Queen of air shows turns 51 with élan

·         All roads lead to Le Bourget

By Sangeeta Saxena

Paris. It is not just French wine, Eiffel Tower and Seine River which are cynosure of all eyes in Paris. Come the Parisian summer and the sky is the centre of attraction with metal birds of all shapes and sizes regaling the city with their displays. All roads lead to the Le Bourget and the one and all of the aviation world descend at the airport.  From 15 to 21 June, the aerospace industry will be in the spotlight in the aisles of the Paris Air Show, which is going to turn fifty one with élan. A superb showroom - the show  gives  an opportunity for industry players to meet, present their latest innovations , announce their marketing strategies, sales figures and deals and one upmanship is the mantra.

Established in 1909 and the world's oldest and largest air show, the Paris Air Show is a biennial event that aerospace professionals and lovers  will not dream of missing. Held every odd year at the oldest airport in France- Le Bourget Airport in north Paris- the show  is organised by the SIAE, a subsidiary of GIFAS, the French Aerospace Industries Association.

The show has come a long way since the first show created by André Granet and Robert Esnault-Pelterie which was held from 25 September to 17 October 1909 in Paris's Grand Palais. The venue was full to capacity and the success of this first exhibition led to wide acclaim for the event, which was then held annually. In 1909, 100,000 visitors attended the show to admire innovations from 380 exhibitors. This year  the show expects to host more than 2000 exhibitors from nearly fifty countries (France included), professional visitors from 181 countries (France included) exceeding 1,40, 273in numbers, approximately 300 official military and civilian delegations from hundred plus countries, more than three thousand journalists from around the world, a jamboree of nearly two hundred aircraft in both static and aerial display and it is the first Air Show worldwide to obtain the ISO 20121, rewarding their involvement in environmental matters.

 One dampener to the spirits at the show, will be the  US military aircraft which will not be a part of the  flying display at this year Paris air show. But  the US Air Force, with a contingent of up to a dozen types of aircraft in their inventory will compensate a bit.  "No US military aircraft will fly at the show," informed  the Paris air show's managing director Gilles Fournier whereas Russians will definitely display their fighter might in the skies. But the enthusiasm on the civil front is palpable with debuts from the two variants of Bombardier’s CSeries, a first Le Bourget flying display from the Airbus A350 and an expected maiden appearance in the skies of Dassault’s business jet, the Falcon 8X.

Also another attraction which becomes the talk not only of the town but of the world is the deals announced and signed. The orders battle between Boeing and Airbus, will no doubt be the news agenda. Bombardier, ATR, Embraer and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft will also have announcements to make and deals to sign.

Engine makers will also showcase themselves with claims that their engines will burn less fuel, need less maintenance and create less noise than the rival . Honeywell, Safran’s Turbomeca, CFM LEAP, Pratt & Whitney, GE Aviation, MTU and Rolls Royce are engine manufacturers who will see order bonanza at this year’s Paris  Airshow. Lesser told but the big stories are always engine orders at Le Bourget.

UAVs have unabashedly heralded as the bright future of warfare and surveillance, with exhibitors getting their drones to perform infront of the lucrative market. UAV business remains dominated by governments and law enforcement agencies, though commercial business is on the rise. Alongside the planes and helicopters on show at the Paris Air Show there will also be numerous displays of pilotless vehicles. Many of the latest are designed to carry weapons, and drones are already becoming common tools for surveillance, aerial video and photography. At the moment, the United States and Israel have a near monopoly on this lucrative market, but European players are trying to get in on the action. Israeli Heronby IAI, Italian Project Zero electric-powered UAV by Finmeccanica, Piaggio Aero's HammerHead, Parrot AR.drone 2.0 quadcopters to name a few will be the centre of attraction as always.

And can the display of missiles be left far behind at the air show? The talk of the show should be the locally developed Taiwani Hsiung Feng III “Brave Wind” surface-to-surface anti-ship missile is to be put on display abroad for the first time at Le bourget, along with other advanced weaponry and technical equipment produced by the nation’s defense and aerospace industries. All time favourites Raytheon and MBDA will be projecting their strengths and giving them tough competition will be Russian and Rafael missiles.

Among the thousands of reasons to visit U.S. exhibitors at the show is  the inaugural "HOT 100 List" which will spotlight the most innovative aerospace and defense initiatives and influencers in the U.S. International Pavilion.  As always the U.S. International Pavilion promises to showcases a concentrated cross-section of American companies, organizations, and industry advocates looking for new export opportunities and global business relationships. This year's Pavilion features more than 220 exhibitors.

On the other hand Russia is all set to be at Paris with  its largest aerospace industry representatives like the United Aircraft Corporation and United Engine Corporation, Rostec, Russian Helicopters, VSMPO-AVISMA and others. It will not only showcase but also be an active part of the flying display.

Apart from AVIC, 11 Chinese companies are expected to participate at this year's Paris Air Show, such as Commercial Aircraft Cooperation of China, China Great Wall Industry Cooperation, to demonstrate the latest results of China's aviation industry in technological innovation and enhance the overall integration into the world aviation industry chain. Also according to sources, Pakistan is reportedly planning to display up to three JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft at the show and one of the aircraft is also supposed to perform flight demo.

Brazilian Embraer will have only one ERJ-135 on show. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, will again display its Superjet 100 with partner Alenia Aermacchi. ATR will display a 72-600 at Paris. Japan’s Mitsubishi will have its  presence but no displays.

In addition to Falcon 8X dassault will show its other three in-service jets, the 900LX, 2000S, and the 7X. General aviation will be represented with three aircraft from Austrian airframer Diamond, including its new DA62, as well as the Pilatus PC-12 and RUAG Aviation’s Dornier 228. France’s Daher will be displaying its TBM 900 single turboprop for the first time at Paris. Gulfstream as always will be in the display area .

Choppers both military and civil mark their presence at Le Bourget by their extensive participation. Sikorsky’s S-92 and S-76B, Bell Helicopter’s   SLS, Bell 429 and Bell 407GX, AgustaWestland’s AW101, Super Lynx 300 , AW139 and AW119 Ke, NH90 by NH Industries and  Russian Мi-8/17, Мi-24, Мi-35М, Ka-62, Ka-52and Кa-32 amongst others will be the highlights of both the aerial as well as static display. Boeing-Bell product V-22 Osprey catches the most attention at the show and as always should be flying and adding beauty to the static area with its presence.

When it comes to the home continent pavilions from UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and many other medium and small representations from Europe will exhibit their aerospace technology and might.

Space agencies NASA and ESA will be showcasing their technology , achievements and larger than life models of rockets, launch vehicles and satellites. They will be complemented by numerous companies which are in the business of manufacturing for the needs of the agencies.

Industry at it’s maximum participation envisages Boeing, Finmeccanica, SAFRAN, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, SAAB, Honeywell, Airbus, Rosoboronexport, Sukhoi, MBDA, Bombardier, Embraer, RUAG, KAI, Pilatus, Dassault, Hawker Beechcraft, CFM, Rolls Royce, Israeli Companies, Sirkosky, Cobham, Goodrich and Eurocopter to name a few along with government agencies taking up sprawling spaces at the show.

Indian participation at the Paris Air Show led by  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has generally been a not-so-strong footprint. Unfortunately, there were no flight demonstrations by any Indian aircraft at the event for the last many shows. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Air India colours was the only Indian aircraft which was on display at the Paris Air Show 2013. Just keeping fingers crossed to see the tricolor in the Paris sky this time too.

DRDO's AWE&C attracts attention of the export market

Indian AEW&C System attracts export customers

By Sangeeta Saxena

New Delhi. It is South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia now, the list could get bigger. And this too before the aircraft has got officially inducted into the IAF. Governments have written to Indian government enquiring about the AEW&C for military and homeland security operations. The absolutely indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system which promises to be a critical eye-in-the-sky developed by DRDO’s Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), Bengaluru is suddenly the cynosure of all eyes.

Having flown more than 300 test sorties over different cities, it is only a step away from induction by the IAF this month. It is an effort to evolve a compact state-of-the-art airborne surveillance system for the Indian Air Force to mark a significant contribution to Defence preparedness by the DRDO with CABS (Bangalore) spearheading the programme as a nodal agency. The indigenous AEW&C is a multi-sensor system on a executive jet aircraft providing for all aspects of airborne surveillance.

The Indian AEW&C system will detect, identify and classify threats present in the surveillance area and act as a Command and Control Centre to support Air Defence operations, like AWACS. The system with its multiple Communication and Data Links can alert and direct fighters against threats while providing Recognizable Air Surveillance Picture (RASP) to commanders at the Ground Exploitation Stations (GES) that are strategically located. The AEW&C system can thus support Air Force in offensive strike missions and assist Forces in the tactical battle area. Besides, the Electronic and Communication Support Measures of the system can intercept and gather ELINT/COMINT from radar transmissions and communication signals.

It is a multi-sensor surveillance system that can perform operational roles as defined by the IAF like air space management, detection, identification, threat assessment and interception of airborne and surface targets. It will also suffice all weather day & night operations and have electronic intelligence gathering techniques. The Brazilian Emb-145 has been chosen as the platform aircraft for the AEW&C system. The aircraft modified for the role will have an additional Auxiliary Power Unit to power the radar systems. The cabin of the aircraft is being reconfigured to house five Operator Work Stations, four Racks to hold the mission system electronics, additional Fuselage Fuel Tanks and five rest crew seats. The platform aircraft is also installed with an In-flight Refuelling system to facilitate extended surveillance operations. The Emb-145 AEW&C I, as the indigenous system would be called, is capable of climbing to flight altitudes from where the radar can cover from ground level to maximum required altitude to detect airborne targets at a long range.

The AEW&C system is a multi sensor airborne surveillance system. It comprises of Primary Radar (PR) and Secondary Surveillance Radar(SSR / IFF) as the active sensors onboard. The Electronic Support Measure (ESM) and the Communication Support Measure (CSM) systems will aid in identification / classification, based on the various emissions from the targets. The Self Protection Suite (SPS) will comprise of Radar Warning Receiver(RWR), which may be incorporated in the ESM system, Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) and Counter Measures Dispensing system (CMDS). The AEW&C will have a 'C' Band data link and a 'Ku' band SATCOM link for air to ground communication. The C band Data Link and the 'Ku' Band SATCOM link will function as dual redundant system.

The AEW&C will also have a Mission Communication System (MCS) consisting of a set of five V/UHF sets for air to air voice and data communication. The Mission System Controller (MSC) of AEW&C system will integrate all the sensor data and form system tracks and carry out other system control functions. The intercept control segment of the Mission System Controller (MSC) will carry out the battle management function and will guide the interceptors and vector strike aircraft in addition to carrying out the recovery operations. The Data Handling and Display System (DHDS) will display the Air Situation Picture (ASP) on Operator Work Station(OWS) and will provide all facilities for the operators to interact with the AEW&C system.

The AEW&C mission sub-systems are tested in the System Test and Integration Rig (STIR) at CABS. CABS & LRDE have carried out radar performance tests on a Dual Segment Active Antenna Array Unit(AAAU) in a 100-ft test tower against opportune as well as assigned air targets. The radar performance in terms of range and azimuth-coverage has been assessed to match well with design performance values. The full-scale AAAU with fully-qualified Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) has also been collimated and Transmit- and Receive- pattern measurements done in the Planar Near Field Measurement (PNFM) facility at CABS. Other Sub-systems like the SSR, ESM, CSM, MCS, DHDS and DL have been airworthiness- qualified and put through rigorous functional and performance tests in the labs/ roof-top rigs/ hack aircraft.

Once airborne, the aircraft can fly continuously for five hours, or double that duration after air-to-air refuelling. It has the capability to track several hundred targets simultaneously in the air and on the ground, some even 350 km away, thus promises to be a great asset to the IAF.