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Western planemakers look set to reap billions of dollars in deals with Iran, if a deal is done on its nuclear program to allow one of the world’s most promising aviation markets to come out of quarantine. Iran and six world powers were struggling on Friday to remove the last obstacles to an historic deal in Vienna that could resolve a more than 12-year dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, extending talks through the weekend. For Tehran, the prospect of sweeping economic sanctions and a long-standing U.S. trade embargo being lifted represents a chance to renew a fleet whose average age...

The F-15SA is the most advanced production F-15 Eagle ever built. Saudi Arabia ordered 84 new build F-15SAs and close to 70 kits to upgrade their existing F-15S fleet to the SA configuration. Just one part of this upgrade is the activation of Eagle’s outboard wing stores stations, which will expand the jet’s already heavy combat punch. Update: Boeing reached out to tell us they’re marketing the F-15SA configuration for export to other potential users as the “F-15 Advanced.” The F-15SA is an incredibly capable machine, featuring some key changes from its progenitor, the F-15E Strike Eagle. These include a...

Airbus Group SE beat out Boeing Co. in a $1.33 billion race to supply South Korea with four aerial refueling tankers, dashing the U.S. plane maker’s hopes of securing the first foreign order for a program beleaguered by budget overruns and delays. A spokesman for South Korea’s main arms procurement agency said Tuesday it plans to buy four of Airbus’s refueling planes, called the A330 MRTT, for multirole tanker transport. The first delivery is due in 2019. The European plane maker’s bid became more attractive with euro weakening since the bids were submitted, the spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Acquisition...

Concerns about a naval ‘fighter gap’ and F-35 program failures could help extend Boeing’s fighter jet production line. As the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program continues to accrue criticism over cost and schedule overruns and missed milestones, the U.S. Navy is looking to an old standby—the Boeing-built F/A-18 Super Hornet—to plug potential holes in its airborne fleet. The Navy’s unfunded “wish list,” headed to lawmakers’ desks this week, includes 12 Boeing-built F/A-18 fighter jets alongside eight Lockheed Martin F-35Cs. Each purchase would be worth roughly $1 billion for the companies—if Congress decides to fund them. That’s great news for Boeing...

The body of a suspected stowaway was found atop an office building in West London on Thursday, and is believed to have plunged around 1,400ft from a Boeing 747 as it approached Heathrow Airport. Meanwhile, another man is in critical condition in hospital after being discovered an hour earlier in the undercarriage of the aircraft — British police are investigating both incidents. The survivor is believed to have climbed aboard the British Airways plane at OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg before traveling over 8,000 miles from South Africa, largely in temperatures as low as -81 Fahrenheit on the 10-hour...

The first thing to notice is how rapidly Elon Musk's SpaceX is altering the market for government-sponsored rocket launches. Witness how frequently the words "to compete with SpaceX" appear in industry statements and press coverage. To compete with SpaceX, say multiple reports, the United Launch Alliance, the Pentagon's traditional supplier, is developing a new Vulcan rocket powered by a reusable engine designed by Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin. Because of SpaceX, says Aviation Week magazine, Japan's government has instructed Mitsubishi to cut in half the cost of the Japanese workhorse rocket, and China is planning a new family of kerosene-fueled Long...

This article, Boeing 787 Dreamliner wows with near-vertical takeoff, originally appeared on CNET.com. Hold on to your stomach. Here goes the 787-9. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is no tiny flower. The plane holds 280 passengers, has a nearly 200-foot (about 60-meter) wingspan and is over 200 feet in length. It's smaller than a 747, but you still might expect it to be a lumbering creature, raising itself into the air in a gentle arc.

For aviation enthusiasts, this is a video that is un-missable. It serves as a reminder that planes, commercial or military, can do wonders and perform magic in the air. Not to forget those tiny humans, sitting in the cockpit, maneuvering these giant metal birds. On Thursday, Boeing released a spectacular video, showing it’s flagship 787-9 Dreamliner performing a near-vertical take-off and then some really great gliding and swerving movements before returning to the ground. The video was a rehearsal ahead of the Paris Air Show where Boeing’s expert crew will be doing some superb flying.

(CNN)—There's a famous quote: "If you did it, it ain't braggin'." Boeing did it -- in front of a camera. An eyepopping rehearsal video Boeing released Thursday shows off its newest version of the Dreamliner aircraft — the 787-9 — performing some impressive and beautiful banks and ascents.

Boeing just announced plans to make their bathrooms smaller so they can fit more seats on the plane! So if you're claustrophobic, you might want to hold it. Boeing is shrinking the toilet area on the 777-300ER models to make them more marketable to airlines who will want extra seats on the plane, but passengers, would probably rather the extra leg room. Boeing says they'll be able to cram 14 extra seats on the triple seven with the tiny toilet model. It's all part of a plan to make the planes lighter. Another way Boeing will lighten the plane by...

SINGAPORE: Vietnam is in talks with European and US contractors to buy fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and unarmed drones, sources said, as it looks to beef up its aerial defences in the face of China's growing assertiveness in disputed waters. The battle-hardened country has already taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order as part of a $2.6 billion deal agreed in 2009. Upgrading its air force would give Vietnam one of the most potent militaries in Southeast Asia. The previously unreported aircraft discussions have involved Swedish defence contractor Saab , European consortium Eurofighter,...

Space makes for strange relationships. With NASA’s Space Shuttle shuttered since 2011, American astronauts have hitched rides to the International Space Station inside Russian Soyuz rockets for the past four years. But ever since Russia claimed Crimea and supported a separatist movement in Ukraine, the United States and Russia haven’t exactly been on great terms. Congress passed punitive sanctions on Russia, and in retaliation, Russia forbade the sale of rocket engines to the American military. Yet the Pentagon, which is currently supplying the Ukrainian military with vehicles, now needs a little help getting its military satellites to space. So it's...

Would you be shocked to find out that the corporatist, corrupt Export-Import Bank has ties to the Clintons and their notorious foundation? During a hearing about the soon-to-expire bank before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday, Representative Duffy [WI - Chairman of Oversite Committee] exposed just such connections: [VIDEO - 5:20] This is a perfect example of the unhealthy marriage between the private sector and government. This is what political privilege looks like, and it’s corrupting and unfair. I testified yesterday before the Senate Banking Committee on the need to end Ex-Im as well – here’s my testimony.

Los Angeles entrepreneur Elon Musk has built a multibillion-dollar fortune running companies that make electric cars, sell solar panels and launch rockets into space. And he's built those companies with the help of billions in government subsidies. Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support, according to data compiled by The Times. The figure underscores a common theme running through his emerging empire: a public-private financing model underpinning long-shot start-ups. "He definitely goes where there is government money," said Dan Dolev, an analyst at...

It took just a few days after the stunning defeat of Obama's attempt to fast-track the Trans Pacific Partnership bill in the Senate at the hands of his own Democratic party, before everything returned back to normal and the TPP fast-track was promptly passed. Why? The simple answer: money. Or rather, even more money. Because while the actual contents of the TPP may be highly confidential, and their public dissemination may lead to prison time for the "perpetrator" of such illegal transparency .... fast-tracking the TPP, meaning its passage through Congress without having its contents available for debate or amendments,...

Senate Democrats on Tuesday delivered a stinging blow to President Obama’s trade agenda by voting to prevent the chamber from picking up fast-track legislation. A motion to cut off a filibuster and proceed to the trade bill fell short of a 60-vote hurdle in the 52-45 vote. Sen. Tom Carper (Del.) was the only Democrat to back it. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) switched his vote from yes to no to reserve his ability to return to the measure at a later date. Fast-track is a top legislative priority for the White House, but it has run into significant...

NASA has taken another step toward returning America’s ability to launch crew missions to the International Space Station from the United States in 2017. The Commercial Crew Program ordered its first crew rotation mission from The Boeing Company. SpaceX, which successfully performed a pad abort test of its flight vehicle earlier this month, is expected to receive its first order later this year. Determination of which company will fly its mission to the station first will be made at a later time. The contract calls for the orders to take place prior to certification to support the lead time necessary...

Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States' oil-rich ally in the Middle East. Israeli officials were agitated, reportedly complaining to the Obama administration that this substantial enhancement to Saudi air power risked disrupting the region's fragile balance of power. The deal appeared to collide with the State Department’s documented concerns about the repressive policies of the Saudi royal family. But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State...

Sen. Maria Cantwell engaged in a very public maneuver on the Senate floor Thursday, withholding her vote in favor of the big trade bill until she got assurances that there would be a vote on renewing the Export-Import Bank. Afterward, explaining the fervency of her support for the Ex-Im Bank, she told such a howler that even the Capitol press corps, not empowered to actually call a senator a liar, made sure to offer readers the opportunity to reach that conclusion on their own. The Democrat from Washington state, where Boeing is the single largest employer, said her support for...

INTELLIGENCE agents from Prague to Swansea are uncovering a trail of clues that point to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq having a hand in al-Qaeda’s terrorist missions. Iraqi ministers have spent the week protesting Baghdad’s innocence to the United Nations, but will not say why some of its diplomats who met Mohammed Atta, one of the suspected September 11 hijackers, disappeared from their European posts after that date. Nor will Baghdad explain why Saddam’s agents were spotted at various times this year with Atta in Germany, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Many in the Pentagon are sure Saddam ...