Farnborough Airshow News 07-13-16

Farnborough Airshow News

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HOVER MODE MARK WAGNER

Lockheed Martin’s F-35B Lightning II wowed the crowd and demonstrated its STOVL capabilities during its inaugural Farnborough visit.

Neo & Max backlogs beef up Team Skytale preferred as show orders top $52 billion for UK IFF Mode 5 upgrade

by Charles Alcock

by David Donald

Air Asia led the charge in the airliner orders rush here at the Farnborough International Airshow, announcing orders for 100 Airbus A321neo aircraft late on Tuesday. The new business, valued at around $12.6 billion at list prices, is set to take the size of the Malaysia-based carrier’s overall A320 family fleet to 575 aircraft, and confirms its position as the largest customer for Airbus’s single-aisle family.

“Air Asia Group currently operates close to 1,000 flights per day to more than 120 destinations in 24 countries,” said the airline’s CEO, Tony Fernandes.

“We recorded a robust load factor of 85

percent in the first quarter of 2016, up 8 percentage points from the same period last year, and we are confident of maintaining the momentum going forward.

The A321neo will help us to meet ongoing strong demand as well as further reduce our cost per available seat kilometer across the group, which will translate into lower air fares for our guests.”

Earlier in the day, India’s Go Air doubled its commitment to the Airbus A320neo program with a memorandum of understanding for 72 of the new narrowbodies. Last month it took delivery Continued on page 3 u

Led by Leonardo-Finmeccanica Airborne and Space Systems (Outdoor Exhibit L1), the “Team Skytale” partnership with Airbus DS Electronics and Border Security has been selected as the preferred bidder for the large contract to upgrade the IFF (identification friend or foe) systems of most UK Ministry of Defence aircraft to the Mode 5 standard. This program covers around 400 platforms across the air, sea and land domains, and includes all types that have an out-of-service date after 2020.

That is the year when NATO’s STANAG 4193 Edition 3 comes into effect. Any platforms not upgraded to

Mode 5 would be excluded from NATO coalition operations as they would be considered vulnerable. Mode 5 introduces new cryptographic techniques to overcome vulnerability to exploitation and deception by hostile forces.

Italy-based Leonardo-Finmeccanica is supplying its M248 transponder and SIT 2010 cryptographic computer elements, which were developed at L’Aquila in Italy with assistance from the company’s facility in Basildon, UK. They will be manufactured in Italy at Latina.

The M248 is the latest transponder in Continued on page 3 u

Military Training

Unmanned Aircraft

Rotorcraft

Industry

Supersonic Flight

Big Money in Being the Bad Guy

BAE Opens Up on Taranis Details

Multi-role Mil Here from Ukraine

French Aerospace Prospering

High Frequency Pressure an Issue?

Contracting out “adversarial” roles in training scenarios has led to a cash crop for operators flying the right aircraft to serve as “faux foes.” Textron has a new division to provide “targets.” Page 13

After three years of tight-lipped security, three senior participants from BAE Systems shared some telling details on the Taranis unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

Simulation played a signifcant role. Page 18

Overhauled Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters from Ukrainian Helicopters have served the needs of humanitarian and relief organizations since 2003. One of the rotorcraft is on display here. Page 28

Thanks largely to Airbus and Dassault, the French aeronautical industry is riding high. The airliner OEM has growing backlogs; and Dassault’s military products are gaining traction globally. Page 33

Dynamic pressure frequency can play a big part in how an airframe reacts to supersonic airflow. Kulite Semiconductor Products has designed a system that can measure this parameter. Page 36

WHO OFFERS COMPREHENSIVE CADET TO CAPTAIN TRAINING? We do.

Textron’s Scorpion selected for UK’s ASDOT bid proposal

by David Donald The Textron AirLand Scorpion has been selected by QinetiQ and Thales to provide a large proportion of the platform capabilities for their planned ASDOT bid (ASDOT is the UK Ministry of Defence’s Air Support to Defence Operational Training program). The three company CEOs involved signed a memorandum of understanding at Farnborough yesterday to launch the bid.

An ASDOT contract is due to be awarded in September 2018, with delivery of the service to run for 15 years starting in January 2020. The program aims to deliver a new training capability to meet the needs of a modern force, with increasing emphasis on a mix of live flying with simulation and synthetics. As such, ASDOT is closely linked with the Defence Operational Training Capability—Air (DOTC(A)) program, which is primarily concerned with synthetic training.

The exact nature of ASDOT has yet to be revealed, although a URD (user requirements document) was issued earlier this year through the Niteworks MOD/ industry partnership, providing QinetiQ and Thales with enough information to begin formulating a bid. An MoD SRD (system requirements document) is due to be issued in January. In the meantime, the QinetiQ/Thales team has been studying

the potential needs of ASDOT, which cover elements such as ‘red air’ aggressor, missile simulation, forward air control training, and electronic warfare training.

To answer these expected requirements, the team evaluated more than 50 potential aircraft types, selecting the Scorpion to perform many of the expected missions.

Rather than use retired military aircraft, a state-of-the-art new design was desired to cover a program that will run to at least 2035, if not beyond. The Scorpion’s operating costs of less than $3,000 per hour and better than 98 percent reliability to date are also seen as attractive factors.

While the Scorpion would undertake

much of the flying portion of the ASDOT proposal, the team recognizes that there are some tasks that would be performed by other aircraft, including a business jet type.

Also, the MoD has signaled its intentions to keep some older Tranche 1 Typhoons in service to act as high-end aggressors.

The Scorpion can be easily configured with new sensors and systems, and is being displayed at Farnborough with a QinetiQ modular electronic warfare pod. The ability to mount the Thales RDY-3 multimode radar is also being promoted. The aircraft already has some unrelated experience in the training support role, having been invited to partake in Royal Navy exercises during its visit to the UK in 2014.

Later this summer, the sole example of the Scorpion, to date, should be joined in the air by a second aircraft.

This is in the final stages of being completed to a production-representative configuration and will be the aircraft used for certification purposes. o

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by James Wynbrandt

Dave Jackson, left, managing director of 328 Support Services, and Colin Mahoney, senior v-p, international and service solutions for Rockwell Collins.

Airshow News

ONSITE MANAGER & IT SOLUTIONS – Mona L. Brown

TRJet names key suppliers for TRJet328 Turkey’s TRJet, developer of TRJ328 twinjet and TRP328 twin turboprop introduced at last year’s Paris Airshow, announced here suppliers of key systems for the multipurpose aircraft, including avionics for the jet, and the engine for the turboprop, and also reported new orders for the aircraft. The 328s are updated versions of the Dornier 328, the only aircraft certified for both jet and turboprop variants. TRJet is an affiliate of U.S.based Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC,

Farnborough

Chalet C12), which owns the rights to the original Dornier design.

TRJet has chosen Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion for the jet’s avionics suite, and Pratt & Whitney Canada’s (P&WC’s) PW127 as the turboprop’s engine. Heggemann AG will supply the main and nose landing gear for both variants, while Liebherr Aerospace will supply their air management systems. In 30-seat airline configurations, the jet and turboprop will have ranges of 1,120 nautical miles and 900 nm respectively, but the 328s are also expected to be in demand for special mission roles, as well as for corporate and VIP transport.

Colin Mahoney, Rockwell Collins senior vice president, international and service solutions, said the TRJet 328 Series flight deck “will feature a dramatic leap in capabilities, enabling pilots to successfully complete missions, whether that’s flying commercial passengers or special operations.” Meanwhile, the new engine program for the TRP328 will commence late this year at P&WC’s Longueuil, Quebec, facility.

Here at the show, the company signed Letters of Intent with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce for 10 TRJ328s, and with Sentinel Aerospace Group of Singapore for five TRP328s for special mission use. Under a memorandum of

2 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

understanding signed last year, the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs & Communications will order up to 50 of the aircraft in a plan to produce a Turkish-built regional jet and boost the country’s indigenous aviation industry. Its initial order of six TRJ328s will go to customers including the Turkish Ministry of Health and the Turkish Airports Authority, serving in roles ranging from air ambulance, special mission, VIP, airport calibration to passenger transport. First delivery of the TRJ328 is anticipated in the 2019/20 timeframe, as is the first flight of the TRP328.

“All the companies are working together to make the program for Turkey a reality,” said Fatih Ozmen, SNC’s owner and CEO, noting the “interesting business model” established to create an airplane designed and produced by Turkish engineers.

In addition to international partners, Turkish vendors will also play a large role in the program, said Dave Jackson, manager director of SNC subsidiary and program participant 328 Support Services.

The program is part of the Turkish Regional Aircraft Project, which includes plans for a larger, clean sheet design to begin development concurrently with production of the 328 Series, expected to fly in time for Turkey’s centennial celebration in 2023. o

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Spear sets course for UK F-35 integration

by David Donald 4) and Future cruise/anti-ship weapon (Cap 5).

From the outset the Spear was designed for carriage by the F-35, and had the brief of covering a very wide range of target sets, from traditional armour and naval vessels, to emerging threats such as soft-skinned vehicles on the move and fast inshore attack craft. It had to be networkenabled, with a long reach, and able to be carried in sizeable load.

The F-35 can carry four Spears on a single launcher in each of its weapon bays, plus additional launchers under the wings, for a maximum of 16 missiles. Typhoon will carry up to four three-round launchers on underwing hardpoints.

For guidance Spear has inertial and anti-jam GPS systems, allowing different navigation modes,

An RAF Eurofighter Typhoon is shown test-firing an MBDA Spear ground/surface attack missile.

and an advanced dual-mode seeker that has been extensively tested in a turret mounted under a Piper Navajo testbed. The weapon can be targeted by laser, or an innovative imaging radar seeker that provides a radar ‘picture’ of the target area. This capability permits precise targeting over a wide area, and simultaneous releases against different targets. Spear also has a datalink that allows reprogramming in flight.

A new multi-effects insensitive munition warhead from TDW is employed, the effects of which can be tailored to

Show biz hits $52B uContinued from page 1

Leonardo-Finmeccanica already provides Mode 5 IFF equipment for the Royal Navy’s new aircraft-carriers

Team Skytale’s IFF uContinued from page 1

Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s IFF portfolio, and is more compact and more modular than previous generations. Airbus DS EBS provides the MSSR 1000 I and MSR 2000 I interrogators, along with test equipment.

With a focus on commonality, the team has packaged the IFF components into just five types of linereplaceable units applicable to all types of platform.

While Airbus will perform the upgrades for the land and naval platforms, Leonardo-Finmeccanica is responsible for the airborne platform upgrades.

Initial operating capability is required in 2019, by which time 133 platforms are due to be upgraded.

“Team Skytale” was selected in preference to a Raytheon-Thales team. A Raytheon spokesman commented­that company was, “very disappointed, but was hoping to pursue other opportunities.”

In the meantime, Leonardo-Finmeccanica has landed another IFF deal, providing SIT 422/5J interrogator equipment to a ground radar program for Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force, the first time a non-U.S. company has been selected to provide this kind of equipment. o

of the first two aircraft from a 72-ship order placed back in 2011. The value of the new commitment, based on list prices, is approximately $7.7 billion.

The deal was one of several significant announcements, so far, at the show, where sales of airliners, engines and associated services were approaching a combined value of almost $52 billion as of the end of Tuesday. Boeing also has further boosted its backlog this week, as have Bombardier and Embraer. The sales tally is still a long way behind the historic $200 billion haul announced two years ago at the 2014 show.

Germania Group signed a contract for 25 of Airbus’s new A320neos, with an approximate value of $2.7 billion.

The European carrier is growing a fleet that already consists of 10 A319s and five A321s for flights

operational demands. It can produce a tandem shaped-charge effect against armour, blast/frag effect against soft vehicles, and a breach/penetrate effect for hardened structures and buildings.

Different fuze delays can be programmed, including in flight.

Propulsion for the Spear comes from a Pratt & Whitney TJ-150-3 turbojet, increasing the Spear’s range to more than 62 miles (100 km) and improving its performance in the end-game. It also overcomes the issues associated with low-altitude launches and headwinds encountered by

within the continent and also into North Africa and the Middle East.

“We are totally convinced by the [A320neo’s] technical innovations, as well as by the combination of comfort and economics provided by this aircraft,” commented Germania CEO Karsten Balke. Its A320neos will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines.

Icelandic low-cost carrier Wow Air agreed to buy four A321s with an approximate value of $460 million.

Two of the aircraft will be delivered in 2017, with the other pair arriving in 2018. The airline already operates several leased Airbuses.

Russian cargo group Volga-Dnepr firmed up a purchase of 20 Boeing 747-8 freighters. Four have already been delivered, ­ and the value of the 16 ­remaining aircraft is approximately $6 billion.

unpowered glide bombs.

March’s successful first trial was the culmination of the missile’s assessment phase, which was followed in April by a £411m development contract under which MBDA will deliver a weapon that is ready for integration on the F-35B for the UK. No releases from the F-35 are planned during that time, but the successful initial test has given confidence in the overall system.

Detailed work is now proceeding on the various sub-systems of the missile. o

Boeing also announced an agreement to use Volga-Dnepr’s cargo divisions, AirBridge Cargo Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, to provide long-term logistics support for the OEM and its manufacturing partners, such as General Electric.

The Russian freight carriers will transport aerostructures and components in a mixed fleet of Boeing 747-8s and Antonov An124-100 freighters. According to Volga-Dnepr president Alexey Isaykin, almost a third of the freight carrier group’s operations are flown in support of aerospace industry clients.

TUI Group Airlines signed a $1.4 billion deal to buy ten 737 Max 8 narrowbodies and a 787-9 Dreamliner (plus an option for one more). Following on from previous orders with Boeing, the European operator now has a further 70 CFM Leap 1-A powered 737 Max twinjets to be delivered, and three more 787-9s. o

DAVID McINTOSH

MBDA’s Spear missile, intended primarily for the UK’s F-35 fleet but also for Typhoon, has been fired for the first time. The trial was undertaken in March at the Aberporth range in the Irish Sea from a standard production Typhoon (aircraft BS116), flown

by BAE Systems chief test pilot Steve Formoso. During the test the missile righted itself from its inverted carriage position, deployed its wings, started its motor, made a number of maneuvers and flew to a predetermined impact point.

Spear originated in the UK MoD’s SPEAR (Selected Precision Effects at Range) program to provide five guided weapon capabilities, which crystallized as Paveway IV (Capability 1), Brimstone (Cap 2), Spear (Cap 3), Storm Shadow (Cap

Boeing’s 737 Max is one of the types responsible for $52 billion in sales at this year’s Farnborough show.

www.ainonline.com • July 13, 2016 • Farnborough Airshow News 3

New F-35 flyaway cost targeted at $85 million

by Chris Pocock The new target price for volume production of the F-35A is $85 million, program officials confirmed here yesterday. They announced an extension of a joint government/industry initiative to reduce production costs, named the Blueprint For Affordability.

A second initiative targeting cost reductions in support and sustainment was also described.

Frank Kendall, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, scotched rumors that the long-awaited deal for Lots 9 and 10 of the Lightning II stealth fighter would be sealed here this week. But it is already known that the unit recurring flyaway cost (URFC) for an F-35A in those contracts is about $100 million. The $85 million URFC would apply starting in 2019. The F-35B STOVL and F-35C carrier versions cost considerably more.

“I have for some time not considered the F-35 to be one of my problem programs,” Kendall said. He admitted that the System Design and Development (SDD) program had gone way over budget, but not since the ‘re-baselining’ of the program in 2010. The

F-35 SDD ends next year with final revisions to the Block 3F software; finishing of the structural testing; and final weapons qualifications.

In any case, Kendall added, development costs are only 10 percent of the life-cycle costs of any defense program. He is calling for a 30 percent reduction in F-35 operations and support costs. The Sustainment Cost Reduction Initiative announced here yesterday aims for 10 percent, or $1 billion, over Fiscal Years 2018-2022.

Like the Blueprint for Affordability, industry will recoup its investment and fee once the accrued savings are verified. Lockheed Martin (Chalet D10) president and CEO Marillyn Hewson said that her company, together with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems (Outdoor Exhibit 11), will invest $250 million in initiatives, such as a spare parts block buy, and regional hubs for the F-35’s Autonomous Logistics Information System (ALIS).

Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, head of the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), said that the 3F software was “twice as

good” as the 2B and 3i software that is on most of the aircraft already delivered. He said that the JPO was currently assessing bids received for F-35 avionics repair services, with first selections to be made in November.

The JPO previously nominated overhaul depots by region for the airframe and engine. But contrary to earlier impressions, Bogdan said that these nominations were not definitive. “We’re always looking for best value, and we’ll invest elsewhere to achieve efficiency,” he said. o

Sponsored by Rolls-Royce

Comac’s record ARJ21 order

by Gregory Polek Chinese airframe maker Comac, Hong Kong-based investment firm Friedmann Pacific Asset Management Limited (FPAM) and China Aircraft Leasing Limited (CALC) entered into a tripartite cooperative framework agreement at the show Tuesday calling for the acquisition of as many as 60 ARJ21 regional jets, a record.

Under the terms of the tentative deal, CALC would place a firm order for 30 of the airplanes and take options on another 30. Comac (Chalet D4; Hall 4 Stand C100) values the deal for the 60 airplanes at $2.3 billion based on list prices, making it the biggest contract for the ARJ21 to date. CALC plans to lease them to a new unnamed Indonesian airline in which FPAM plans to invest.

Schedules call for delivery of the first batch of aircraft in the next one to two years, and the remaining aircraft would go to the airlines over the following five years. The deal marks the ARJ21’s entrée into Southeast Asia, and FPAM’s Indonesian airline would become the first foreign airline to operate a fleet consisting solely of ARJ21s.

Comac emphasized its intention to

establish an “all-rounded services network” in Indonesia, providing technical support, maintenance and customer support for the ARJ21. “Friedmann Pacific, CALC and COMAC are here today to sign a cooperative framework agreement with historical significance,” said Comac general manager He Dongfeng during a Farnborough signing ceremony. “It sets to create a positive and long-term impact on aviation development in Asia Pacific and globally, and on the implementation of the nations’ Belt and Road Initiatives.”

Dongfeng said Friedmann Pacific has been focusing on aviation investment over the years, and has built up a wealth of experience and solid strength in the areas of aircraft leasing, airport investment and operations, aircraft disassembly, and airline operations. CALC is a specialist of aircraft leasing possessing an elite team and global financing capabilities. “The three parties share the same industry background, belief in win-win approach and long-term vision.

I believe the cooperation will be crowned with success through our joint efforts.”

The first ARJ21 entered revenue service with Chengdu Airlines in June. o

4 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

AirBaltic anticipating CS300 service launch

by James Wynbrandt Joined by launch customer AirBaltic, Bombardier (Chalet C3, Outdoor Exhibit 24) reported at the Farnborough Airshow yesterday that it has made “further improvements in performance” for the C Series CS300. The good news includes increases in range that will enable the Latvian flag carrier to meet its goal of providing nonstop service between its Riga hub and Abu Dhabi. The companies also announced the airline has selected Bombardier’s Smart Parts Program to provide component support for its CS300 fleet. AirBaltic has 20 CS300s on order, with the first delivery slated for October, and an additional five expected by year’s end. Meanwhile, its pilots are training for the new aircraft at Bombardier’s Montreal facilities.

“Everything for us as operators, but also for our passengers, will be better in the future with this aircraft,” said AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss, citing its increased range, reduced fuel burn, and comfortable and spacious cabin. Its aircraft will be equipped with seat-back IFE systems and “mood lighting”

systems which Gauss said would help make flights more pleasant “as we fly a lot of time in darker weather.” The 145-seat configurations will have both economy and business-class sections.

By 2019 AirBaltic will have received all 20 of its CS300s, which will replace its mix of Boeing 737s, which Gauss termed “good aircraft, but they’re showing their age.” At that point AirBaltic, which also operates Q400 turboprops, will have “an all-Bombardier fleet,” Gauss said. In the interim, the carrier will expand its route structure to take advantage of the CS300’s range and lower cost of operation. “The CS300 will enable us to serve destinations we could not use in the past,” said Gauss. “We can even use them on the short routes.” o

Boeing adds rows to 737 Max 7 Consultations with 737 Max 7 customers Southwest Airlines and Westjet have convinced Boeing to insert a pair of fuselage plugs in the airplane to add another two rows of seats to today’s 737-700. Scheduled to deliver the first of the smallest of the three-member Max family in the second quarter, Boeing detailed the principle changes Tuesday in a product briefing by vice president of airplane development Mike Delaney.

Apart from the 12 more seats the extra two rows will add, primary changes include: the 737-8’s wing and landing gear; a pair of overwing exits rather than the single-door configuration of the -700NG; a 46-inch-longer aft fuselage; a 30-inch-longer forward fuselage; structural re-gauging and strengthening; and systems and interior modifications to accommodate a longer body length.

Compared with the -700NG, maximum takeoff weight increases from 155,000 pounds to 177,000 pounds, maximum landing weight increases from 128,000 pounds to 145,600 pounds and maximum zero fuel weight rises from

120,500 pounds to 138,700 pounds. It also will use 5 percent less fuel per seat and fly 500 nautical miles farther.

“The thing that’s great about this airplane is that it really gives customers that want high-hot capability a little more seat count,” said Delaney. “We spent a lot of time with our customers about what seat count and what capability they would want, and you just saw an order today that reflected that.”

Earlier in the day Boeing and China’s Kunming Airlines announced a memorandum of understanding calling for the purchase of 10 Max 7s, making Kunming the model’s Chinese launch customer.

Better 777

Separately, Qatar Airways on Tuesday signed up to be the launch customer for a Performance Improvement Package being developed for the 777 twinjet. Boeing will be introducing a series of as-yet unspecified design enhancements intended to reduce fuel burn and improve payload and range.

Qatar will have the package retrofitted to its fleet of thirty-four 777-300ERs and nine 777-200LRs. —G.P.

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Contact Honeywell and find out why JetWave is faster and more affordable than any solution on the market.

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aerospace.honeywell.com/JETWAVE.

Eurofighter Typhoon approaching its potential

The Eurofighter Typhoon is shown here flying in a multirole configuration with Brimstone missiles and Paveway bombs, as well as Meteor and ASRAAM air-to-air missiles.

Development of the Eurofighter Typhoon into a multirole combat jet has taken a long time. But the aircraft displayed here by BAE Systems test pilot Nat Makepeace shows that this capability is finally nearing. It is carrying six MBDA Brimstone air-to-ground missiles on two three-rail under-wing launchers, plus two Raytheon Paveway IV laser and GPS-guided bombs.

In addition, four MBDA Meteor BVRAAMs nestle on underfuselage stations, and two MBDA ASRAAM shorter-range AAMs occupy the outer pylons.

The Paveways are already operational on UK Royal Air Force Typhoons, having been integrated as a ‘Phase 1 Enhancement’ (P1E). The Meteors form part of a second phase (P2E), which also includes the MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missile. The Brimstones are in a third package (P3E). Full operational clearance of the P2E and P3E weapons is still awaited, but should be achieved in 2018.

The heavy Storm Shadow presents a particular integration challenge to the deliberatelyunstable, aft-cg design of the Typhoon. Until the jet’s control

laws are modified, there will be some limitations in the flight envelope. But the first powered release of the missile was accomplished last month, and asymmetric takeoffs, landings and drops have been done.

The UK has driven the integration timetable for air-toground weapons on the Typhoon, because the RAF is retiring its Tornado strike jet fleet in 2019. The other Eurofighter partners are retaining Tornados (Germany, Italy) or F-18s (Spain) for this role. The RAF will only have one squadron of F-35s by 2019, and they will not be carrying Brimstones, Meteors or Storm Shadows.

High-Tech Helmet

A further enhancement package designated P4E is now being crafted. Depending on what the partner nations can be persuaded to approve, it could include additional weapons; enhancements to the avionics and Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS); passive geolocation; a low-band extension; and aerodynamic enhancements.

Meanwhile, an improved version of the Typhoon pilots’ helmet-mounted display is available,

BAE SYSTEMS

by Chris Pocock

although no funding for its production has been approved. The BAE Systems Striker II has integrated night vision projection, thus dispensing with the need for separate night-vision goggles. It also offers high-resolution color in the display, and a daytime recording capability. BAE claims that this fully digital helmet is more advanced than the one that comes with the F-35.

The Eurofighter program has now delivered 478 of the 599 aircraft on order, and 21 squadrons in six countries have flown over 340,000 hours. Former Eurofighter chief Alberto Gutierrez, now head of combat

aircraft for Airbus Defence & Space, claims that the aircraft has achieved a serviceability rate of 99 percent on “real operations”—by which he presumably means RAF missions over Iraq and Syria, and Saudi Arabian missions over Yemen.

Two more customers—Oman (12 on order) and Kuwait (28)— have not yet taken delivery. In 2018, Kuwait will be the first to receive aircraft equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) array, although it was the four European partner nations who finally signed the development contract for this in 2014.

The new chief executive officer of Eurofighter is Volker Paltzo. He told AIN, “We need to ensure that we are organized efficiently, both in terms of our people and processes.” He said that the recent contract with Kuwait “has stimulated fresh energy and additional drive in our program.

We see quite a significant potential for further sales.”

Paltzo also said that Eurofighter is “keen to secure the benefits of the European Military Airworthiness Requirements 21 (EMAR 21) which will allow industry to carry out certification work previously done by the customer.” o

Leonardo Studies E-scan IFF For Typhoon Leonardo-Finmeccanica is undertaking a TDP (technology demonstrator program) on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence to study a new IFF system for the Eurofighter Typhoon that incorporates active electronicallyscanned antenna technology. The study follows on from development of a similar system for the Saab Gripen E, and is aimed at not only upgrading the Typhoon’s existing IFF functions, but also preparing it for installation alongside the Captor-E “e-scan” radar. In any case, Typhoon is due for an IFF upgrade to meet civilian Mode S requirements in 2017, and military Mode 5 needs in 2019.

Based on the M248 transponder and SIT 2010 crypto equipment, the “e-scan” installation is to be placed in the Typhoon’s wingroots, from where the antennas can scan more than 180 degrees. In the Gripen E installation, they are distributed around the forward fuselage.

With a mechanically-scanned radar, IFF is traditionally mounted on the antenna, but this is more difficult with repositioning “e-scan” radars, although it is possible to dedicate some portions of the antenna to IFF

DAVID McINTOSH

duties. By using separate antennas, the IFF can operate independently

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY The Trent turbofan on display in the Rolls-Royce exhibit hall booth dwarfs bystanders. Rolls’ latest powerplant is far removed from its iconic Merlin V-12 piston engine, which powered the Supermarine Spitfire among others.

6 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

from the radar, albeit with the systems interacting digitally. Looking out to the side, the IFF antennas could allow the Typhoon to passively “stalk” other aircraft in some scenarios.

In the initial phase of the TDP, the transponder/crypto units are due to be flown with the existing antennas in the last quarter of this year.

“E-scan” antennas and the interrogator unit are scheduled to be demonstrated next year. The TDP is to culminate in a demonstration of the operational benefits. —D.D.

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Airbus creates NavBlue, its new flight-planning company

ANTONY ROMANO

Qatar Airways’ distinctive livery soon will be applied to three more Gulfstream G650ERs, (background), thanks to a new order announced yesterday here at Farnborough.

Airbus and its recently acquired flight-planning company Navtech have formed a new company—NavBlue—to provide flight operations and air traffic management (ATM) services. NavBlue is positioned within the Airbus services business unit.

Laurent Martinez, senior vice-president of Airbus Services, and Navtech head Mike Hulley unveiled the new company Tuesday here at the Farnborough Airshow. Airbus (Outdoor Exhibit 13 & 25) acquired Waterloo, Canada-based Navtech in March. Hulley is now president and CEO of NavBlue, which operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus.

With principal locations at Waterloo and Hersham, UK and Toulouse, France, NavBlue supplies electronic flight bag applications, aeronautical charts, navigation data and performance-based navigation, flight, aircraft performance and crew planning. It is complemented by ATM solutions offered by Airbus ProSky and

Airbus products including the runway overrun protection system (ROPS) and FlySmart, a system that links aircraft with ground-based IT systems.

NavBlue aeronautical products will be supported by Airbus Defence and Space “geo intelligence” as well as satellite data, said Hulley, who described the company as an end-to-end provider of digital services. “We will be a gamechanger for our users,” he declared.

Airbus Services also released its first global services forecast. The company predicts that the cumulative value of maintenance, repair and overhaul activity will be $1.8 trillion by 2035. On an annual basis, Airbus predicts that MRO spending will grow from $53 billion in 2015 to $132 billion in the next two decades, showing average year-on-year growth of 4.6 percent. The Asia Pacific region will experience the greatest regional growth.

Airbus Services currently supports 8,400 aircraft and employs 2,800 people, Martinez said. o

THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT The Space Zone at Farnborough International Airshow 2016 presents opportunities for exhibitors and attendees to meet and discuss a UK business segment that is growing by around 7.5 percent a year, and is predicted to be worth around £40 billion by 2030.

DAVID McINTOSH

by Bill Carey

QATAR BUYS INTO LATAM Qatar Airways (Chalet C24) will take up to a 10 percent stake in Latam Airlines Group in a deal the Oneworld Alliance partners agreed to at the show Tuesday.

Under terms of the subscription agreement, Latam will hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting no later than September 2 to propose a capital increase of $613 million through the issuance of new shares at a price of $10 a share.

The deal accounts for Qatar’s second investment in Oneworld partners. It holds a 15 percent share in British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG).

“Latam represents an exciting opportunity to invest and support the development of our long-term relationship,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.

“As a leading airline in Latin America and a key member of Oneworld, this investment provides potential opportunities for Qatar Airways’ global network, alongside our successful investment in IAG.” —G.P.

QATAR EXECUTIVE ORDERS THREE MORE G650ERs Qatar Airways (Chalet C24) president Akbar Al Baker (above right), announced yesterday that the airline’s Qatar Executive division has placed an order for three more Gulfstream G650ER ultra-long-range business jets.

They will join the three already in service, starting with the first delivery early next year. The three aircraft are part of a May 15 agreement for up to 30 Gulfstreams, including examples of the in-development G500 and G600, for which Qatar is one of the launch customers. Al Baker and Gulfstream president and CEO Mark Burns, (above left) said, when fulfilled, the agreement will make Qatar Executive the largest operator of G650s in the world. Al Baker added that Qatar Executive’s fleet will fleet as it sells some of its Bombardier Challengers, and converts others to air-ambulance configuration. —M.P.

Gardner’s structures business grows, thanks partly to Airbus DAVID McINTOSH

by Gregory Polek

FINLAND’S BORDER GUARD JOINS THE MX-15 CLUB L-3 Wescam (Outdoor Exhibit 31, Chalet A15) is supplying MX-15 electro-optical sensor turrets for Airbus Helicopters H215s to be used by the Finnish border guard. L-3 Wescam is due to have completed deliveries of the turrets to Airbus by June next year. The service recently ordered two new H215 (formerly AS332 L1e) Super Pumas, the first being delivered in February, and is upgrading its three earlier AS332 L1s to H215 standard. They are used for maritime SAR and border security missions from Turku and Helsinki. The L-3 deal also includes dedicated maintenance training for the MX-15.

The MX-15 turret provides the H215s with enhanced imaging capabilities for conducting searches in various lighting conditions, and in haze and fog. The turrets incorporate a high-definition thermal imager, HD color low-light imager, dual-channel spotter and a wideangle laser illuminator. The systems also include features such as auto-tracking, imageblending and the MX-GEO geo-location system. The turret interfaces with a moving map, and can also cue a slaved searchlight.

—D.D.

8 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Derby, UK-based Gardner Aerospace has announced a host of new contracts here at Farnborough, plus existing work package contract extensions from Airbus UK worth more than £110 million ($144.45 million). Gardner (Hall 1 Stand B50) supplies wing components and subassemblies for a number of civil and military aircraft.

Airbus UK has extended its contracts with Gardner for the A320, A330 and A380 for the next five years, as well as an A400M contract to a life-of-program duration. It has also assigned Gardner new work packages on the A320 and A400M for wing components and subassemblies.

Here in Farnborough, Gardner is celebrating a 130 percent increase in production activity, following a series of strategic investments and a £40 million ($52.5 million) plant modernization program across the UK, France, Poland and India.

In the past year alone, Gardner has

implanted sheet metal capabilities and machining capacity in India. In Poland, Gardner’s Mielec facility has installed robotic paint spraying while its Tczew plant continues to expand, as its latest building work increased the plant’s footprint to more than twice its original size.

Meanwhile, Gardner’s UK facilities in Derby and Broughton have seen more high-productivity machinery installed, including a number of five-axis machines, while its Hull facility welcomed an additional £1 million ($1.31 million) MAG1 machining center.

Finally, in France, Gardner has upgraded its sheet metal operations at its Mazeres facility, installing a €1.5 million ($1.67 million) fluid cell press and laser router. The company also reopened a completely refurbished facility in Belesta, France.

Gardner recently achieved ISO 14001/ OHSAS 18001 certification in all of its 10 facilities worldwide. o

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How Chinese cyber-spy tapped U.S. technology

by Reuben F. Johnson On 28 June 2014, a Chinese businessman based in Canada was arrested on the charge of stealing information about a raft of U.S. military aircraft and weapon systems. This particular case of industrial espionage was described by the U.S. Justice Department as being “unusual for the tremendous amounts of data that is involved.”

According to e-mails that were obtained by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “tremendous amounts” came to more than 65 gigabytes over one specifically identified two-year period and involved “dozens of U.S. military projects.”

The businessman in question, Su Bin, finally agreed a plea deal with the U.S. government in March of this year in which he admitted using his company, Lode Technology, to steal data in U.S. military aircraft and weapons programs for years.

Court documents also detail how he then collaborated with contacts inside of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to sell this information to various Chinese military aircraft R&D and production centers.

The data is reported to have been stolen from different computer systems included detailed information on the Boeing C-17 Globemaster cargo lifter and two jet fighter programs for which Lockheed Martin is the

prime contractor—the F-22A Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Su had two accomplices working back in the PRC who were distributing and securing payments for the information that was being provided to various Chinese design centers.

The two have never been identified in court documents, but numerous media reports and other government documents have identified them as officers of one the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) cyber attack units.

More than a year before the arrest of Su, a prominent U.S. cyber security firm, Mandiant, identified the existence of PLA Unit 61398, which belongs to the Second Bureau of the PLA General Staff’s Third Department.

The unit, based in the Pudong

China’s FC-31 jet fighter project, though a twin-engine design, is believed to be dependent on data on the U.S. F-35 that was derived by cyber-sleuthing.

district of Shanghai, is one of what Mandiant estimates total 20 or more PLA cyber-warfare special operations units with the mission of attacking both foreign government and industry computer networks.

Scapegoats and Loopholes

Among other visible results, the data provided by Su to the PRC’s aerospace industry has been credited with providing the insight for one of its major enterprises, the Xi’an Aircraft

Industrial Corporation, to be able to develop a C-17-like cargo aircraft, designated the Y-20. In some of Su’s e-mails that were recovered by the FBI, he made reference to other U.S. military programs that he had been able to hack into. In one set of messages he wrote that test program plans for the F-35 and “blueprints” would “allow us [PRC] to catch up rapidly with U.S. levels [of aircraft design],” and that China would soon “stand easily on the giant’s [the U.S.’s] shoulders.”

This four-engine transport, developed by China’s Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corp., looks to be inspired by the U.S. C-17.

Some maintain that is no coincidence.

HIGH-POWERED MICROWAVE WEAPONS ARE NOT QUITE READY It is now four years since the U.S. flew a cruise missile over an office building and caused all the computer screens inside to go blank. That was a successful test of a high-power microwave (HPM) weapon by the U.S. Air Force on the Utah Test Range. The same team has just received new contracts worth $10 million to move forward with the technology, but, like other directed-energy weapons, translating promise into operational reality is taking a long time.

“I think things will now move forward faster than in the last couple of years,” Steve Downie, site director for Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems in Albuquerque, New Mexico, told AIN. His facility produces the radiating payloads for the Counter-electronics High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) missile.

The power source for the payloads comes from the nearby government-owned Sandia Laboratories—a Marx high-voltage generator.

The whole package is integrated by Boeing onto surplus AGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs).

But Downie admitted that the new 18-month contract only requires the production of two more payloads that are ready for flight certification. No flight tests are yet scheduled. It seems like only halting progress for a weapon that has a unique ability to destroy critical infrastructure housed within population centers, without causing civilian casualties.

“The sponsoring Air Force Research Laboratories thought that enhancements were necessary to the previous designs,” Downie said. He declined to give details. The sort of criteria that might be in play here are the range over which the weapon is effective, and therefore the power required; the frequencies and duration of transmission; and how to isolate the payload so that it can’t harm the electronics of the host platform.

Downie did say that CHAMP can emit up to 100 pulses over a period of some minutes while the host platform is cruising along. The 2012 flight tests are reported to have blacked out seven targets in succession.

10 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

He also confirmed that the weapon is designed to cause three levels of damage: the minimum requires a reboot; next, the system requires some minor repairs; and, most seriously, it can completely destroy an electronic system. Of course, the level of damage will also depend on the extent that the targeted systems are shielded, but that topic was also off-limits for discussion with the Raytheon manager. But he did say that the 2012 flight tests were successful against a hardened chemical/ biological weapons facility.

The long-range Lockheed Martin joint airto-surface standoff missile (JASSM) that can be carried by fighter aircraft has been suggested as an operational platform for CHAMP. But Downie cautioned that it could still be many years before operational weapons are fielded. However, according to New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, “We’re at the point where this is now mature technology…we run the risk of chasing perfection instead of deploying.”

—C.P.

In 2014 at the Air Show China expo in Guangdong Province, a new fighter aircraft, the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) FC-31, flew for the first time at a public event. Similarities between this aircraft and the F-35, despite the Chinese aircraft being a twin-engine configuration, are now believed to be at least partially a consequence of the data that Su’s network was stealing through cyber hacking.

Prior to the emergence of the FC-31, SAC had shown little evidence of being able to develop its own design concepts. The company had largely been responsible for reverse-engineered copies of the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27, Su-30MKK and Su-33 fighters. The available evidence is that the FC-31’s configuration was inspired by a large body of foreign design data that Su provided from his operational base in Canada.

The original investigation into what data was stolen, and from where, centered on the Boeing Company. However, one of Su’s e-mails stated clearly that the focus of his hacking activities is “mainly on those American enterprises which belong to the top 50 arms companies in the world.” There is also a long list of U.S. and European companies that were doing business with Su’s company, which provides cabling and wiring harness hardware to aircraft firms worldwide. The implication is they also may have compromised their computer systems and been unknowingly victimized by doing business with him.

Stolen design information did not all come from Boeing. An FBI agent responsible for writing the official court documents in this case stated that the data was located on a number of computer servers, including those on two U.S. Air Force bases. o

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Rolls’ Trent 900 EP3 variant earns A380 customers’ favor

by Ian Goold Rolls-Royce (Chalet D3, Hall 4 Stand B18) says “initial indications” suggest the Trent 900 (T900) engine to power 52 remaining Airbus A380s for Emirates Airline has been achieving its (undisclosed) performance targets since it first ran in April.

The engine manufacturer has been particularly encouraged to win this new T900 customer, the Middle East carrier having previously selected the General Electric/ Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance GP7200 for its first 90 examples of the A380. Emirates is also keen to see a Rolls-Royce powerplant on any re-engined A380 Neo project, a program that Airbus continues to mull with no immediate plans to expedite.

The latest Enhanced Performance (EP) 3 production standard has involved “many small changes,” including improved aerodynamics (especially in the intermediate-pressure [IP] compressor), high-pressure turbine improvements and optimization of cooling air, according to customer marketing head Peter Johnston. Other areas of attention have

been fan-blade elliptical leading edges, sealing in the IP and low-pressure (LP) turbines, and LPT blade-tip clearances.

Since May, all new Trent 900s have been built to the EP3 standard, which offers improved specific fuel consumption over that available with EP2 variants that were certificated in 2014 (and which followed the original T900 EP introduced in 2012).

The first T900 EP3s have been fitted to the 91st Emirates A380, which was rolled out and began engine runs in early June, ahead of initial flight-testing. The aircraft is scheduled to enter service at the end of this year.

Improved Reliability

Johnston said that “most” of the Trent 900 engine fleet is now at the EP standard, having been upgraded when passing through regular scheduled maintenance. As much more operating and engineering experience has been accrued, and engine modifications have been introduced, so Trent 900 reliability is said to have improved.

The latest EP3 version of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine will enter service later this year when it powers the first of 52 remaining Airbus A380s for Emirates Airline, which has switched from the General Electric/ Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance GP7200 chosen for its first 90 such machines. Rolls-Royce says the powerplant has been achieving undisclosed performance targets.

T900 EP2 improvements included optimized fan-blade tip clearance, improved turbine-case cooling (which is better for LPT sealing), optimized IP compressor and improved air-flow system.

A composite R-R measure of disruptions per million engine flight-hours shows a steadily improving trend, suggesting that disruptions in the past three years have generally been around a quarter of those pertaining in 2010, three years after service entry.

Having always had more Airbus A380

customers for the Trent 900 than the competing GP7200 powerplant (and currently selected by 11 out of 17 customers), Rolls-Royce claimed it now also provides more than half of the ordered engines for the A380, accounting for around 53 percent of units (including backlog), said Johnston.

Since the type entered service nine years ago, Trent 900s flown by eight airlines have accumulated more than six million flying hours, with a dispatch reliability of 99.8 percent. o

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Lou Prudore • +1-972-717-2929 • l.prudore@mecaer.com www.mecaer.com 12 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Thales, Elettronica sign MOU on E-warfare

One of six IAI Kfir fighter operated

by ATAC, the company that is now part of Textron Airborne Solutions.

TEXTRON

by David Donald

Outsourced adversaries becoming a big business

by Chris Pocock Two developments have shown how the fast-expanding market for contracted adversary air services is driving new acquisitions and alliances. Here at Farnborough this week Textron Airborne Solutions is being launched, after the American conglomerate (Textron, Outdoor Exhibit L2-L5) bought specialist provider ATAC (Airborne Tactical Advantage Company); and simulation specialist CAE revealed in the past few days that it had extended a partnership with Draken International, another American company that provides former military aircraft as “targets” for fighter pilots or air defense operators under training.

“The U.S. need has grown so fast, we can’t keep up,” said Jeff

Parker, co-founder of ATAC. His company flies 16 Hawker Hunters, six IAI Kfirs and four Aero Vodochody L-39ZAs for the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and U.S. Navy. “This is a [multi-hundred-million-dollar] business now, but it could be a multi-billion-dollar business within five years,” said Russ Bartlett, president and CEO of Textron Airborne Solutions.

Both the U.S. Air Force and Navy have signaled their intention to outsource more of their adversary flying. They want to replace expensive in-house F-16 and F-18 hours with contracted flying. In addition to such “Red Air” flying, companies like ATAC, Draken and Canada’s Discovery Air provide jets to

simulate cruise missile threats against warships. Discovery Air claims to be the largest provider; it bought another U.S. company (ATSI) in 2013, and won a contract in Germany the following year.

An emerging requirement in the UK named ASDOT (Air Support to Defence Operational Training) is currently attracting the attention of these companies. The UK Ministry of Defence’s contract with Cobham for target services using Falcon 20 business jets ends in 2019. Sometime thereafter, two units of BAe Hawk T.1 jets that serve to train forward air controllers and naval warship defenders will have to be retired.

Bartlett said that Textron has offered its T-6 Texan turboprop trainer and Scorpion attack jet for the ASDOT requirement.

Parker said that countries in the Middle and Far East are also interested in outsourcing their adversary flying. o

Thales and Elettronica have joined forces to strengthen industrial and commercial activities in the electronic warfare sector.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday at the Farnborough Airshow, under which they will extend their business relationship into joint offerings and cooperative development of new technologies. The two companies have worked together for many years on programs such as the Horizon and FREMM frigates for the French and Italian navies, and the Mirage 2000 fighter.

An initial fruit of this teaming is the launch at Farnborough of a new airborne self-protection suite offering known as Cybele. Based mostly on existing, proven systems from the combined portfolio of Thales and Elettronica, Cybele is a scalable system that can be tailored to meet customer platform and operational requirements.

Cybele is aimed at helicopters and fixed-wing transport-type aircraft, giving them protection against a range of surface- and air-launched threats. With an EWC2 (electronic warfare command and control) system at its heart, Cybele is intended to be easy to install and can use existing network architectures such as Mil Std 1553 databus.

Two levels of protection are being proposed: Enhanced and Expert. The former comprises the EWC2 system controlling a countermeasures dispensing system, laser warning system, infrared-based missile warner, radar warning receiver and an expendable active decoy. Known as Sparc, the decoy has already undergone tests, and should be ready for inclusion in the Cybele offering in about a year. The Cybele Expert proposal adds electronic support measures, directional infrared countermeasures and active jamming. o

IAI UNVEILS ‘GENERIC’ AVIONICS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM Israel Aerospace Industries (Chalet A29) has introduced an open-architecture “generic” avionics system that supports rapid software and hardware development cycles. The Integrated Network Centric Terminal (INCT) allows non-original equipment manufacturers to integrate and develop new aircraft mission applications “with no effect on the basic aircraft avionics system infrastructure,” IAI said.

INCT includes a wide range of mission applications that are relevant for fourth- and fifth-generation systems, such as intelligence, targeting, connectivity, and networking navigation, and supports platforms including fighters, helicopters and unmanned aircraft.

“INCT is a flexible and modular, secure system that introduces new abilities to the world of enhanced mission applications,” said Benny Cohen, general manager of IAI’s Lahav division. “The system enables air forces to integrate software independently and to adapt quickly to the changes in mission requirements by using commercial software development tools with reduced lifecycle costs. We

foresee many market opportunities.”

Separately, IAI announced a successful test of the medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) system it has developed with India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for the Indian Air Force. “The current tests validated all components of the weapon system to the satisfaction of the customer in the Indian Test Range,” IAI said. “Israeli specialists and Indian scientists participated in the test, along with Indian armed forces officers.”

IAI collaborated with Elta and Rafael for its component of the system and worked with India’s Tata, Bel, L&T, BDL and private vendors.

In another announcement, IAI said it has been selected as a core partner for two projects of the Clean Sky 2 joint technology initiative of the European Commission and aerospace industry. IAI will coordinate and lead the development of the “Opticoms” project for small-scale automation in aircraft manufacture; and the “ecoTECH” project to develop an innovative eco-friendly airframe. —B.C.

Elettronica president and CEO Enzo Benigni (left) and Thales CEO Patrice Caine at Monday’s ceremony to sign an MOU detailing their cooperation on electronic warfare.

CMC DELIVERS ITS 3,500th SATCOM ANTENNA Esterline CMC Electronics (Hall 1 Stand B60) recently delivered the 3,500th high gain satellite communications (satcom) antenna system.

The unit was ordered by long-time customer Saudi Arabian Airlines for one of its Boeing 777s.

Quebec, Canada-based CMC has been supplying satcom antenna systems for more than 25 years, and to date has delivered electronically steered phased-array high- and intermediate-gain antenna systems to some 120 airlines as well as to OEM, military, corporate and VIP customers.

CMC’s newest antenna system offering, the CMA-2102SB supports Inmarsat Aero-H+, Swift64 and SwiftBroadband satcom services. Its design enables seamless coverage, independent of aircraft direction, over more than 90 percent of the specified Inmarsat hemisphere, and has received Inmarsat multi-channel SwiftBroadband approval and Transport Canada Appliance Type Approval.

—J.W.

www.ainonline.com • July 13, 2016 • Farnborough Airshow News 13

Heavy-lift technology facing market hurdles

by Chris Pocock government grants and an unprecedentedly successful crowdfunding campaign, the company has raised the £14 million it says is needed to test-fly and certify the Airlander, and begin to earn revenue—if not from sales, then at least from paid demonstrations.

HAV

The biggest disappointment of this Farnborough show must surely be the non-appearance of the Airlander 10. The huge hybrid airship remains confined inside the hangar at Cardington from which it was due to emerge and fly last April. Its maker, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV, Hall 4 Stand 36) told AIN that no single problem had caused the delay. “We’ve erred on the side of caution, as we’re the first of a new type,” said a spokesman.

In fact, the Airlander 10 has flown before, but only once. This was in the U.S. in August 2012, when it was known as the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV). HAV was subcontractor to Northrop Grumman for that U.S. Army program, which failed to deliver an unmanned ISR platform that could stay airborne for up to 21 days over Afghanistan.

After it was cancelled, HAV bought the vehicle for a fraction of the total cost expended on the LEMV program, and shipped it to the UK. It has spent the past 30 months modifying and reassembling the 300-foot-long, 150-foot-wide machine, which is powered by four vectoring 325hp diesel engines.

A small company with limited resources, HAV has done well to get this far. Thanks to some generous key investors, plus

Complicated Airworthiness

At least 100 flying hours are required before EASA will certify it, and HAV has been in dialogue over the airworthiness requirements for what is indeed a new class of air vehicle. One that gains up to 40 percent of lift aerodynamically from a multi-lobed lifting-body shape, compared with only 10 percent for a conventional cylindrical airship. One that can takeoff or land on unimproved surfaces, or even on water, and that can even do so vertically if required (at reduced payload).

Hybrids have other advantages over airships, notably in lifting potential and ease of handling— partly because they are, in fact, slightly heavier than air. HAV currently advertises a payload of 10 metric tons or 48 passengers for a production Airlander 10, with a manned endurance of five days flying at 80 knots. But since the prototype was built for a specific high-altitude ISR mission, it can only carry three metric tons or nine passengers.

Hybrid Air Vehicles’ Airlander 10 airship is shown in the company’s hangar at Cardington earlier this year after reassembly.

Proponents claim that hybrids are a “game-changing” low-cost technology that is suited to many different missions. These include: airlifting cargo and people to remote regions that are expensive or impossible to reach by road or conventional aircraft and helicopters; border surveillance and communications relay; and eco-friendly passenger service between city centers. Users could include resource exploration companies, humanitarian aid agencies, government agencies, internet service providers, and high-value tourism operators.

HAV has only one serious competitor, albeit an unlikely one. The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has been quietly pursuing large airship and hybrid technology for 25 years. Ten years ago, it made six test flights of a 120-foot long tri-lobe hybrid demonstrator. It has since designed vehicles with payloads of up to 50 metric tons, before settling

on a 21-metric-ton payload hybrid aimed specifically at the remote-lift market.

No Firm Orders

At the Paris Air Show last year, the aerospace giant appointed an “independent reseller” named Hybrid Enterprises (HE) to market the Lockheed Martin Hybrid-1 (LMH-1).

Earlier this year, LM constructed and showed off a full-scale mock-up of the 140-foot long flight deck, passenger and cargo compartment of the LMH1 at Palmdale, California, within a setting that depicted it serving a remote open-pit mining site in Alaska.

But end-users, such as oiland-gas exploration companies, are unwilling to sponsor development of the LMH-1, and LM won’t proceed without a firm order. HE has not yet attracted an existing airline or cargo operator, or aircraft leasing company. Instead, it has gained LM a

letter of intent (LoI) from a British-led startup, Straightline Aviation. This company is staffed by veterans previously associated with Richard Branson and the Virgin Group’s ventures into lighter-than-air operations.

Straightline has one rich backer, but will need more before it can firm up an LoI that LM said was worth some $480 million for the purchase of up to 12 hybrid airships. “We’re making good progress and expect to make an announcement in the autumn,” Straightline chief operating officer Mark Dorey told AIN last week.

Straightline also talked to HAV about the Airlander, but Dorey told AIN that it opted for the LMH-1 because it is more suited to the remote lift market. Meanwhile, HAV told AIN last week that “our launch customer is much more likely to be on the defense side, and we’ll progress discussion throughout Farnborough.” o

Airbus Defence and Space (Outdoor Exhibit 13) has been awarded separate contracts to extend the use of its LKMS (local key management system) cryptographic technology to three more types in Britain’s Royal Air Force inventory. Already employed by the Typhoon and A400M, LKMS will be installed in the Lockheed Martin F-35B, C-130J Hercules and Voyager tanker/transport.

The LKMS technology allows cryptographic key packages to be loaded into the aircraft’s system using a single fill gun into the ECUs (end crypto units). The LKMS also permits the storage of multiple cryptographic keys, providing for prolonged outof-area operations. —D.D.

DAVID McINTOSH

AIRBUS EXPANDS RAF CRYPTO CONTRACTS

MARSHALL AEROSPACE DELIVERS 400th AUXILIARY FUEL TANK Marshall Aerospace and Defense Group (Chalet C23) announced its 400th production auxiliary fuel tank was delivered to Boeing (Outdoor Exhibit 5) to support its P-8 maritime patrol aircraft program. Boeing has confirmed orders for more tanks through mid-2018, meaning that Marshall Aerospace will increase its production rate.

The P-8 maritime patrol aircraft is based on

14 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Boeing’s 737-800 platform. The auxiliary tanks extend its range and loiter time. Along with line replaceable units and components, Marshall will supply Boeing with the auxiliary fuel tanks in sets of six.

Steve Fitz-Gerald, CEO of Marshall Aerospace, said, “The auxiliary tanks are a Marshall design, so to be manufacturing, testing and delivering them on time, to quality and

to cost every time demonstrates our ability to support Boeing with key programs.”

Marshall Aerospace and Defense Group provides conversion, maintenance and modification services to Boeing as well as Airbus, BAE Systems, Bombardier, Lockheed Martin and Embraer. The company currently works with 10 of the world’s air forces in relation to the C-130 Hercules platform.

—S.C.

AT LOCKHEED MARTIN, WE’RE ENGINEERING A BETTER TOMORROW.

© 2016 016 LO LOCKH KHEED EE MA MARTI RTINN CORP CORPORA O TIONN

MARK WAGNER

Accenture sees airline traffic growth in 2017

“...AND PLEASE CONFIRM BOTH TOGA AND REVERSERS ARE ARMED...”

This Airbus A380 was spotted turning final at Farnborough during Monday afternoon’s inclement weather.

We’re convinced its crew was prepared for both a full-stop landing and a go-around, depending.

UTC’s popular tactical recon system selling well

by Chris Pocock Kuwait, from where they will support Operation Inherent Resolve over Iraq and Syria.

Evolutionary Upgrade

The sensor can also be found on Saudi F-15s. Other versions have been mounted on larger aircraft, such as the P-3 maritime patroller in Japan and the Global 5000 business jet in India. In a unique transatlantic partnership, UTA Aerospace Systems offers ground stations from its UK-based subsidiary to receive, process, exploit and disseminate the datalinked imagery.

The company is now building the first MS-110, a multispectral upgrade that ISR

Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System) that was secretly added to the U.S. Air Force U-2 highaltitude reconnaissance aircraft in 1989. After various upgrades, the 10-band multispectral SYERS-2C version is still flown on the famous spyplane. But the U-2 is due to be retired in 2020, in favor of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAV. Global Hawk Integration

UTA AEROSPACE SYSTEMS

The ISR Systems business of UTC Aerospace Systems continues to secure new customers for the DB-110 tactical reconnaissance system, and will be briefing potential customers on two follow-on developments here at Farnborough.

Meanwhile, it has been busy integrating its high-end SYERS and MS-177 imaging sensors on new U.S. platforms.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force is set to become the 10th F-16 operator to opt for the centerline, pod-mounted version of the DB-110, which was the world’s first dual-band day/ night airborne sensor. Poland last week deployed four F-16s carrying DB-110 pods to

Systems vice-president Kevin Raftery describes as a logical evolution. “We keep the optics, but upgrade the focal planes, the recorder and the processor,” he told AIN. He expects to secure the first order—from an existing DB-110 operator—by the end of the year.

Also now being built with the company’s own funds is the TacSAR (Tactical Synthetic Aperture Radar) adaptation of the DB-110 pod that was announced here two years ago. This replaces the optics with the Seaspray 7500 radar from what is now named Leonardo’s Airborne and Space Systems Division. TacSAR uses the same aircraft interfaces, downlinks and ground-based exploitation as the DB-110, making it an obvious add-on for customers wanting to collect imagery in all-weather conditions.

Like the MS-110, it will be available from 2018.

The DB-110 was derived from the SYERS (Senior Year

UTC Aerospace Systems’ DB-110 is an airborne dual-band reconnaissance sensor combining visible and infrared imaging capabilities in a pod for mounting on F-16s and larger platforms. It performs long-range standoff, medium-range and low-altitude overflight missions.

16 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Business analysts at Accenture Research are forecasting a return to a growth in demand in the commercial aviation industry next year following a slowdown in 2016. With air traffic not rising as fast as the previous years, demand for new aircraft has slowed down, but this has partially been offset by low fuel prices, which have encouraged operators to delay replacing their aging fleets. That, in turn, is potentially good news for the MRO companies, as demand for overhaul has grown commensurately.

During the latter part of this year, Accenture forecasts that demand for new aircraft will begin to grow again, leaving some manufacturers unable to meet demand. Increasing automation is a key to maximizing

UTC Aerospace Systems has been helping NG to integrate SYERS on the Global Hawk, and some test flights took place last January.

Raftery told AIN that doubts over the Global Hawk’s capacity to process and datalink the large-volume imagery from SYERS were overcome, and a lossless, geo-rectified solution was obtained.

However, UTC Aerospace Systems is hoping that the U.S. Air Force will procure its latest MS-177 long-range multispectral sensor for the Global Hawk instead. Unlike the gimballing SYERS, the MS-177 is a “whiskbroom” design that can scan and sweep a much larger area. Only a few of them have been built so far. One was trialed on an E-8 JSTARS some years ago, and another flew earlier this year on the GA-ASI jet-powered Avenger UAV. The U.S. government sponsored those trials, and will also pay for test flights on the Global Hawk later this year. o

production capacity, as well as driving down costs. Many aerospace companies are moving from a single-task workforce to a force of multi-skilled employees that are more responsive to market-driven needs.

Looking at the world by region, Accenture expects the North American market to remain flat through 2016, returning to year-on-year improvements during 2017. However, its report notes that the aftermarket has been strong in 2016.

The Asia-Pacific region has seen limited growth in 2016, but this is expected to increase in 2017.

The rest of the world is expected to be flat for 2016, and with some growth in 2017, albeit less than that of North America and Asia-Pacific.

—D.D.

SUCCESSFUL TEST FOR ADVANCED PATRIOT MISSILE Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army conducted a successful target intercept on July 8, deploying a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile segment enhancement (MSE) missile at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The test launch demonstrated the interceptor’s ability to detect, track, engage and intercept an aircraft; Lockheed Martin (Chalet D10) said the intercept involved a “full-scale air breathing target.”

The PAC-3 missile is a high-velocity interceptor that uses hit-to-kill technology to defend against incoming threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft.

“This test series has demonstrated the effectiveness of the PAC-3 MSE hitto-kill interceptor against a wide range of targets, including air-breathing targets and ballistic missiles.

We’re proud to deliver this overmatch capability to our warfighters,” said Scott Arnold, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control vice president of PAC-3 programs. —B.C.

Leading the world, region by region.

passengers fLown Nobody knows regional jets like Bombardier. Our CRJ Series aircraft – the world’s most successful regional aircraft family – was the market pioneer and continues to be its standard-bearer. Now in service with more than 60 airlines in over 50 countries worldwide, their reputation for dispatch reliability and market-growth potential is legendary. As more than 1.6 billion passengers can attest, exceptional performance runs in the CRJ Series aircraft family.

Bombardier, CRJ Series and The Evolution of Mobility are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. This document does not constitute an offer, commitment, representation, guarantee or warranty of any kind.

The performance of the aircraft may differ from the images shown and, together with any related commitment, representations, guarantee or warranty, shall be determined in a final purchase agreement. All rights reserved © 2016 Bombardier Inc.

The sole Taranis demonstrator flies over the Australian outback.

PHOTOS: BAE SYSTEMS

BAE Systems Showing UCAV Scenarios Here

BAE reveals Taranis UCAV details

by Chris Pocock Nearly three years after it first flew, key aspects of the all-British Taranis UCAV (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) demonstrator remain classified. But further insights into the flight test program were revealed recently by three senior participants from BAE Systems, which is leading the effort. They spoke to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Flight Test Group in London.

“Taranis has pushed the boundaries of technology, especially in autonomy, flight control, low observability and secure communications,” said Paddy Bourne, chief engineer. Although BAE Systems (Outdoor Exhibit 11) gained some prior experience in tail-less flight from the Corax, Kestrel and Raven small-scale experimental vehicles, the flight test progression of the Taranis campaign had to be very carefully designed on a safety-first basis, he explained.

In the first phase, the UCAV flew with a traditional flight test data boom and protruding blade antennas. But recordings from the low-observable flushsurface flight data system were recorded for comparison, and conformal antennas were gradually introduced. These lowobservable features were fully introduced for phase two.

Bourne noted that actuation specialist Claverham Ltd was an important partner on the flight control system, while Cobham and QinetiQ contributed to the communications system.

GE Aviation and the Triumph Group were involved with the flight systems. GE Fanuc and QinetiQ made inputs to the UCAV’s autonomy. Rolls-Royce was responsible for the modified Adour powerplant, and its exhaust system.

Flight test manager Jon Wiggall noted that although full

certification was not required, a “fatality” (not literally, since it is unmanned) rate of one-in-a-million flight hours was specified.

This was met by such features as a triplex flight control system, plus duplex hydraulics and electrical power generation.

“We elected to fly over a sterile area, so we only had to prove that we could stay within it,” he added. That area was the very large Woomera Test Range in Australia, which also offered an integral runway and a benign electromagnetic environment.

The core flight test processes were the same as for a manned aircraft—expand the flight envelope from the middle towards the edges, by going slower and faster,

and manual. Automatic is the equivalent of autopilot in a manned aircraft, with 3D following of waypoints, each of which has associated metadata for adjusting (for instance) speed, altitude and turn radius. The distance between waypoints determined the rate of adjustment.

Wiggall showed a diagram of the second test flight, which had 47 waypoints. The waypoints also controlled angle-of-attack, g-force, and retraction or extension of the landing gear.

The autonomous mode is entered and exited from specified waypoints, and is where the UCAV “thinks for itself ” according to Wiggall. His diagram showed a box of a­ irspace

The low-observable features of the Taranis UCAV are evident in this image.

higher and lower, Wiggall said. A Frequency and Bias Input (FBI) system that BAE Systems had used for Eurofighter Typhoon flight tests was used to program test maneuvers. But with no pilot on board, the progression between test points such as climb and descent angles and turn radii, had to be very carefully pre-planned. Unique additional considerations came into play—such as the possibility of the line-of-sight communications to the ground control station being ‘blanked’ by maneuvering. Another was the need to prearrange how to re-fly test points.

Taranis has three flight modes—automatic, autonomous

within which the Taranis could self-navigate, with its sensor searching for targets such as vehicles or aircraft shelters.

Upon finding a match according to pre-specified criteria, an image of the target is transmitted to the ground station for validation by the mission commander. If—and only if—that person approves, the UCAV then sets up an attack profile; provides battle damage assessment; and re-attacks if required and authorized.

Wiggall said that while the UCAV was searching in autonomous mode, the flight test team would insert “pop-up” threats such as a surface-to-air

18 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

In the BAE Systems exhibition building here at Farnborough, the company is showing scenarios in which a UCAV (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) identifies and drops weapons on a target. Three screens display a tactical situation, a map-based overview, and the status of the UCAV (fuel state, weapons, etc.).

In a recent preview of the display, Drew Steele, operational requirements executive, future systems, BAE Systems, said that the aim was to show how manned and unmanned air platforms might work together. The UCAV takes off, and soon demonstrates how its “sense and avoid” system enables it to avoid conflicting traffic. It then sends a burst transmission of status data to the ground station, before hooking up with a manned tanker for a fully autonomous air-air-refueling (AAR).

After that, the UCAV goes into silent mode and detects some surface-toair missile (SAM) sites. It compares their location with prior data that it has received from an E-3 AWACS over Link 16. It renews contact with the ground station so that the mission commander seated there, can review the target and grant permission to engage.

Some Typhoon manned combat jets are also airborne, armed with heavier and more versatile weapons. The UCAV strike on the SAMs should clear the way for them to enter the hostile area to engage other targets.

Steele emphasized that the various scenarios are open to discussion and debate. Might the tanker control the AAR of the UCAV? Might the Typhoon formation commander take control of the UCAV? There’s plenty still to decide, as the Anglo-French FCAS work continues. And it will likely be another 15 years, before the scenarios on view here, are actually played out for real. —C.P.

missile system, to determine whether it would self-navigate to avoid them.

Manual mode is a reversionary backup, designed to bring the UCAV home if something goes wrong. Wiggall said that it was never needed during the Taranis test flights, but was turned on for 90 seconds so that the test pilots could check whether it behaved as per the simulations.

“The first test flights were almost an anti-climax, because they were so like our simulations,” said Neil Dawson, chief test pilot. Each mission plan was rehearsed using hardware-in-the-loop—linking the ground station to the aircraft at Woomera. “We spent hours learning how to land, with the aircraft on jacks so that the undercarriage could be operated,” Dawson said.

The ground station was “crowded,’ he noted. In addition to the mission commander and the pilot, there was an aircraft systems operator, a sensor operator, a flight test engineer, a range safety officer and five “subject matter experts” for the propulsion, FCS, air data system; fuel system and hydraulics.

Dawson said that a chase aircraft was used on some test flights. Its pilot looked for leaks and venting from the UCAV. “We did have a microphone on the aircraft, so that we could detect engine or other vibrations in the ground station,” he added.

The trio that spoke at the RAeS were not authorized by the UK Ministry of Defence

to discuss the third phase of Taranis flight tests, which was successfully completed in August 2015. He also said that a fourth phase may be conducted.

Just over £200 million ($290 million) has been spent by British industry and government on the Taranis program.

Another £40 million is likely.

Meanwhile, a separate outlay of £120 million by the British and French governments is now going toward a feasibility study for a Future Combat Air System (FCAS). This Anglo-French effort is now in its second year, and involves BAE Systems, Dassault Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Finmeccanica (e.g. the former Selex in the UK) and Thales.

The British and French defense ministries are also involved.

Bourne said the FCAS study includes safety trades; airspace integration; levels of redundancy; diagnostics; communications; propulsion; armament; the regulatory regime; mission systems and ground control— “some of the things that can be very different in an unmanned system.” The study includes ethical as well as technical issues.

“Man-in-the-loop is an important aspect,” Bourne added.

Last March, the British and French governments promised to fund the next phase of FCAS. This work would start next year, and aim to produce “operationally representative demonstrators” by 2025. There would be a technical review in 2020. Each nation will contribute about $1 billion. o

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GKN confident in technology edge

by Ian Sheppard GKN Aerospace (Chalet G1) is continuing integration work to take advantage of its acquisition of Fokker last year, while also benefitting from wider group capabilities in the powder metallurgy and automotive sectors. Having grown its turnover from £700 million ($994 million) in 2006 to around £2.5 billion ($3.6 billion) in 2015, both organically and through acquisition, the UK company is now a supplier on a variety of leading aircraft platforms, and hopes to become what it describes as “the most global tier 1 supplier.” Already it has 62 sites in 15 countries, with a total of around 17,000 employees.

The company continues to invest heavily in research in various technologies; much of its focus comes in response to OEM pressure to create lighter, more efficient aircraft and to streamline production processes, removing cost—which has led to greater investment in robotics for manufacturing (and automated inspection/NDT).

Chris Gear, GKN Aerospace chief technology officer, told AIN that OEMs are demanding ever-tighter tolerances in parts and subassemblies, and lower costs, which puts pressure on suppliers to achieve consistent high standards.

Many of the company’s technologies are being used for “growth platforms” such as the Airbus A350XWB, Airbus 777X, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and various business jets (Global 7000/8000, Falcon 5X) and regional jets (Embraer E2, Mitsubishi MRJ and Bombardier CSeries). This has given it confidence in the future, with it claiming to be number 2 in aerostructures globally and number 3 in electrical wiring systems. The Fokker acquisition has done a lot to boost it up the rankings and “enhance [its] global footprint.”

With the F-35 program, Fokker was involved since 2002, supplying wiring interconnect systems, flaperons, in-flight opening doors, engine parts and arresting

While exploring new applications for technology is vital, it is equally—if not more important—to concentrate on more precise and cost effective production techniques.

gear. GKN was already producing the F-35 cockpit canopy using a new process, which is expected to lead to savings of around $125 million over the life of the program. Now the company can claim a combined $2.5 million of product on every F-35 built.

Smoother Airfoil Surfaces

On the civil side, among its flagship research activities has been involvement in the European-funded Sixth Framework Program Clean Sky II initiative (soon to become FP7 and Clean Sky III), and in particular the BLADE project where GKN manufactured a natural laminar-flow wing cover. This is due to be tested next year on an Airbus A330.

Gear said that the stringers are co-bonded on “so the tooling is reversed compared to usual”— this leading to fewer fasteners, and a smoother surface.

“We’re targeting innovation at all levels,” he said—pointing to the 787 leading edge deicing strips that are “sprayed on” by

robots, as GKN is looking at how sensors can be built in to detect the ice and thereby reduce the time the system needs to be on, reducing power consumption.

The GKN Group has 56,000 employees in 30 countries (it has 26 locations in the U.S. alone) and is now an £8 billion turnover company—although it can trace its roots back as far as 1759 and ironworks in the Welsh valleys.

The name GKN first appeared, however, standing for “Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds.”

Aerospace now accounts for one-third of its activities, with a commercial-military split that is now 75:25. It is even involved in manufacturing for the space industry, producing the rocket nozzles for Ariane 5 (and in future Ariane 6 too) using additive manufacturing.

GKN Aerospace benefits from R&D across the Group; Gear said that he sits on “the Joint Technology Working Group that goes across the GKN divisions.” In additive manufacturing the company has three centers of excellent, based in the UK, Sweden and the U.S. One technology that is being developed is “blowing” powder onto surfaces to build them up,

Space technology is another market frontier for GKN, and its sandwich nozzle represents the main upgrade on the Ariane 6 rocket’s Vulcain engine.

22 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

GKN Aerospace chief technology officer Chris Gear believes in “Big Data.”

something that could be applied in modification and repairs, said Gear. “So for worn parts, you could actually build material back onto it.”

Another technology that could end up being applied to aerospace is already commonplace in automotive, GKN producing thousands of gears from power under pressure while aerospace still uses forged/machined gears—Gear believes the time will come in a few years when certification can be gained for similar technology to be used in aerospace applications.

The Group has long been present in developing markets such as China and India and again this is helping the aerospace side to gain better footholds in such domains. “We now have quite a few sites in China— for cost saving. We’re working with various companies there.

Within China we have had a big automotive joint venture for 30 years now, and we have an engineering division in India.”

But the real focus remains on high technology to give it a competitive edge. “We spend a lot of time looking at what we think the products [aircraft] of the future will be and where we’ll need to be. Technology gives us that differentiation.”

In the UK it works with various universities and cross-industry “catapult centers,” such as the National Composites Centre and Advanced Forming Process Centre, to make sure it remains at the cutting edge, and can continuously propose new technologies to the aerospace OEMS. Gear also said that the company will need to invest next in ‘Big Data’ and the ‘Internet of Things’—with aircraft components and structures likely to be fitted with more and more sensors in the future, producing mountains of data. “There’s lots we can collect but how do you analyze it, and what does it mean?”

Here at the Farnborough Airshow GKN’s chalet is worth a visit, with the company again including a display of its technology applications in aerospace. o

Find out more at SSJ100RIGHTNOW.COM

Rolls has Vision for future engines

by Ian Goold Rolls-Royce is pursuing its Vision strategy with a raft of future engine concept studies stretching forward more than 20 years. First unveiled in early 2014, Vision consists of a rolling program of technologies to meet expected requirements in what the manufacturer terms “exciting times ahead,” according to civil large engines future-programs chief engineer Phil Curnock.

Planned Rolls-Royce demonstrator testing covers the previously revealed Advance and UltraFan engines (including the latter’s power density gearbox [PGB]), and advanced low-pressure system (ALPS), advanced low-emissions combustion system (ALECSYS), and high-temperature turbine technology (HT3) fullscale demonstrator programs.

The Advance concept is scheduled for readiness in “2020+,” about five years ahead of the UltraFan, which will introduce bypass ratios of more than 15:1 and more than 70:1 overall.

The 2030s should see further new Rolls-Royce powerplants evolve as part of the trend toward more integrated engine and aircraft systems, with more embedded technology and distributed propulsion. Along the way, the manufacturer hopes to develop technologies that can be put “on the shelf” in intervening years, while also using some for Trent family applications.

Current work involves at least 10 elements: intermediateand high-pressure compressor (IPC and HPC) rigs, Advance3 core, PGB, ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs), lean-burn combustor (LCB), carbon-titanium (CTi) fan, research centers, UltraFan, and high-temperature technologies.

IPC rig testing begun in early 2016 has been supported more recently by related HPC work, as advanced sub-system architecture confirms compressor operability. The “Advance-style” IPC and HPC rigs involve comprehensive aerodynamic

demonstrator test programs aimed at proving “the design, efficiency, and stability” of new four- and 10-stage compressors, respectively, says Curnock.

Tip-clearance, vibration, and noise tests have been successfully completed on the IPC, while HPC testing should be complete soon after the Farnborough International Airshow, with Rolls-Royce planning to deploy both units in Advance and UltraFan applications.

Construction of Rolls-Royce’s “next-generation” Advance3 core demonstrator, which contributes to future Advance/UltraFan family HPC and IPC spools, started before April this year, with ground testing planned to begin during October-December and second-phase testing set for the second quarter of 2017. Advance3 uses the Trent XWB-84 fan from the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787’s Trent 1000 lowpressure turbine (LPT).

The next testing milestone involves the PGB, which R-R

24 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Performance analysis is under way on Rolls-Royce’s carbon-titanium fan at its Bed 61 in Berlin. The ongoing trials will effectively serve as back-to-back validation testing for comparison with titanium fan blades.

is developing with German joint venture partner LiebherrAerospace. Initial unit PGB1 should start rig testing in the current quarter, with PGB2 earmarked to follow before mid-2017, both at a new center at Dahlewitz. Located in Friedrichshafen, the joint venture will provide production engineering for the PGB drivetrain components.

Also scheduled shortly is testing for Rolls-Royce’s leanburn combustor (LBC), starting with full-engine groundwork.

A feature of the LBC is its

unconventional dispersion of nozzles to mix fuel at an earlier stage in the combustor.

Two ground-test engines are being built for ice, noise, and other testing before the LBC is flown on the Boeing 747 testbed. Full-engine ground running and ice testing of RollsRoyce’s carbon-titanium (CTi) fan, developed from Trent hollow-titanium wide-chord fanblade technology, are planned to begin near the end this year.

The UltraFan Program is said to be “on track” and is expected to fly in 2021. o

Economy passengers in Airbus’s A380 will experience 11-abreast seating, as the manufacturer strives to maximize revenue for operators. With 10 more business-class positions, a total of 23 more seats are part of the plans.

Airbus adds more seats, but no plan for A380neo

by Ian Goold to build more than two per month [but we] will never build ‘white tails.’”

Meanwhile, Airbus is working hard to bring the program into profit. Switching Hamburg’s capacity between models provides a “very significant step” toward reducing the cost of [program] break-even, said Williams.

Such moves help the A380 balance sheet because fixed and variable costs now can be charged to the smaller aircraft.

said in June that talks had “kind of lapsed.” Strategy and marketing executive v-p Kiran Rao confirmed that there is “nothing imminent. We continue to study it,” while Williams saw “no need for an upgraded model before, say, 2023.”

For his part, Leahy said that the aircraft is “the most efficient aircraft flying today” and is good “for another 30-40 years. Yes, we will update it, there will be a version with new engines, but there’s nothing planned [right now].”

In the short term, under its strategy of incremental

A380 Achieves Break Even

Programs executive v-p Didier Evrard, who succeeded Williams last year, reported that A380 industrial breakeven—understood to mean that each aircraft sale covers its own production cost—has been “achieved and stabilized.”

Previously, high fuel costs had stimulated orders for the moreeconomical A380neo as potential A380 operators were wary that they might not make money from the VLA, says Williams.

Now, “we are going around to those airlines again” as lower oil prices make A380 seat-mile costs more attractive, especially as operators seek to optimize their capacity.

The Airbus official recognized that continued traffic growth might mean limited runway capacity becoming a “frustration” for Airbus COO (customers) John Leahy. Nevertheless, Williams claimed that airports have not become as constrained as he

MARK WAGNER

Airbus sees no short-term requirement for a re-engined “neo” variant of the very-large aircraft (VLA) A380, and is concentrating on cabin developments to boost airline revenue, including 11-abreast economy seating. The European manufacturer expects to log further A380 orders this year from existing or new customers, according to Chris Buckley, Europe, Asia, and Pacific executive v-p. Such business could include confirmation of Iran Air’s January agreement to acquire a dozen A380s.

In June, the A380 backlog stood at 132, but several aircraft may not go to their original buyers, as customers rationalize their orders. Largest customer Emirates Airline is taking two examples previously built for Japan’s Skymark Airlines, while French carrier Air Austral also cancelled orders for both of its A380s and Air France-KLM has reduced its requirements by two. Orders from Hong Kong Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways are widely expected not to be taken up.

Asked if Airbus (Outdoor Exhibit 13) could accept a large A380 order, now that space previously used for the VLA at its Hamburg factory is now devoted to increasing A320 final-assembly, chief operating officer Tom Williams said it was “a balanced judgment.”

The company can still assemble 24 A380s a year and Williams would “love the challenge

had feared; rather, they are being “innovative.”

Leahy noted that London Heathrow’s 50 daily A380 flights to and from15 destinations, compared with 24 a day from Los Angeles to 10 destinations, and 14 daily operations from Hong Kong serving seven cities. He cited statistics suggesting that this year, 10 percent “of all passengers” using Heathrow will fly on A380s.

Low fuel prices notwithstanding, Emirates remains keen on “up to 200” re-engined A380neos, but Airbus is taking a prudent approach, and the airline

development, Airbus is working to improve cabin economics, claiming that planned changes to increase cabin capacity could be worth as much as $23 million per aircraft in additional annual revenue.

Removing upper-deck sidewall stowage bins could make room for another 10 businessclass seats, while introducing 11-abreast economy seating— with five-seat units between the aisles on the main deck—adds 23 revenue-generating seats.

Changes in the forward cabin introduce nine-abreast seating for 63 premium-economy units, compared with the current 81 economy-class seats. A combined crew-rest area below the main deck and forward of the wing frees capacity for three premium-economy and five economy-class seats and an additional cargo pallet.

Finally, a new rear stairway between the two decks allows a further 14 economy-class seats to be fitted.

Leahy anticipates a “valuable improvement package” becoming available in 2020 or soon after, that could be worth “$4 million additional present value.” o

OIL BOOM One of two Boeing 727-SS2F (RE) tri-jets, this former FedEx aircraft is a major component of Oil Spill Response Limited’s airborne oil-dispersant capabilities. The airplane is fitted with internal tanks, pumps and the pictured spray boom, and can begin responding to oil spills wherever they may occur in the world on four hours’ notice.

www.ainonline.com • July 13, 2016 • Farnborough Airshow News 25

L-3’s focus on training sharpens

OPEN-DOOR POLICY Bracketed by the right-wing engines of a Cargo Logic Air Boeing 747-8F freighter, a Volga-Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan displays its ability to “kneel,” raise its nose and lower its loading ramp to accept freight directly from an airport ramp to its cargo compartment. The 747-8F also features an openable nose but lacks a front-loading ramp or the An-124’s kneeling capability.

MARK WAGNER

by Bill Carey

Inzpire’s GECO tablet OK’d for upgraded Puma

by David Donald Inzpire (Hall 1 Stand B132) is showing off its GECO (graphical electronic cockpit organizer) mission support system here at Farnborough, having recently attained initial operational clearance (IOC) with the RAF’s upgraded Puma force. Full operational clearance is expected at the end of the year.

The Puma will join a growing roster of UK types using the system that includes the Apache, Tornado and Typhoon. The system has attracted considerable

interest from overseas, notably in the Middle East where it has been flying in Jordanian F-16s and helicopters since 2013.

RAF fast jets used it over Libya during the 2011 campaign.

Mission Data Support

GECO is an advanced tablet-based mission system. The rugged display has a high-definition anti-glare touchscreen that can be used with gloves, and the system is fully hardened to operate in a fast-jet environment. The tablet can

be hand-held, worn as a kneepad, or incorporated into the aircraft’s cockpit, and is fully compatible with night vision goggles.

Using an app-based approach, GECO can be employed on a wide variety of mission-management and flight-planning functions. It can integrate GPS, digital mission/terrain maps, satellite imagery and hazard warnings, and can incorporate tactical data such as threat arrays and targeting imagery. The system also records missions for post-action debriefing. To aid flight and planning GECO can support checklists, performance-planning tools, and provide instant diversion information. In its squadron-level mission system incarnation, the tablet can be loaded with

mission-relevant data through a planning computer before being taken to the aircraft.

Inzpire has envisioned a number of other uses for the GECO, such as a means of employing new weapons without the need for expensive and time-consuming integration and rewiring.

Using Bluetooth technology, the GECO tablet could interface directly with the weapon.

This has particular application for guided weapons that do not require a precise launch point.

Another application is as an adjunct to standard cockpit displays for targeting. The high resolution of the screen allows GECO to display sensor imagery in greater definition than is possible with some cockpit screens, in turn improving the ability of the pilot to positively identify targets in close support scenarios.

Inzpire is also suggesting that GECO could be a means of bringing LVC (live, virtual, construct) training into the cockpit, and that it could greatly enhance the aggressor mission by placing a full air picture into the cockpits of adversary aircraft that lack a radar capability. o Inzpire’s GECO for airborne use is a hand-held, knee-mounted or platformmounted hardware/software solution that can act as an additional cockpit MFD, either in standalone or integrated modes. It integrates GPS, digital moving map technology and satellite imagery to support mission execution, planning, rehearsal and debriefing operations.

26 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

L-3 Communications has formed a new Commercial Training Solutions division by combining simulator manufacturer L-3 Link UK and its airline pilot training organization, L-3 CTC Aviation.

L-3 Commercial Training Solutions is based in Crawley, UK, and includes L-3 CTC Private Jet. It offers commercial aviation training and services, including selection, ab initio training, resourcing and airline recurrent, type and command training, supported by high-fidelity simulation products.

Announced on July 7, the division was created to meet current and emerging market requirements and drive continued efficiencies, L-3 said.

“L-3 now offers a seamless, one-stop shop that provides customized and affordable solutions to support the global commercial aviation training marketplace,” said Steve Kantor, L-3 Electronic Systems president. “Given the global pilot shortage and the growing need for pilot training at all proficiency levels, we are now optimally positioned to serve this market with our technical expertise and leading innovative products and capabilities.”

Existing Collaborations

CTC Aviation and Link UK have collaborated since L-3’s acquisition of CTC in May 2015. They established a training facility at Gatwick Airport housing L-3 RealitySeven Boeing and Airbus training devices. The collaboration led to a partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways to provide Boeing 787 training and CTC instructors using a Link UK RealitySeven full-flight simulator.

As a part of the consolidation, the training portfolio of Link UK has been aligned with CTC Aviation’s airline training business. This includes the Asian Aviation Training Center in Bangkok, Thailand, which was recently expanded from six to eight full flight simulators.

L-3 will be exhibiting an Airbus A350 RealitySeven flat panel trainer here at the show (Outdoor Exhibit 31). The first such FTP is destined for new A350 operator Cathay Pacific, which is based in Hong Kong. o

Airbus prepares for year-end crunch as delivery delays loom

by Ian Goold Fabrice Bregier, president and CEO of Airbus, has warned that the closing weeks of 2016 will see heavy demands on flight-testing and aircraft-delivery departments if the manufacturer is to meet projected deliveries. He openly concedes that a wait for upgraded engines and a lack of outsourced parts and equipment have delayed, respectively, single-aisle A320neo and twin-aisle A350 aircraft output.

Airbus (the commercial division of Airbus Group) expects to deliver about 650 airliners this year, despite executives acknowledging a slow start to 2016 because of the delays. Indeed, executives had warned as early as January that A320neo deliveries would be “back-loaded” (that is, earmarked for late-year delivery).

Now, with a clearer picture of aircraft-production and engine-delivery

realities, Airbus (Outdoor Exhibit 13) can see that the closing weeks of 2016 will prove particularly manic for the company, at a time when it also is seeking to increase overall final-assembly rates. Asked if manufacturing issues and production ramp-up plans mean that the company is becoming over-stretched, Bregier replied: “We need to make a judgment. I believe if we have the parts and engines, we will deliver the aircraft.

“We know that December will be awful for people in program management and flight-test.” He pointed out that recent record levels of new aircraft orders cannot be sustained, and that the European manufacturer must concentrate on managing deliveries. Both Bregier and chief operating officer (customers) John Leahy say they will be happy this year to match

DAVID McINTOSH

Among Ukrainian Helicopters’ Mi-8/17 innovations are quick-change interiors and night-vision capabilities.

Multi-role Mil from Ukraine

by David Donald Formed in 2002, Ukrainian Helicopters (Hall 3 Stand E110) has been flying overhauled Mi-8MTV-1 (Mi-17-1V) helicopters on a range of humanitarian and emergency relief operations under contract to both national and international organizations. After gaining its AOC in 2003, Ukrainian Helicopters undertook its first contract in 2004, fighting fires in Portugal.

Since then the company has flown under various UN contracts in many areas of Africa, operating in harsh conditions to deliver aid and perform evacuations.

Through the course of this work, the company has amassed considerable experience of operating the Mi-8/17— the world’s most produced helicopter— in many roles and in many environments.

This has enabled it to devise a reconfigurable version that allows the helicopter to be reconfigured by the crew for rescue, passenger transport and other tasks in less than 45 minutes.

Known as the Skytransformer, the Mi-8/17 is capable of night operations thanks to night-vision goggles and an under-nose electro-optical sensor turret.

The latter can detect a person at night at a range of greater than five miles, making it a useful tool for night SAR. It can also relay imagery to a ground station via a satellite link.

Ukrainian Helicopters has devised a fully equipped medical module that can be installed in the cabin, which can also accommodate seating or cargo.

For the rescue role, an enhanced winch is installed with a 262-foot (80-meter) cable rated at 600 pounds (272 kilograms). The winch can be used for rappelling by rescuers in terrain where a landing is not possible. To address the issue of operations in potentially hostile areas, the helicopter has kevlar panels for ballistic protection, and an anti-missile protection system. o

28 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Early difficulties with P&W’s PW1100G engine for the A320neo are among the production difficulties with which Airbus has had to contend, forcing the company to park new, engine-less airframes around its Toulouse factory.

each aircraft leaving an Airbus delivery center (when final payments are made) with a balancing new order—a so-called “bill-to-book” ratio of one— after several years at higher ratios that have driven the order backlog to more than 6,700 aircraft.

Accordingly, delivering new aircraft is the company’s main preoccupation as the industry meets here at Farnborough International. At least one delayed A320neo was cancelled by Qatar Airways last month, even though Pratt & Whitney (P&W) is delivering its updated PW1100G-JM geared-turbofan (GTF) engines to Airbus.

By mid-June, at least 10 GTFs had been dispatched with the required upgrades incorporated in production, according to P&W, with five more undergoing assembly. Initial A320neo final-assembly began with 20 originalstandard engines that had been subject to an overly time-consuming re-starting procedure that delayed scheduled airport departures.

Ahead of the resumption of engine deliveries, as many as 25 single-aisle A320 Neos sans moteurs had been parked around the final-assembly buildings at the Toulouse factory (and more in Hamburg).

In late May, chief operating officer Tom Williams said that once upgraded GTFs had been received by Airbus, then “very soon” the number of A320 “gliders” would reduce as Neo deliveries resumed.

Slow Supply Chain

Another challenge concerns the stretched A350-1000 variant, which Airbus expects to fly in September. Earlier this year it entered customization, a stage recognized by Williams as “the real cause of the ‘meltdown’ on the A380.”

The manufacturer wants to deliver at least 50 A350s in 2016 but cabin-equipment supply problems have meant that only nine had been released to customers by June.

Also last month, China Airlines said that four aircraft scheduled for delivery from this month onward would arrive late, starting in September, while the first A350 for Thai Airways has slipped from July to August. Deliveries to Cathay Pacific

Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines are understood to be behind schedule and South America’s largest carrier, Latam Airlines of Brazil, has said it is reviewing orders for the A350 and Boeing 787 because of reduced traffic.

Williams points out that apart from new-aircraft deliveries, other challenges include management of “traveling work”—outstanding tasks to complete sub-assemblies (for example) when they move to the next production stage, often to final assembly in another country—and maintaining relationships with customers, who now are “probably even more demanding than in the past.”

He is encouraged by the “very strong” order backlog and claimed a continuing increase in Airbus “market dominance,” especially in Asia and South America. He also said that the 6 percent annual growth in airline traffic is consistent with the company’s global market forecast. As Airbus works to increase production rates, Williams claimed its manufacturing is becoming “faster, smarter and more innovative,” with step changes in processing times along with new tooling, machines and skills management.

“The latest digital and automation technologies [make] significant differences to how we do things,” according to Williams. He said that A320 production still involves “a lot of paperwork” and provides further opportunities to become more “smart.”

One “big step” involves the introduction of robotics with some manual input, said Williams, who cited the introduction of such technology in a new structural assembly system to be used in a “pulse” line for A320 wing production at Broughton in the UK. New procedures mean that by the beginning of next year Airbus will be enjoying “huge” savings in costs while increasing production to 50 wing sets a month, Williams concluded. o

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BOEING

This year, Boeing Aircraft is celebrating its 100th anniversary. First incorporated in 1916 by budding pilot and aviation enthusiast William Boeing, the company has become synonymous with the U.S. airline manufacturing industry, and also relies heavily on its military successes, present and past, for its corporate identity. In the first three issues of AIN’s Farnborough Airshow News, Pete Combs delves into the company history. Look out for parts one and two in our July 11 and 12 editions, or find the entire text online at our website, AINonline.com

787

Jumbo Queen

Boeing continued to innovate in passenger aircraft design in the late 1960s with the 747 making its first flight February 9, 1969. Designed as the world’s first wide-body jet, the “Queen of the Skies,” also known as the Jumbo Jet, is still in production today, although the numbers of new-build 747s are fast-dwindling.

In order to make the 747 project a reality, Allen again bet the company. He had to borrow huge sums of money to complete the 747 development program and the plant in which the Jumbo Jet was to be constructed. Boeing’s debt at one point during the 747 project exceeded $2 billion. Yet the airplane’s popularity carried it through the tough times, making it one of the most enduring and iconic planes ever built.

F-15

Race to Space

The Space Race during the 1960s was, like World War II, an effort that pulled U.S. aerospace manufacturers together so that few were left completely out of the picture. Boeing built the first and most powerful stage of the Saturn V moon rocket, the S-1C. At 138 feet tall and 33 feet wide, the S-1C’s five F-1 engines delivered an astounding 7.5 million pounds of thrust.

The company also created the famed Lunar Rovers, lightweight moon buggies that carried astronauts several miles from their lunar landers as they explored the surface of Earth’s closest neighbor.

But perhaps Boeing’s biggest contribution to the Apollo program, claimed Lombardi, was its ability to manage the big picture even while being lambasted by the media and the public after the 1967 Apollo 1 disaster (a pre-launch fire inside the crew module which killed astronauts Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White).

Lunar Rover

B1

With the deadline for landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade just three years away, and realizing the Soviet Union was pushing ahead with its own space program, NASA director James Webb needed help marshaling the hundreds of Apollo contractors and their thousands of employees. He turned to Boeing, and Allen delivered, sending approximately 2,000 of his “best managers,” according to Lombardi, to help get the space program back on track.

“Had Bill Allen not stepped up, had Boeing not stepped in, the Apollo program would likely have been canceled or worse. It might have ended in disaster,” Lombardi said.

Recession Threat Apollo 9

30 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

With the conclusion of the war in Vietnam, the Arab Oil Embargo, as well as the recessions of 1969 and 1973 on top of the waning of the space program, Boeing’s Continued on page 32

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BOEING

Boeing-Designed Aircraft Model 747

inboard portion of the wings and over spe-

four armed services. This tilt-rotor aircraft takes

First flight: Feb. 9, 1969

cial trailing-edge flaps.

off and lands like a helicopter. But the engine

With the tremendous success of the Boeing 707,

fortunes tumbled. It had not experienced such pressure since the end of the Second World War, when it laid off approximately 70,000 workers.

In 1968, the company’s Commercial Airplane Group had employed approximately 83,700 workers. Just three years later, that number had dwindled to just 20,750. For decades the biggest employer in Seattle, Boeing’s decline hit the Puget Sound region extremely hard, with the local unemployment rate jumping to 14 percent. Almost two out of every 10 homes in the area were vacant— either for sale, for rent or abandoned altogether. At one point, a billboard popped up near SeaTac Airport: “Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights.”

But Boeing was far from finished. Production of the 727, 737 and 747 continued. The company introduced the 757 narrowbody and 767 widebody aircraft during the 1980s and participated in development of the Space Shuttle during that same decade.

By 1991, Boeing’s contribution to the Northrop B-2 Stealth Bomber project employed approximately 10,000 workers in Washington and California. In 1994, Boeing introduced its most advanced aircraft ever, the 777, the company’s first “fly-by-wire” aircraft. But that was not enough to stave off increasing competition from the company’s main rival, Europe-based Airbus.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s defense business still lagged.

Unable to drum up its own business with the military, Boeing first acquired Rockwell’s defense and aerospace business in 1996, then, a year later, reached a $13 billion stock-swap deal to effectively acquire McDonnell Douglas. With those mergers, Boeing acquired the B-1 bomber, F-15 and F/A-18 fighters and the C-17 cargo aircraft programs.

For the time being at least, Boeing’s foothold at the Pentagon seemed ensured. But analysts and even Boeing insiders now agree that the mergers nearly killed the company.

Not A Dream Team

Unfortunately, the McDonnell Douglas merger led to a difficult clash of corporate cultures. “Up until then, Boeing was run mostly by engineers or those who backed them,” aviation analyst Scott Hamilton, president of Sammamish, Washingtonbased Leeham Co., told AIN. The company’s new CEO, Harry Stonecipher, “was widely quoted as saying he didn’t even know what it cost to build airplanes,” said Hamilton. “His priority became returning money to shareholders.”

Stonecipher’s practice of promoting near-term profits at the expense of long-term sustainability troubled Model 907

nacelles tilt in flight, turning the V-22 into a con-

the world began to clamor for even more inter-

Model 767

national travel opportunities. Boeing chairman

First flight: Sept. 26, 1981

Bill Allen decided to risk it all by building the 747,

Designed for the fuel-efficient conveyance of up

Model 777

the first-ever twin-aisle passenger aircraft so

to 290 passengers, the twin-aisle 767 is opti-

First flight: June 12, 1994

big that it required a completely new manufac-

mized for exceptional takeoff performance and

This wide-body jet has become a staple of long-

turing plant to build. Although production is now

fuel economy—if not for speed.

range passenger and cargo flight. Boeing is now

ventional airplane for greater cruise speed.

developing the 777X, which will feature a differ-

winding down, the company continues to make 747-8s—two of which have been purchased by

Model 757

the U.S. government as replacements for the

First flight: Feb. 19, 1982

current aircraft serving as Air Force One.

A single-aisle twin, the 757 is as much as 80-per-

Model 787

cent more fuel efficient than the 727. Because it

First flight: Dec. 15, 2009

Model 953 (YC-14)

was developed concurrently with the 767, pilots

Boeing’s latest major design, the 787

First flight: Aug. 9, 1976

who are rated to fly one can also fly the other.

Dreamliner has been beset by developmental

ent wing and composite-material construction.

Designed to carry troops and gear into tem-

and operational issues. The 787’s tremendous

porary or unimproved airstrips, the YC-14

Model 907 (V-22 Osprey)

development cost, estimated by some at $32

never saw production. But it featured a

First flight: March 19, 1989

billion, has not yet been offset by sales. The

unique concept called upper-surface-blow-

Developed in cooperation with Bell Helicopter

Dreamliner is a technological marvel, a twin-

ing (USB), which used two jet engines to

Textron, the Osprey is the first clean-sheet air-

aisle aircraft capable of long-haul operations

blow high-velocity airstreams over the

craft design aimed at meeting the needs of all

and built from carbon-fiber materials.

747

Sonic Cruiser

many in the Boeing workforce, acknowledged another aviation analyst, Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group in Washington, D.C. To prove their points, both Aboulafia and Hamilton pointed to the composite 787 Dreamliner. The project was beset by technical woes from the start. First flight was pushed back two years and flight-testing took another two years. Since that time, the type has suffered a series of technical maladies.

But both analysts point out Boeing is in an oddly B2

32 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

good position right now. Aboulafia said, “In terms of orders and deliveries, they’ve never had it so good.”

Indeed, the company has a backlog of orders that should carry it well into the next decade. “But because of its short-sightedness [on the 787], they have this big drag on profits that could have helped in new product development.”

On that, Hamilton agreed. “Can Boeing bounce back? Of course they can. Can they afford it? Yes. Right now, they’re spending $6 billion a year in buying back shares from stockholders. If they reduce or stop that for just a couple of years, they can afford to develop that next new plane that will put them on top of [chief rival] Airbus again.”

Bill Boeing, Claire Egtvedt and Bill Allen were all risk takers. Each of them saw a reason to bet the company on future technology and in each case, they won. Both analysts believe that the old-style risk-taking is exactly what Boeing needs for the company to remain the world’s biggest corporation in its second 100 years. o

SUPER TUCANO ARRIVES

DAVID McINTOSH

This Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano was captured on short final to Farnborough.

Four copies of the type were deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year under a U.S. contract with Sierra Nevada and Embraer worth $427 million.

A total of 20 Super Tucanos are slated for Afghanistan by 2018, for use in the country’s light-attack and counter-insurgency operations.

French aerospace and defense sectors prosper, thanks to Airbus, Dassault

by Caroline Bruneau French aerospace association Gifas (Hall 1 Stand A1/ A10) announced in May that 2015 represented a new record year, with significant growth in exports. Gifas president Marwan Lahoud (who is also Airbus Group’s chief strategy and marketing director) said that the sector was in good shape, with orders reaching €78.3 billion ($88.1 billion) and the order book now representing five years of production.

Much of this is driven by Airbus, which has an order book of more of €1,000 billion ($1,113 billion) and 10 years of production. Revenues in 2015 reached €58.3 billion ($74.4 billion or +8.5 percent) with a forecast demand for 32,600 commercial airliners over the next 20 years, meaning the future is rosy, according to the Gifas, which believes around half of them should be built in Europe

by Airbus and its suppliers.

However, the most impressive result of 2015 for the French aerospace industry has been the comeback by the defense sector. The export success of the Dassault Rafale fighter, which was sold to both Egypt and Qatar, and the pending deal with India, has had a positive impact, leading to export sales of €16.2 billion ($18.3 billion) in 2015 (the figures are from the DGA, the French procurement agency, adding up the aerospace, maritime and weapons industries).

International tensions will also have positive effect on the industry in 2016: According to IHS, France will become the second biggest defense export country,

overtaking Russia, thanks to its latest success—the sale of submarines to Australia (a deal worth €32 billion/$36.2 billion). French companies are profitting from international defense sales, success that can to some extent be attributed to Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. He has proven particularly adept at nurturing the contacts with foreign governments, such as Egypt and Qatar, which were developed during his many years as representative in charge of the defense sector. Meanwhile, the French industry has developed expertise in technology transfer that helps to secure big deals with foreign countries. Both Thales and Dassault, for example, opened subsidiaries years ago in India to help negotiate a potential Rafale deal and to learn how to work with local aerospace leader, HAL. Risk in 2017

However, if the government of France changes with the 2017 presidential election, it could have a negative impact on its aerospace industry—if the team in charge of exports changes completely. Either way, the procurement office head, Laurent Collet-Billon, whose expertise and knowledge has been praised by the industry, is due to leave his position at the beginning of 2017, leading to fear that he will leave a vacuum in this influential post.

The environment is also changing fast: Germany is to become a defense exporter and could offer stiff competition to France in some markets. Berlin has also decided to raise its military spending over the next five

years, and is pushing its own industry to developed new products and enter new markets.

Space Sector

The French space industry also recorded very good figures in 2015, with consolidated revenues of €3.88 billion ($4.38 billion). The sector contributed €1.8 billion ($3.7 billion) of exports in 2014, according to Gifas figures, and this figure is expected to continue to grow; 2015 was a record year for Arianespace (€1.43 billion/$1.62 billion in 2015 revenues).

2016 will be a year of change for the industry, with the integration of the Ariane supply chain in Airbus Safran Launchers giving France the central role in the development and manufacturing of Ariane 6. The preliminary design review of Ariane 6 was concluded on June 10, confirmed Alain Charmeau, program director, during the last month’s ILA Berlin Air Show.

The European Commission will soon make a final determination on the purchase of the CNES segment of Arianespace

by ASL, which will allow the final integration of the company. As for the space industry, the director general of the European Space Agency, Jan Woerner, has pleaded for a “European preference” in launchers, a position that could have a positive effect on the industry.

The equipment leaders have invested heavily in the ramp up of major aerospace programs.

The difficulties of Zodiac Aerospace—which was not able

to manufacture and deliver airliner seats fast enough last year leading to profit warnings—is a symbol of an industry that has grown too fast to keep up with record backlogs.

The smaller French aerospace companies achieved combined revenues of €20 billion ($22.6 billion) in 2015, a slight increase over the previous year.

These companies expect 2016 to be flat before a heavy ramp up over the next few years.

The French companies benefit from “the best public investment devices,” according to Pascal Veillat, CEO of Arelis group (an aerospace and defense supplier which is part of the Gifas-Coliét Aero PME small companies group). However, the small companies also object that they are “not being considered as real partners” by the big companies, which sometimes give them only “six months of visibility,” while also delaying payments by over 60 days.

Overall, however, Gifas believes the current situation of the French

industry puts it a strong position, driven by Airbus production. It has taken steps to boost training of skilled personnel, with €2 million ($2.26 million) having been spent by Gifas on training courses for technicians. The digitization of the aerospace industry has started, with more and more companies using virtual testing, for example. This allows companies such as Thales to test its missiles 10,000 times before adapting the prototypes to the digital model.

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a key topic as well, and will be used by Airbus Safran Launchers for many Ariane 6 components. Many programs and companies are being encouraged to invest thanks to public funding via BPI (Banque Publique d’Investissement) and its very active aerospace division, that is already helping with funding and loan guarantees for more than 1,000 companies of the sector. Gifas hopes that this will continue under the next government too. o

ONTIC TAKES ON MORE JT15D RESPONSIBILITIES BBA Aviation subsidiary Ontic (Hall 1 Stand B80) has acquired additional manufacturing rights from Pratt & Whitney Canada covering certain new JT15D engine components. Ontic said its second acquisition from P&WC increases its level of responsibility for JT15D content from 108 to 178 parts, ranging from low-pressure compressor counterweights to valves and veins.

Ontic plans to manufacture and sell the additional parts from its facility in Chatsworth, California, and continue to distribute them through Aviall Services.

“Ontic’s engineering, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities are uniquely suited to support the special requirements associated with legacy products such as the JT15D engine,” said Ontic president and managing director Gareth Hall. “Legacy engine support continues the growth of services we provide our OEM partners. We are pleased to expand upon and continue our relationship with P&WC.” Ontic provides FAA, CAAS, CAAC, EASA Part 21 and 145 support, including new and serviceable spares and repairs for more than 4,500 “maturing” aircraft parts. Its portfolio of products, licensed or acquired from PEMs such as Honeywell, UTC Aerospace, Safran, Thales and GE Aviation span all major aircraft systems.

—G.P.

www.ainonline.com • July 13, 2016 • Farnborough Airshow News 33

Fuji-Bell’s winning submission in the UH-X competition is a development of the Bell 412EPI.

Fuji and Bell upgrading 412 for Japan’s UH-X

by David Donald Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI; Hall 2 Stand A88) and Bell (Outdoor Exhibit L2-L5) have begun development of a version of the Bell 412EPI for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), having won the UH-X competition for a new utility transport helicopter. This will replace the UH-1J (Bell Model 205) in JGSDF service.

Fuji and Bell have forged a long partnership that has seen FHI build the UH-1B, UH-1J and AH-1S Cobra under license for the JGSDF, while it also license-built the service’s AH-64 Apaches. The UH-X helicopters are to be built at the company’s Utsunomiya plant.

Selection of the Fuji-Bell team for UH-X was announced in July last year and a contract for 150 helicopters was awarded in September. Originally a Kawasaki

Heavy Industries team had been selected to develop UH-X as a new design, but the program was relaunched following alleged improprieties in the bidding process.

The renewed UH-X requirement specified a modified off-the-shelf aircraft to keep costs down. KHI teamed with Airbus Helicopters to offer the new H160, but the Bell 412-based helicopter won out in a number of the Japanese evaluation categories, including delivery timescale. First deliveries are slated for 2021.

Currently referred to as the 412+, the UH-X helicopter will have state-of-the-art avionics, upgraded transmission and a higher gross weight compared to the 412EPI, which is Bell’s current production model. The UH-X will also have greater airframe durability and longer run-dry endurance.

DAVID McINTOSH

Elbit launches new imaging system

Although the JGSDF requirement is the driving force behind the program, FHI and Bell are also hoping to pursue opportunities for the 412+ design in the civilian market. Following a relaxation on Japanese export regulations in 2014 the Fuji-Bell team is also proposing the 412+ for export.

By the time that the UH-X is being delivered, however, the Japanese company will have a new name. At the end of June FHI announced that it is to officially re-brand as the Subaru Corporation from April 1 next year, in the year of its 100th anniversary. Adopting the Subaru name (the Japanese name for the Pleiades—or “Seven Sisters”— star cluster) reflects the company’s best-known global product line. FHI’s history reaches back to 1917 when what soon after became the Nakajima Aircraft Factory was founded by Chikuhei Nakajima. In 1945 it was reorganized as Fuji Sangyo, producing civilian goods. In 1953 Fuji Heavy Industries was formed from various elements of the Fuji Sangyo concern. o

Elbit Systems (Hall 1 Stand A100) launched a new high-performance ISTAR system this week here at the Farnborough Airshow. Known as Spectro XR, the system comprises a multi-spectral sensor system and lasers packaged into a 15-inch turret. The company claims that it offers the kind of performance normally found only in 20-inch turrets.

At its heart is an imaging system that combines multiple cameras into one system, saving weight and volume. A heat picture is provided by a thermal imaging channel that employs a spotter and continuous zoom optics combination, producing a 1280x1024 picture (or 1920x1024 as an option).

Visible color and black/white near-infrared imagery is collected via dual field-of-view spotter and continuous zoom imagery on a 1920x1080 CMOS sensor. A third imaging channel provides short-wave infrared imagery in either 640x512 or 1280x1024 format.

Also incorporated into the 115-lb (52-kg) turret are a laser designator, rangefinder, illuminator, spot tracker and pointer. The turret is highly stabilized, and incorporates its own GPS, inertial measurement unit, moving map and video recording system.

Spectro XR has been designed with a range of interfaces to permit easy integration with a variety of mission systems.

The turret can be carried by a

Cutaway view of Elbit’s Spectro XR turret

range of aircraft, aerostats and vessels, as well as having fixed and mobile land applications.

Included in the system are a number of advanced features to extract the maximum benefit from the detailed imagery, including image fusion across the recorded channels, as well as multi-layered pictures. There is an automatic image-enhancement function, and augmented reality is possible. Geo-location, geo-pointing and geo-steering functions all significantly reduce operator workload. —D.D.

DAVID McINTOSH

SOLAR IMPULSE 2 ATTEMPTS FLIGHT FROM SPAIN TO EGYPT

BENT-WING BEAUTY The Vought F4U Corsair served the U.S. Navy and Marines during WWII, but also found great success in the hands of Royal Navy pilots. Some 12,571 Corsairs were manufactured, from 1940 to 1953, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history. This one’s rolling out at Farnborough after a wheel landing.

34 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

In its attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea, the Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) left Seville Airport in Spain at 6:20 a.m. local time on Monday.

The purely solar-powered aircraft is expected to land at Cairo International Airport, Egypt two days later (July 13) at 9:00 am local time on the second-to-last leg of the attempt to achieve the first solar-powered flight around the world. It also marks the last flight of CEO André Borschberg.

Borschberg said, “This flight across Europe will touch a large number of countries, very diverse in terms of culture, climate and geography. But in addition to all being on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, they have a common denominator: the potential benefit of using renewable energies and clean technology.”

On this journey, the Si2 will fly in the airspace of Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Greece and Egypt. Once it lands in Cairo, the aircraft will be prepared for the final leg of its attempt to fly around the world without fuel. The final destination is Abu Dhabi in the United Emirates, where the journey began in March 2015.

—S.C.

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IAI, Honeywell work on Heron sense and avoid

VINTAGE ’HAWK

Israel Aerospace Industries and avionics manufacturer Honeywell will jointly develop a “sense-and-avoid” capability for IAI’s Heron series of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

The project, funded by the ­Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial­ Research and Development (Bird) Foundation, aims to demonstrate a system in 2018.

“Sense-and-avoid solutions do not currently exist for UASs to operate in national civilian airspace,” said Carey Smith, Honeywell Aerospace defense and space president. “With decades of experience providing the aerospace industry with countless products focused on safety, Honeywell will leverage this and government agencies to work with IAI and provide a significant step forward in next-generation avionics solutions that address the need for sense-and-avoid” capability.

Bird Foundation Funding

Carey Smith (left), president of Honeywell Aerospace’s defense and space division, and IAI president and CEO Joseph Weiss.

Honeywell will provide a single line replaceable unit for the project, integrating software, hardware and fusion capability for different sensors. IAI (Chalet A29) will contribute a ground control station pilot interface with separation and collision avoidance maneuvering logic supporting Heron pilots.

The development work will take place in Tel Aviv and Albuquerque, New Mexico; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Redmond, Washington, in the U.S. Flight tests are planned for mid2018 on the Heron 1 UAS.

The U.S. and Israeli governments established the Bird Foundation in 1977 to promote cooperation between privatesector companies involved in high-tech industries in the two countries. The foundation funds up to 50 percent of each company’s research and development expenses associated with a joint project. “Repayments are due only if commercial revenues are generated as a direct result of the project,” the foundation states.

Honeywell is also providing a TCAS II processor and fusion algorithms for a sense-andavoid system being tested by NASA and the FAA in the U.S. Based on NASA’s Ikhana UAS, a Predator B derivative, the system combines Honeywell’s TCAS system with a BAE Systems automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADSB) transponder and General Atomics “due regard” radar. o

The Curtiss P-40, perhaps most famous for its role as the fighter used by the all-volunteer Flying Tigers in China, served in all theatres of WWII and was known by various nicknames, including Warhawk, Tomahawk and Kittyhawk.

Louisiana courts aerospace industry

by Curt Epstein Representatives from the U.S. State of Louisiana are on hand here at the Farnborough International Airshow (Hall 3 Stand F50) to highlight its growing involvement in the aerospace industry. From the birth of Delta Air Services, today’s Delta Air Lines (named after the Mississippi River Delta) in 1929, the state has attracted companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrup Grumman and due to its incentives and workforce development programs continues to draw new investment.

Last year, Bell Helicopter completed its newest manufacturing location, an 82,000 sq ft aircraft assembly facility at Lafayette Regional Airport. The $38 million plant will start commercial production this year on two projects; the new 525

Relentless helicopter cabin subassembly, and modifications to the Northrup Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (based on the Bell 407) for the U.S. Navy.

Ready With Infrastructure

AAR, one of the world’s largest aviation services providers, serves airlines such as United, Delta and Southwest. It occupies six hangars at Chennault International Airport in the Western part of the state, for a total of more than half a million sq ft of workspace, large enough to perform checks on the largest airplanes in service. The Lake Charles MRO facility supports a customer mix of domestic and military aviation specializing in wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus 330 and 340 and the Boeing 767 and 777.

Also located in the state is NASA’s 832-acre Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, which for more than half a century has been the space agency’s leading builder of large-scale space structures and systems. With an economic impact of over 4,600 jobs and nearly $670 million, the center is currently engaged in the construction of the most powerful rocket in history, the Space Launch System, which could someday make interplanetary travel possible.

A key factor in the state’s ability to attract aerospace companies is its LED (Louisiana Economic Development) FastStart workforce development program. Established in 2008, the program recruits, screens and even trains talent to meet specific needs of companies willing to ­invest in the state. o

Is measuring pressure a key to the next SST?

by James Wynbrandt Supersonic transport may be a step closer to reality with the recent introduction by U.S.-based Kulite Semiconductor Products (Hall 1 Stand B158) of its KSC-2 signal conditioner. Developed in partnership with Precision Filters, KSC-2 offers an optional innovative feature, Rezcomp, which enhances measurement of highfrequency dynamic pressures in subsonic and supersonic flows.

High-frequency dynamic pressure measurements are vital to evaluating supersonic aircraft

designs. These designs are built into scaled down mockups for wind tunnel tests, during which small amplitude dynamic pressures at frequencies of 100 kHz and higher must be measured.

But the scaled down size of the mockups interferes with the quality of the drag reduction data, as the measuring sensor, the transducer, has a resonant frequency of its own that can mask the pressure data. Rezcomp, Kulite’s KSC-2 signal conditioner’s patent-pending, real-time, analog

Minimizing or eliminating a supersonic transport’s noise impact is a key component of the high-speed technology’s future success.

frequency response compensation capability, allows users to extend the bandwidth of a standard transducer by a factor of 2.5 times or more.

The KSC-2 has already proved itself in real-world

36 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

applications, proving “critical to the success of our supersonic nozzle testing, as it substantially improved the data quality,” said Dr. Nick Tiliakos, chief engineer at Innoveering, which provides precision engineering

services. “It mitigated measurement noise through customerselected filtering coupled with a very low noise power supply, and it ­ enables the detection of far lower dynamic pressures than previously achievable.” o

DAVID McINTOSH

by Bill Carey

Esterline wins deals for CMA-9000 FMS

DAVID McINTOSH

by James Wynbrandt

CFM CELEBRATES 30,000th ENGINE MILESTONE Yesterday at Farnborough, CFM International paused to celebrate producing its 30,000th CFM56 engine. In the 35 years since its first engines were produced, the company has delivered more than 9,860 CFM56-5 engines to Airbus for the A320ceo and A340-200/-300, and more than 17,300 CFM56-3/-7B powerplants for Boeing’s 737 Classic and Next-Generation airframes. Pictured, from left: François Bastin, executive v-p, CFM International; Nicole Piasecki, v-p and general manager, propulsion systems, Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO, CFM International; Erik Buschmann, senior v-p, propulsion systems procurement, Airbus; Allen Paxson, executive v-p, CFM International.

Esterline CMC Electronics (CMC; Hall 1 Stand B60) announced key wins here at Farnborough for its CMA-9000 Flight Management System (FMS). Leading off, the FMS has been certified by EASA on the Airbus A300-600, earning a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) last month. The STC results from a contract with an undisclosed European cargo airline to upgrade the legacy FMSs on its fleet of 21 A300-600 jets.

The STC’d installation consists of dual CMA-9000 FMSs, and will allow “unrestricted operation of the A300-600 fleet for the foreseeable future,” said Michel Potvin, president, Esterline Avionics Systems. Deliveries of the units began early this year and will conclude by August. The upgraded fleet will comply with the forecasted FAA and ICAO standards for the Communication, Navigation, Surveillance

and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system.

The CMA-9000 FMS incorporates vertical navigation functionality and provides a larger navigation database, performance optimization, and an upgrade path to increased datalink capability.

Esterline also announced two recent contracts for avionics aboard Antonov transports. The company will supply the CMA9000 and its CMA-5024 GPS Sensor along with MFD-2068 multi-function displays (MFDs) in a dual configuration aboard seven An-124s operated by Antonov Airlines. Esterline also will provide dual CMA-9000s and five MFD-3068 MFDs aboard 60 new An-148/158/178 aircraft. The MFD-3068 features Modular Open System Architecture (MOSArt) middleware built to non-proprietary industry standards. o

Kaman prepares for production comeback General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada this week contracted Kaman Aerosystems’s Air Vehicles and MRO division to implement the program to upgrade SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopter for Peru’s Navy. Work on the upgrades is expected to run through 2018 under a contract worth around $39.8 million and involves extensive remanufacturing of the multi-mission helicopter.

Although the name Kaman is most closely associated with helicopters, the company has created an expanding portfolio of products and manufacturing services that have penetrated into many corners of the aerospace industry, resulting in the company becoming a top-tier supplier to many important aircraft programs.

Kaman is featuring a cross-section of its capabilities at Farnborough (Hall 3 Stand D50), with diverse components displaying composite and metal expertise, as well as large and complex aircraft and aero-engine structures.

Kaman operates from 17 locations around the world. One that is expected to draw interest

at Farnborough is the tooling center of excellence established in 2014 by the company’s Aerosystems Division in Burnley, UK. The facility houses a 20-meter (66-foot), five-axis CNC gantry milling machine that can produce tooling for large aircraft components such as the Airbus A350 wing.

Meanwhile, Kaman has placed its K-Max utility heavylift helicopter back into production.

Characterized by its intermeshing “egg-beater” rotor arrangement, the K-Max found favor with commercial operators, notably in the logging industry. The company previously built 38 before shutting the line in 2003. Two of them were operated in Afghanistan on an extended trial by the U.S. Marine Corps in an unmanned configuration devised by Lockheed Martin.

In June 2015 it was announced that production would re-start to satisfy renewed demand, including an order received last November from Lectern Aviation in China for two helicopters to be used for fire-fighting. The first aircraft from the re-opened line is due to be delivered next year. o

MARK WAGNER

by David Donald

EASA CERTIFIES AW189’S ICE PROTECTION SYSTEM The European Aviation Safety Agency has certified Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s Full Ice Protection System (FIPS) for the AW189 helicopter, clearing it to operate in full icing conditions, the company announced at the show Monday.

The approval comes after three years of winter flight trials in Northern Europe and North America to gather data and test the effectiveness of the system’s electrically heated main and tail rotor blades, heated windshields and an ice detection system. The fully automatic system allows pilots to concentrate on other flying activities.

38 Farnborough Airshow News • July 13, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Leonardo-Finmeccanica calls the FIPS “critical” for operators flying in Northern Europe, Canada, Russia and the northern U.S., where the winter months commonly usher in icing conditions. Now available as an option on the AW189, the FIPS follows certification of the Limited Ice Protection System (LIPS) in September last year.

LIPS allows flight within a known and defined envelope of icing conditions provided that the capability to descend into a known band of warmer temperatures is available throughout the intended route.

—G.P.

THE SKY IS YO U R DOMAIN Scale new heights at the show that attracts aviation’s top flight.

The Singapore Airshow 2016: Attracted over 48,000 visitors from 143 countries & regions Drew 1,040 participating companies from 48 countries, including 65 of the top 100 aerospace companies and 20 country pavilions Attracted 916 accredited media

Hosted 1,353 meetings between Exhibitors and 286 VIP Delegations from 90 countries

Fly higher in 2018. Only the sky is the limit.

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