Tensions at the Paris Air Show
France shutters off Israeli vendors' display stands at the Paris Air Show
The International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget opened on Monday, exclusively reserved for professionals until the weekend where the show will also be open to the general public. The Air Show is also known as Salon du Bourget and is the largest industry event, bringing together stakeholders from around the world wanting to showcase excellence, innovation, and international cooperation in the aeronautics and space sectors.
Two events cast a shadow over the opening ceremony this year, though. The crash of Air India flight 171 in Ahmedabad last week, and a row over Israeli participation because of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Boeing-Airbus
Boeing top boss Kelly Ortberg announced last week that he cancelled his plans and will not participate in this year’s event, to focus on the investigation of the Air India crash. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take off, killing 241 passengers and crew and another 38 people on the ground. One passenger survived. There is currently no strong indications of what the reason for the crash may be, and the 787 aircraft type no previous crash history.
Normally, Being and Airbus dominates the show by displays of the aerospace industry's latest creations. Usually accompanied by big orders from airlines and governments. Boeing instead said it will focus on supporting customers.
According to France24, Airbus announced an order of 30 single-aisle A320neo jets and 10 A350F freighters by Saudi aircraft leasing firm AviLease. The European manufacturer also said that Riyadh Air was buying 25 long-range, wide-body A350-1000 jets.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, Uvision, Elbit and Aeronautics
In a separate development, the French government decided at the last moment to shutter off several Israeli vendors’ stands at the Air Show. The companies involved are Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, Uvision, Elbit and Aeronautics that manufacture drones and guided bombs and missiles. Video pictures showed that black walls had been installed around the displays. The French Prime minister François Bayrou told TF1 in an interview on the site that the booths displayed ‘offensive weapons’ that could be used in Gaza, in violation of agreements that the French government had made with Israeli authorities. He gave no further definition of which type of weapons are included, causing some confusion because many other aerospace products deemed capable of attack are usually on display at the Air Show.
A French court had earlier rejected an ask from NGOs to ban Israeli companies from Le Bourget over concerns about ‘international crimes’ and the mayor of Le Bourget refused to take part in the opening ceremony of the important biennial event for similar reasons.
AWACS
Swedish aircraft and defense company Saab showed their upgraded ‘GlobalEye’ Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) plane. It is a radar and sensor suite mounted on a modified Canadian Bombardier Global 6000 business jet and with computer and communications equipment for surveying and guiding fighters in a large airspace. It is capable of performing similar tasks to the much larger US AWACS like the E3-Sentry that has the typical rotating radar antenna (radome) mounted on top, but at a lower cost.
Saab GlobalEye in flight. Photo: Saab
Sweden has one GlobalEye already, and two on order. Denmark and Finland are considering buying, and it has also been pitched for Canada as an alternative to the US E3-Sentry option that Canada would traditionally have chosen. The E3-Sentry type is also operated by UK and France. Even if the Saab model is cheaper, it is still in the 400 million US dollar cost category, so it is a top level decision to buy.
Sweden has donated two of these types of aircraft to Ukraine, though in the earlier and almost obsolete version based on a smaller turboprop, the Saab 340 AEW&C ‘flying radar’. According to Military Watch Magazine , the first one has arrived and is active. According to social media sources, the AWACS aircraft has already played a role in the recent successes of Ukrainian jets venturing further into Russia and Russian occupied territory for bombing and air superiority missions.
An AWACs at a “lover cost”? I’m in!
Given that it’s designed for the Bombardier aircraft- as a Canadian, I suspect that we will likely be more responsive to purchasing this advanced Swedish technology. Another CETA win🇨🇦🇸🇪!