That's exactly the reason why C, C++ and Ada continue to be the primary choices.
There are a few interesting developments regarding Java for safety-critical and mission-critical applications. One is JSR-302, which is defining a safety-critical subset of Java which will not have garbage collection and will use of a run-time stack rather than a heap for temporary object allocation, the removal of dynamic class-loading, changes to task scheduling and a smaller standard library. These should make it possible to certify JSR-302-compatible Java runtimes and applications for safety-critical and mission-critical tasks.
The second is DO-178C, the follow-on to DO-178B, which will incorporate additional work on the certification of object-oriented languages such as Java.
There are a few interesting developments regarding Java for safety-critical and mission-critical applications. One is JSR-302, which is defining a safety-critical subset of Java which will not have garbage collection and will use of a run-time stack rather than a heap for temporary object allocation, the removal of dynamic class-loading, changes to task scheduling and a smaller standard library. These should make it possible to certify JSR-302-compatible Java runtimes and applications for safety-critical and mission-critical tasks.
The second is DO-178C, the follow-on to DO-178B, which will incorporate additional work on the certification of object-oriented languages such as Java.