DARPA-Funded Radar Lets Planes See Through Smoke and Cloudshttp://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/10/new-military-vision-system-lets-planes-see-through-smoke-and-clouds/141464/?oref=d_brief_nl

Or alternatively, Bombardier goes to the bank, get a loan and payback the subsidies it got from the Canadian gov at a time where help was justified.
I’am on the opinion that Boeing just can’t accept that Bombardier delays any reimbursing at a time when there is not much more justification for it. State loans can’t simply constitute any hidden capitalization, otherwise there are no free-market (hence the malus on the 20M$ Import price).
I don’t think that the dispute has any underlay or deeper problems.

Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider Could Be A Revolutionary Light Helicopter

Compared to legacy helicopters, Raider will offer a 100% increase in speed and endurance, a 50% decrease in turning radius, a 50% decrease in acoustic “signature,” and a 40% increase in payload — all wrapped in a composite airframe that is 15% smaller then the venerable Kiowa. Whereas the current fleet of Army helicopters is only capable of providing coverage to 40% of Afghanistan, Raider will be able to cover 97%.

Interesting

New Chinese Aircraft Has a Record Number of Passengers

What a strange report (http://www.defense-aerospace.com/)…

– The record number is not even cited
– There is the strange assertion from an engineer that a single flight will help them to “find any deficiencies in the design and make progress in the future” [at last?] !
– And then this weird assumption that “The success of this [single] flight clearly demonstrated the performance, safety and stability of the Y-20 in the first test flight of this kind, which will boost customer confidence in the aircraft, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s (AVIC)”

!?!

Seems that AVIC is on its way to spectacularly beat Airbus in its shelled-out marketing and communication 😀

“The world can no longer tolerate imprecise weapons”

One of the greatest problems with urban warfare is limiting civilian casualties and leaving much of the city standing, as the latest battle for Mosul illustrates in Iraq. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, during a Q and A with reporters, pointed to directed energy weapons (think fricking lasers! and related technologies like electronics-frying microwaves) as potentially useful tools. She also repeated a point she’s been making recently, that no one will tolerate the US using dumb munitions any more.

“The world can no longer tolerate imprecise weapons, at least from the United States of America,” she said when I asked her and the chief about what might an urban warfare Air Force look like. During her recent tour of Central Command, she learned about an airstrike against Daesh (now known by the Trump administration as ISIS).

Source:
BreakingDefense.com

It’s more about money and the priority of this administration to reach a “good deal”. Budget sources and sinks are re-evaluated to get the numbers down. If LM has to be put in a postion to offer a low price, the updtate can be made with just what’s really needed today. Bringing back qualified manpower to the main production Line is a formidable incentive to help them cut the cost down on both their fighters. Then later, a full upgrade could still be realisable as demonstrated with the early block F22s

Lilium, no one ? 😀

Textron upgrades Mirage F1 with AESA (and more!)

ATAC, which Textron acquired last year, took ownership of the legacy fleet, plus support equipment and 150 engines, on 5 September. Textron plans to use the Mirages towards the USAF’s upcoming award, which requires almost 150 aircraft to fulfil the service’s “red air” training needs.

Textron is retrofitting the F1s with digital radio frequency memory jamming capabilities and active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, Parker says, adding: “The requirements the air force is coming out with are clearly an AESA-driven requirement.”
[…]
While the 63-aircraft fleet marks a significant acquisition for a private company, Textron is still searching for additional aircraft to satisfy the USAF’s requirements. However, the company’s options have started waning as it looks for aircraft that can operate for more than a decade or have parts that can be supported at the manufacturing level, Parker says. The field is also narrowing in Europe, and Textron has effectively stopped buying from former Eastern Bloc countries for the time being.

Source:
FlightGlobal.com