Defence Industry

Display of latest Defence Technologies at the Paris Air Show
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Issue Vol. 26.3 July - Sept2011 | Date : 02 Sep , 2011

The 49th International Paris Air Show between 20 and 26 June 2011 in the Le Bourget area of Paris completed one century of service and in two years it will enter its second century.

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In the 130,000 square metres of exhibition space the Air Show hosted 145,000 trade visitors, more than 200,000 general public, 2,113 exhibitors, 290 official delegations, and 3,176 journalists, with almost 30 international pavilions and almost 140 aircraft. Its origins date back to 1909 and in the first steps it kept a national identity until 1924 when the 9th Paris Air Show became the first with foreign participation mainly from German and British companies. The World War II was a mandatory break, resuming right after its end and in 1951 with the 17th Air Show another milestone was achieved, at Orly airport at that time, with the first flying displays. By 1969 it started having its legendary character with the first flights of the Concorde and the Boeing 747 legendary aircraft. The Air Show is organized by GIFAS (Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales) with a history from 1908. In 1975 it was renamed GIFAS, changing its original Chambre Syndicale des Industries Aéronautiques (CSIAé) name.

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Although there were impressive flight displays, there were no dogfights in the air. There were certainly dogfights on the ground. The traditional competition between Boeing and Airbus was also a case in Paris. A number of agreements were signed for new passenger aircraft and we witnessed daily progress reports about the successes of each company each day. Both Boeing and Airbus are also involved in the military sector in this competition on passenger aircraft traditionally influences the atmosphere in the military market. A sample of cases during the Air Show will give an idea.

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Airbus announced that India’s largest low cost airline, IndiGo, firmed up its order for 180 single aisle aircraft, 150 A320neo and 30 A320. Another 72 Airbus A320neo were also selected by India’s GoAir airline and the agreement was signed in Le Bourget. The A320 family and especially the version A320neo gave one more example of its popularity with AirAsia ordering 200 aircraft. EADS’s High-Speed Transport Concept Study on the ZEHST vehicle, which is a joint operation with Astrium and the French national research laboratory ONERA, raised imagination for future air travel. It would revolutionize air travel by allowing passengers to fly from Tokyo to Los Angeles or from Tokyo to London in less than two hours and 30 minutes, with minimal environmental impact and operated as a standard aircraft.Airbus Military was an autonomous presence with main exhibit items the A400M “versatile airlifter” aircraft, as well as the modified C295 AEW Early Warning aircraft (in cooperation with the Israeli ELTA Systems). A400M combines strategic and tactical capabilities. It has the capacity to carry heavy and outsized loads, such as cranes and excavators at high cruising speeds and over long ranges. Additionally it can transport essential military loads using short and unprepared airstrips and it is designed to function as a tactical tanker for air refueling. The Airbus-ELTA agreement, during the Paris Air Show will complete the development of an Early Warning and Control version of the C-295 medium transport aircraft. The aircraft will be fitted with an Israeli AESA radar antenna and will host six stations for operators and will have an endurance of eight hours. The fast rotating active antenna will introduce new capabilities and roles for the aircraft like border patrol and general law enforcement. C295 can reach altitudes of 24.000 feet and this gives it a visibility over an area with ground footprint diameter of 320 km.

Boeing, on the other hand, announced among others the order of eight Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from Aeroflot with a value of approximately $2.2 billion. Two customers whose identity was not disclosed, ordered 17 747-8 aircraft, with total value of approximately $5.5 billion. Boeing also announced that it begun final assembly of the Indian Navy’s first P-8I longe-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane.

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Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India was quoted as saying that this program “is a close partnership between Boeing’s commercial and defense units to deliver the latest and best maritime and reconnaissance capability”.

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The Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft got the green light to finally receive an active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna, so that its radar will enter into service in 2015 with this antenna. It was a long awaited event, due to the intense competition all over the world and the absolute need of an AESA radar in order for any aircraft to meet the minimum requirements. Eurofighter however until recently kept pointing out that the mechanically scanning Captor radar was the best in its category and (at that time) was surpassing the effectiveness of the early generation AESA radars. Eurofighter in Paris officially mentioned “After one year of industry funding, the Eurofighter and Euroradar consortia have received renewed strong support from the Partner Nations and have agreed to continue the full scale development programme of the next generation E-Scan radar, confirming the 2015 entry into service date. The Typhoon’s AESA radar will offer a variety of benefits over M-Scan, including increased detection and tracking ranges, advanced air-to-surface capability and enhanced electronic protection measures”.Lockheed Martin updated reporters for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program with Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, deputy director, Joint Strike Fighter Program office, and Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager, F-35 program integration. The company expressed satisfaction with the progress particularly in the flight test arena. They pointed out that since the new schedule was put in place in late 2010, factory performance has been on plan and the out-of-station work in the factory is essentially eliminated so that complete jets are now delivered to the flight line. The approval, from the Parliament of Norway, for funding four F-35s, was another briefing topic. It was outlined that the main reason for this procurement is to safeguard satisfactory combat aircraft capability in the transition phase between F-16 and the F-35.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Antonis Bosnakoudis

Antonis Bosnakoudis, is a journalist, who specializes in Defence & Security, as well Cyberwar-Intelligence and Space.

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