I'm going to go over ever new feature in 1.7.
My words are in italics.

It's been a long day! We finally got the release up on Steam, GOG, and Google Play (it may take a few hours to be available on Google Play).

Here's what's new in the 1.7 beta:

PARTS
Countermeasure Dispenser (Chaffs / Flares)
These will be great for dogfights, and there will be many other creative uses.
Torpedo
A no-brainer. Really should have been added when weapons first came out of you ask me.
Unguided Rocket
Great for custom weapons.

FEATURES
Part Transform tool
Basically inbuilt nudging. iOS users rejoice! (and anyone else who doesn't have mods)
Improved Damage Model:
Parts can now take damage instead of instantly exploding
Engines can catch on fire
Control surfaces, RCNs, rotators, etc can be shot out
Wings can leak fuel
I've always wanted this. Armor mods are going to have to be reworked.
Improved look and performance of bullets
Finally! I've always hated how they look.
Countermeasures
Chaffs and flares can now prevent and break locks
Well duh.
Aircraft size and engines also play a role in how difficult it is to acquire a lock
Interesting addition, this will add more strategy to aircraft building.
WW2 Destroyer with Flak Cannons
And also the USS Tiny 2. New ships! Hurray!
WW2 Torpedo Mission
A new fun mission! Like all fun missions, it won't be added to mobile. LOL, just kidding.
Number entry on Fuselage Properties
No more monotonous button clicking.
Redesigned Fire buttons
Cool.
Allow downloading any sized plane on mobile (as long as you are logged in)
Actually already added. Great for beefy devices, a deathtrap for old devices.
MINOR FEATURES
Cycle designer part properties buttons in reverse via right-click
What?
Disable Auto-Sizing of nose cones after it has been manually resized
YES! That always gets on my nerves!
AI fire countermeasures
I would hope so.
Bridge Demolition Mission is a bit harder
Geez, harder? I've only completed it once!
Collisions between dynamic rigid bodies now downscale the impact force if the other body has less mass.
Yeah, whatever that means.
Bomb explosions have been updated
Goodie!
Some smoke damage particle effects have been updated
Also goodie!
Damage for various weapons has been tweaked as well as the health of the ships. It may take more to sink them now.
Makes total sense.
AI plane tweaks (dogfighting should work better now)
Thank god. Dogfighting was so painful before.
Bombs and missiles that have been fired are no longer affected by explosions (easier to carpet bomb now).
Exellent!
BUGS
Fixed part menu scrolling
Fixed bug that allowed missiles without cameras to load terrain.
Fixed a couple bugs related to races.
Fixed some issues with wing leveling mode.
That's all great.
XML MODDING
Ability to invert input from XML by placing a minus sign in front of the input
Updated the boolean type inputs for input controllers to return -1 or 1 rather than 0 or 1. This allows the use of the input controllers min/max values to be used in conjunction with the boolean input types.
Add firingDelay XML Option to Existing Weapons
Hidden XML Option for Self Destruct and Burn Time on Rockets.
Add Support for input="Activate1" (that’s AG1) on InputControllers
The “disableAircraftCollisions” attribute on guns can now be used to prevent your bullets from colliding with your plane.
Okay?
MOD TOOLS
Added Unity version check to the mod builder window.
Removed warning about multiple mods loading the same exact assembly.
Added load priority for mods to better manage mod dependencies.
Whatever.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my worthless opinions. Stay tuned for a full 1.7 review.
- The Awsomur