![As a plug-and-play solution, CMFF is agile by nature and Leonardo DRS is future-proofing the systems for emerging or new capability requirements. (Leonardo DRS photo)](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/As-a-plug-and-play-solution-CMFF-is-agile-by-nature-and-Leonardo-DRS-is-future-proofing-the-systems-for-emerging-or-new-capability-requirements.-Leonardo-DRS-photo-350x233.jpeg)
![Raytheon Wins Small Contract For Huge Program: SDB II Exports By 2018](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/Small-Diamater-Bomb-2-225x150.jpg)
PARIS AIR SHOW: Most coverage of the Small Diameter Bomb II has focused on when the F-35 will be able to use it — not ’till 2022 — instead of on the bomb program itself, which is moving ahead much more briskly. Frank Kendall signed the crucial Milestone C Acquisition Decision Memorandum putting the program…
By Colin Clark![France, Eager To Boost Exports, Touts ‘Combat Proven’ Gear](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/Combat-Proven-sticker-Paris-Show-2015-225x150.jpg)
PARIS AIR SHOW: Crowds thronged around the French Defense Ministry pavilion today, chatting with Rafale fighter pilots and the engineers who helped build the planes. It was a most unusual sight, all those civilians — with a fairly high percentage of women — listening intently to and then chatting with the pilots, who also stood in…
By Colin Clark![GE Jet Sets Record; Will F-35 Get New AETD Engine?](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2013/05/Afterburner-1-225x150.jpg)
PARIS AIR SHOW: Pratt & Whitney has refused to disclose the price of its F135 engines for the F-35 for quite a while, even while Lockheed Martin boasted it would bring down the price of the Joint Strike Fighter to $80 million a copy — including engine. Now we know why. At a Monday briefing…
By Colin Clark![Raytheon Sells Cyber At Air Show; Websense Acquisition Spurs Push](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/Raytheon-cyber-ad-PAS2015-225x150.jpg)
PARIS AIR SHOW: A cyber ad? Hey, it’s an air show, Raytheon. Of course, there’s no law against selling anything at an air show, but defense companies traditionally do sell planes, sensors, avionics, support equipment, et al. So when I spotted the big ad placed where about half of show attendees have to pass on their…
By Colin Clark![Textron’s Scorpion Heads To UK For RAF, Royal Navy Trials](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/Bell-Textron-Scorpion-225x150.jpg)
UPDATED: Adds Details On UK Demos; QinetiQ’s PIlots Will Fly PARIS AIR SHOW: When Textron unveiled the Scorpion I will admit I was a serious sceptic. Where was the market? Who were the likely customers? Why did they spend their own money on such a venture? The first crack in my skepticism occurred when Gen. Hawk…
By Colin Clark![$5B And 700 High Tech Jobs: Reasons Why F-35 Has Friends](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2012/04/f11-71897-225x150.jpg)
PARIS AIR SHOW: Critics of the F-35 have long wondered why friends and allies have stuck with the program. It can’t be, they argue, because of the aircraft’s capabilities. It is, they say, years behind schedule, billions over budget and won’t be able to deliver all its weapons for years. Ah, grasshopper, but there are…
By Colin Clark![Lockheed Hands Off Hybrid Airship To Commercial Reseller](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-16-at-11.03.52-AM-225x150.png)
PARIS AIR SHOW: After investing 20 years, substantial amounts of cash and using the time of some of its vaunted and scarce Skunk Works engineers, Lockheed Martin today announced it is handing off its Hybrid Airship to a commercial reseller. While Orlando Carvalho, head of Lockheed’s mighty aeronautics business, made clear to me that the…
By Colin Clark![SecAF James: Russia Is ‘Biggest Threat’; F-22s May Come Soon](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/07/Air-Force-Secretary-Deborah-Lee-James-225x150.jpg)
PARIS AIR SHOW: Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James came out swinging today here, forcefully telling reporters that she was here and traveling throughout Europe tp deliver a message of reassurance in the face of a “resurgent Russia.” “I would say, the biggest threat on my mind [is] the activities of Russia,” she said when asked by…
By Colin Clark![Airbus Mulls Bringing A400M To US](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/A400M-low-speed-test-225x150.jpg)
UPDATED: Air Force Acquisition Head LaPlante Leaves Door Open For Airbus PARIS AIR SHOW: The A400M can do things no C-130 can. It’s much bigger than a C-130. The air platform is reportedly incredibly stable in flight, raising the possibility of launching rockets from it or putting high accuracy guns on it. But it’s got a…
By Colin Clark![Boeing To Pentagon: Be Careful When You Pause IRAD Programs](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2013/09/UCLASS-Boeingd-225x150.jpg)
PARIS: The Pentagon’s decision to pause as it reconsiders what path to pursue with the drone fighter known as UCLASS prompted Boeing to send a warning note today that the US military had better keep its commitments if it wants companies to invest their own money in new technologies. Pressed by Rep. Randy Forbes and Sen. John McCain…
By Colin Clark![European Air Power: A Grizzly Outlook](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/06/Paris-Air-Show-2015-logo-225x150.jpg)
Douglas Barrie knows aerospace. He was the European mastermind of Defense News when I was editor and now he works for the respected International Institute for Strategic Studies. The core of his job there is analyzing global air power capabilities for IISS’ flagship publication, Military Balance. He’s authoritative. Here he writes about the Paris Air Show and the very uncertain state…
By Douglas Barrie
The Paris Air Show is dominated by the commercial sector, which in terms of market and money is clearly more important than the defense aerospace market. But the simple size of that civilian market is not the most critical consideration. As the aerospace world meets in Paris in 2015, national survival is becoming a more pressing concern…
By Robbin Laird