arizona. Oct. 7-9—MRO Europe, Madrid. Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, Singapore. Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Litchfield Park, Arizona. Jan. 13-14—MRO Latin America, Argentina. Feb. 2-3—MRO Middle East, Dubai. April 14-16—MRO Americas, Miami.

Aug. 21-22—Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide UAS Workshop. Dayton Beach, Florida. See proed.erau.edu or email [email protected] Aug. 22—54th Annual Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine Conference. Bangalore. www.isam.in/ Aug. 25—Ninth Asia-Pacific Congress of Aerospace Medicine. Beijing. www.apfama.org/2014

Institutionally speaking, we are living in 1947.

Japan’s policy change on arms exports opens opportunities for foreign partners

How an industry went from growth leader to laggard

Orders pour in for current turboprop models, but launch of larger 90-seat version remains elusive

Rather than a technological game-changer, Airbus’s X4 will be aimed at meeting expectations

South Korean military raises stakes for the country’s proposed indigenous fighter

Europe’s Meteor may get Japan’s advanced AESA seeker

One of the better-kept training secrets in the Air National Guard is becoming harder to ignore—the Mississippi ANG’s Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) in and around Gulfport.

Proven performance—priced right—succeeds

Pluto flyby likely to expand the Solar System

Challenges abound, but off-planet manufacturing can expedite exploration

Aug. 10-12—Executive Intelligence Summit, Middleburg, Virginia. Sept. 23-24—Brazing Symposium. Arizona. Oct. 7-9—MRO Europe, Madrid. Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, Singapore. Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Litchfield Park, Arizona. Jan. 13-14—MRO Latin America, Argentina. Feb. 2-3—MRO Middle East, Dubai. April 14-16—MRO Americas, Miami.

Aug. 21-22—Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide UAS Workshop. Daytona Beach, Florida. See proed.erau.edu or email [email protected]. Aug. 22—54th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine. Bangalore. www.isam.in Aug. 25—Ninth Asia-Pacific Congress of Aerospace Medicine. Beijing. www.apfama.org/2014

Notable and Quotable

F-35 reliability is about more than Farnborough

Craig Pluim has been named sales director for Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services-North America, Richmond, British Columbia. He was a regional sales director for Heli-One and had been director of maintenance/general manager for Arctic Air Service Inc.

Robin Coackley has become an account manager for U.K.-based Envitia. He was an executive with Exelis and has been a member on the Geological Remote Sensing Group.

David Read has been appointed vice president-sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Atlanta-based Maintag. He was director of business development for Europe for Xerafy.