Paris Air Show 2015
Videos from the Paris Air Show
The Latest Stories from the Paris Air Show
PARIS AIR SHOW: The top Marine aviator, Lt. Gen. Robert Schmidle, announced a “very aggressive program” at the world’s largest airshow to bring down the costs of operating and maintaining the Marines’ F-35B model of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. His choice of Paris as the venue for the announcement spoke volumes. The international partners in…
By Colin ClarkPARIS AIR SHOW: If you think times are tough in the United States defense world, consider that three of Europe’s biggest defense companies, where defense budgets have been on a downward trajectory for a decade, have issued a plea for help building a European medium altitude drone. In a press release sent out simulatenously in…
By Colin ClarkPARIS AIR SHOW: “The word commitment should mean something. When I give you my commitment you should be able to trust that I’m going to do what I said I’m going to do.” That’s the message Orlando Carvalho, new head of Lockheed Martin’s iconic aeronautics business wants to send the US Navy, the service most…
By Colin ClarkPARIS AIR SHOW: Flight hour costs have dropped while readiness rates have improved for the V-22, a rare feat indeed for a modern combat aircraft. Critics have pointed to the V-22’s readiness rates and costs as yet another reason to curtail the program, but when I asked Marine Col. Greg Masiello, manager of the Joint…
By Colin ClarkPARIS: Our first video from the 2013 Paris Air Show. To loyal readers, we hope you celebrated our second anniversary yesterday. Our web site went live on June 15, 2011 at the last Paris Air Show. Since arriving in Paris on Friday, I’ve interviewed or taken part in media roundtables with more than a dozen…
By Colin ClarkAmerica’s defense industry is deep in economic pessimism but the rest of the world isn’t defined by sequestration and the Afghan drawdown, and that will be very clear at next week’s Paris Air Show. This year’s show will probably be defined by commercial aviation, especially the twin aisle jet market. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner will return…
By Robbin LairdPARIS: Psst. Hey mister. Wanna buy a UAV? China’s got drones for shooting, drones for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and drones for target practice. Cheap prices and no arms export restrictions. And China may grab a significant share of the international market for just those reasons, according to a new report by the U.S-China Economic…
By Colin ClarkThis year’s Paris Air Show promises to be one of the most lackluster for the defense sector in at least a decade. America is sending virtually no military aircraft to fly the all-important afternoon displays: no F-22s, no F-35s, no C-17s, no C-130s. American companies have scaled back their executives’ participation, not because it saves any…
By Douglas BarrieDeloitte LLP’s 2013 “Global Defense Outlook,” released today, is basically all bad news. Even the silver linings turned to lead when we talked them over this morning with the chief of the defense practice at the giant consulting firm, retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald. As US defense spending staggers, there are some other places…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Paris: A dozen Haqqani network leaders are meeting with Mullah Omar in a Pakistani safe house provided courtesy of Pakistan’s intelligence service. Outside the walled compound romp a few children, chickens and goats. Women are a few dozen meters away, sitting in the shade of a nearby tree. Under today’s rules of engagement — which…
By Colin Clark