As the year opened, the Eurofighter partners decided to slow production of Tranche 3A aircraft to extend work to 2017. No Tranche 3B orders have been placed, and without further export sales the batch is unlikely to be produced. Allegations of bribery by EADS in connection with Austria’s 18-unit Typhoon buy threatened contract termination in November. Cancellation of the contract would further diminish bleak sales prospects for the Eurofighter.

In May, Lockheed Martin delivered the 195th and final F-22 Raptor, ending a production run that began in 1997. The USAF fleet of 188 operational Raptors was diminished by one with the November crash of an F-22 at Tyndall AFB, Fla.

The Raptor’s much publicized oxygen system problems resulted from a faulty valve, the Air Force concluded. Early in the year it began retrofitting aircraft with an automatic backup oxygen supply system provided by Lockheed Martin.

Despite its current entanglements, the Air Force has already begun discussing what its next fighter (F/A-XX) should be, optimistically forecasting operations by 2030-35. Discussion of a next-generation Long Range Strike bomber has picked up with the strategic pivot, but the “what,” “when,” and “how we fund it” questions haven’t been seriously addressed.

In November, an Iranian aircraft fired on a U.S. Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) conducting surveillance in international waters. The Predator wasn’t hit, but the incident capped a yearlong shift in thinking about unmanned systems. Turning its attention from irregular threats like those in Afghanistan, the Air Force increasingly believes that limited numbers of unmanned vehicles with highly sophisticated ISR capabilities are vulnerable to peer/near-peer air and cyberattacks. A large number of smaller, less capable but networked UAVs could absorb losses and continue the mission.

The logic was evident in the Air Force’s attempt to axe its Global Hawk Block 30 UAVs, a move blocked by Congress. Northrop Grumman did succeed in selling five Global Hawk Block 40s to NATO in May as the Alliance sought to address the dearth of ground surveillance assets it experienced during the Libyan campaign. South Korea was seen as another Global Hawk (RQ-4A) customer, along with Japan, which is also interested in the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) MQ-4C variant. Australia may acquire up to eight of the MQ-4Cs. The loss of a BAMS demonstrator in June did not deter Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy from rolling out the first MQ-4C Triton later that month. Two were in ground testing as of November.

The global unmanned air system market is estimated at $42.4 billion. It’s currently dominated by General Atomics’ Predator family (58 percent) and Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk. North America and Europe are the biggest customers, but Asian sales are expected to rise through 2020 while Western orders level off. American manufacturers are chafing at U.S. technology restrictions that hamper export; foreign sales have accounted for just 5 to 7 percent of backbone UAV systems like the Predator/Reaper, RQ-7 Shadow 200, and RQ-11 Raven in the past several years. Slow adoption of UAV systems by foreign militaries accounts for some of the sluggishness.

Nevertheless, Italy became the second foreign customer after the U.K. to field armed UAVs, with the purchases of Predator and Reaper vehicles (six of each) in June. They’re expected to deploy in early 2013. In May, Northrop Grumman’s X-47B carrier-borne unmanned combat air system-development (UCAS-D) underwent electromagnetic energy pulse testing in preparation for firing anti-electronics/high-power microwave weapons at close range. An X-47B flew from Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., over the summer in preparation for carrier trials in 2013. In November, the Navy completed the first shore-based trials of a wireless hand-held device that will enable operators to maneuver the X-47B on carrier decks, and in December, an X-47B embarked on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman for further deck-handling trials, while another made the type’s first catapult launch from NAS Patuxent River.

Historic operations of unmanned Kaman K-MAX helicopters in aerial resupply missions in Afghanistan started in January and will continue into 2013. Boeing’s H-6U Little Bird rotorcraft completed autonomous landings and takeoffs from a ship in preparation for a French navy demonstration. Along with Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Greece, France is jointly developing the Dassault Neuron UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle) demonstrator, which was to make its first flight in November. The U.K. is proceeding with a contract for a future combat UAV with BAE Systems and is expected to fly its Taranis UCAV in 2013.

India has its own stealthy UCAV program taking shape, and in November, Pakistan revealed that it was on the cusp of fielding an unnamed strike UAV. Sukhoi will focus on creating reconnaissance and strike UAVs for Russia in the near future with a series of unmanned craft known as “Zond,” which are to be optimized for surveillance. Sukhoi is already developing a 20-ton strike UAV with RAC MiG. And while the USAF cancelled its persistent surveillance Blue Devil airship (Mav6) in May, the U.S. Army is pressing on with its airship, Northrop Grumman’s Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), which made its first flight in August.

In January, Hawker Beechcraft received news that Mexico would buy six of its T-6C+ trainers to replace aging PC-7s. The Joint Primary Aircraft Training System program for which the T-6 is produced is winding down, with the USN slated to get 137 T-6Bs through 2015. China’s Hongdu K-8 is forecast to garner as much as a third of the world jet trainer market in the coming decade, with the Alenia Aermacchi M-346, KAI T-50, BAE Systems Hawk, and Yakovlev Yak-130 dividing the rest.