By Rupa Haria, Guy Norris, Jen DiMascio, Joe Anselmo, Tony Osborne
From the F-35’s first Paris aerial display, the emergence of Asian players, the potential end of the A380 program . . . and a few tidbits on Boeing’s new midsize airplane, listen in to a lively debate as our team on the ground discuss the main events at the Paris Air Show.
From equipping the Bell-Boeing V-22 with a gatling gun – and maybe even lasers, to opportunities for international export sales. Aviation Week editors discuss what’s next for the V-22 here at the Paris Air Show.
The proliferation of MANPADS – man-portable air defense systems – increased dramatically in recent years, leaking from collapsed nations (Libya, for example) and from radicals sponsored by rough nations (Iran and North Korea, to mention few of the most obvious). As MANPADS are available for sale on the black market, they appear in conflict zones throughout the world, as well as in the hands of criminal organizations. The growing threat drives military and government agencies to turn to proven countermeasures to protect their air.
The European Commission (EC) has given the green light to the German and French governments to provide Airbus with loans worth €377 million ($420 million) to develop the X6 helicopter.
Mitsubishi is considering building one, or perhaps two, extra flight-test aircraft to help it through its certification process for the heavily delayed Mitsubishi Regional Jet.
The Air Force initially surveyed the pilots at Luke AFB to understand their concerns; it then began educating them on the details of the F-35’s onboard oxygen generation system in order to begin rebuilding confidence at the wing.
The U.S. Air Force F-35s at an Arizona Air Force base will be back in the skies starting June 21 after an 11-day pause, although the service has instated a temporary flight restriction following a spate of hypoxia-like cockpit incidents.
As China and Russia continue to demonstrate rapid progress in development of hypersonic strike weapons, the U.S.’s largest guided-missile company says technology to counter the threat is already achievable but that fielding a system requires sustained funding and a national sense of urgency.
Boeing Defense Space & Security President/CEO Leanne Caret noted that finalizing Foreign Military Sales can take time: “This is a long game that we’re playing here,” she told reporters in Paris for the air show.
Everything about the F-35 program requires new ways of thinking for the air forces that will operate the aircraft, and the industrial entities that are supplying them. Training and simulation are no exception.
The plan to relaunch Italy’s Piaggio Aero Industries as a civil and defense aircraft manufacturer is gaining momentum some 20 months after moving production from an aging plant in Genoa to a clean-sheet-design factory in Villanova d’Albenga, about 56 mi. southwest.
One of Israel Aerospace Industries’ areas of cyber expertise is the development and provision of cybersecurity solutions tailored to the needs of the aviation sector.
Piaggio is preparing to restart flight trials of its P.1HH Hammerhead medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system, just over a year since the prototype was lost after crashing in the Mediterranean.
Cyberbit, whose cybersecurity solutions protect the world’s most sensitive networks, and Ni Cybersecurity, the Japanese cybersecurity service provider, this week inaugurated their new Cyber Range training facility in Toranomon, Tokyo.
Lockheed Martin introduced a new variant of the C-130J Super Hercules configured for international military special operations missions, called the C-130J-SOF.
General Atomics showed off its next-generation ground control station at the Paris Air Show this week, letting attendees simulate flying an MQ-9 Reaper from a new, advanced cockpit configuration.
