In defence, expect the biggest headlines to be around fighter aircraft as near-term replacement competitions intensify (Canada, Switzerland, Finland and Germany) and Europe’s vision for a next-generation fighter beyond Eurofighter, Rafale and Gripen starts to coalesce.
Next generation FCAS concept from Airbus. (Airbus)
If last year’s Farnborough Air Show saw the UK’s Team Tempest revealed, this year at Le Bourget will be the turn of the Franco-German FCAS to drum up political and industrial support and lay out its stall for co-operation and collaboration. Dassault, for example, will have a Carrier drone mock-up on display at the show – a reminder of the naval requirement and manned/unmanned teaming aspect. Airbus, meanwhile, will be at the show with a FCAS Experience Centre to show visitors what this ‘sixth-generation’ fighter might be like.
Questions though, remain. After Eurofighter, Rafale and Gripen, can Europe afford to spilt its effort in developing a sixth generation fighter to compete against any US offering? Partnerships, too may shift and change before the first aircraft flies. Germany, for example, has already incurred criticism from European partners in imposing arms export restrictions to Saudi Arabia. Berlin’s pacifist stance and anti-nuclear posture also raises questions over its commitment to FCAS – given that France most probably will want the aircraft to be a nuclear-capable carrier-borne striker to replace Rafale. Don’t expect any partnerships to be fully firmed up at the show though, as it took around a decade of international horse-trading in the 1970s to develop requirements in the 1980s which led to Eurofighter etc in the 1990s.