There are signs that the trainer market, long considered dormant, may again come to life. Fleets are aging, and despite several trends mitigating against market growth, requirements are still in place. Several important trainer competitions have been announced, most notably in Turkey.

Jet engine manufacturers can truly say they've been to hell and back. The past decade has seen a drastic simultaneous civil and military aviation downturn, coupled with vicious market share wars and unprecedented demands on development funding.

The upcoming United Arab Emirates fighter buy will probably be the largest export fighter purchase until the end of the decade. This perennially delayed decision, now scheduled for early 1998, isn't particularly large. Covering only about 80 medium fighters, it's dwarfed by Taiwan's 1992 150-unit F-16 and 60-unit Mirage 2000 buy. But the decision will be made against a volatile backdrop. It will help determine how close the U.S. fighter primes are to achieving their goal of vanquishing their European competitors in the world fighter market.