March 28, 2011

March 28, 2011

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CHINA RISING

GROWTH ENGINE

By BRADLEY PERREITT

CHINA RISING

Buying Talent

By BRADLEY PERRETT

MILITARY OPERATIONS

Libya’s Secret SAMs

By DAVID A. FULGHUM,ROBERT WALL

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2223
CHINA RISING

GROWTH ENGINE

China’s latest five-year plan makes the aircraft industry a national priority

By BRADLEY PERREITT

2425
CHINA RISING

Buying Talent

A new tactic in Chinese aircraft industry’s quest to catch up

By BRADLEY PERRETT

2425
MILITARY OPERATIONS

Libya’s Secret SAMs

Latest-model Russian-made SA-24 anti-aircraft missiles turn up in Tripoli

By DAVID A. FULGHUM,ROBERT WALL

2829
DEFENSE

Intelligence Move

Another procurement misstep added to the Army’s intel aircraft saga

By AMY BUTLER

2829
DEFENSE

Mi-26 Makeover

MOSCOW Russia hopes that upgrades to the Mi-26, now undergoing flight trials, will help boost the helicopter’s chances in an Indian air force competition. The Mi-26T2 is up against Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook; the order is expected to be for 15 rotorcraft.

By MAXIM PYADUSHKIN

3031
AEROSPACE BUSINESS

Supper Anyone?

Fractured European A&D industry may be fostering skills erosion

By ROBERT WALL

3031
AEROSPACE BUSINESS

Transformation Time

Cassidian restructuring aimed at nurturing growth as military budgets shrink

By JENS FLOTIAU

3233
SPACE

Validating Vinci

Next-generation upper-stage rocket development effort nears halfway point

By GUY NORRIS

3233
SPACE

Optus Selects SS/L

By MICHAEL MECHAM

3233
SPACE

NASA Crush Test

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center applied almost 1 million lb. of force to crush a 20-ft.-tall aluminum lithium cylinder in a test-to-failure designed to update engineering data generated in the Apollo era. A follow-on to tests with smaller articles, the large-scale trial aims to generate shell-buckling knockdown factors that can be used to build the new heavy-lift launch vehicle Congress wants, with lighter structures based on modern materials and manufacturing processes that are still strong enough to withstand launch loads.

By FRANK MORRING

March 212011 April 42011