paris airshow news 06-15-15

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

ParisAirshow NewsTM

www.ainonline.com

PUBLICATIONS

Monday 6.15.15

Show has lots of star quality, but some significant absenteesby Charles Alcock

Visitors streaming into the 51st Paris Air Show this morning will find plenty of novelty and variety from the more-than 2,200 exhibitors who have flocked to the French capital from around 45 difference countries.

In addition to the eagerly-anticipated world premier of Bombardier’s CSeries airliners, other Le Bourget debutantes this week include the Dassault Falcon 8X business jet, Textron AirLand Scorpion jet trainer, Cessna Grand Caravan EX special missions demon-strator and new version of Airbus’s E-Fan electric aircraft.

In fact, at an even 100, the total air-craft count for the 2015 show is mark-edly down compared to the 2013 event, when there were no fewer than 150 pres-ent. However, based on the aerial per-formances seen during validation flying in the past few days, quality will more than make up for reduced quantity.

That said, there are some nota-ble and surprising absentees from this year’s show. Sweden’s Saab is not exhib-iting. Nor is UK-based BAE Systems, apparently following the lead of the U.S. Northrop Grumman group, which deserted the Le Bourget show in 2011. oCSeries goes the distance

with 350-nm-range boostby Gregory Polek & Thierry Dubois

Bombardier yesterday confirmed sig-nificant performance improvements for its CSeries airliners, which are making their long-awaited debut at the Paris Air Show this week. At a press conference here at Le Bourget this morning, the Canadian airframer is expected to give details of how the aircraft are exceeding promised performance during flight testing, which is now around 65-percent complete.

For the larger CS300, the enhanced efficiency translates into an additional 350 nm of range, pushing it to 3,300 nm. An airline might also want to convert this into an extra 15 passengers for a given range, but the maximum seating capacity

remains at 160. Compared to the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max, the CSeries will have a 10-percent advantage in fuel consumption, according to Bombardier.

“We had good surprises on the airframe side, notably on aerodynamics,” Colin Bole, Bombardier’s senior vice president for sales and asset management, told reporters at the show site on Sunday. He would not elabo-rate on the performance of the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines, beyond saying that they are “at least as good” as expected.

Bole still anticipates the CS100 will be certified by year-end. The CS300 will follow by six months. The CSeries

Improved aerodynamics are credited for much of the performance uptick discovered in the Bombardier CSeries CS300 flight test program.

The high-performance hometown hero, Dassault’s Falcon 8X business jet is making its debut in the aerial displays here at the Paris Air Show.

Continued on page 4 u

Engines UAS Defense Spending Flight Tracking Finance

Leap Engine Taking Giant StepsCFM has the happy problem of trying to expand production capacity of its Leap engine to meet the needs of airframe OEMs. Output records have fallen the past two years. 8

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Report No other segment of the aviation industry has seen the growth experienced in this field. AIN experts have compiled a comprehensive review of not only the major suppliers but also the primary users. Page 24

F-35 Program Addresses Cost ControlConfronted with a congressional challenge, Lockheed Martin devised a “blueprint” to pare costs on its Lightning II. The goal is to reduce the flyaway price to one comparable with fourth-generation fighters. Page 40

Providers Say Current Gear Will DoIn the persistent wake of the MH370 disaster, ICAO has moved to initiate aircraft tracking procedures. Avionics providers have asserted that no new technology is needed to comply. Page 54

Sukhoi Has Big Plans for SuperjetFaced with challenges in providing financing options for its Superjet, Sukhoi and its parent company got creative in developing packages and strategies to spur the market. Page 85

How can I makeall my passengerscomfortable?

airbus.com© AIRBUS, 2015. All rights reserved. Airbus, its logo and the product names are registered trademarks.

Fly Airbus aircraft. Only Airbus offers more comfort in all classes on every

model with standard 18 inch wide seats in economy.

Airbus is the answer.

Airbus_AINShNs_1506.indd 1 04/06/2015 15:19

Dassault boss reviews an eventful 12 months by Chris Pocock

It’s been quite a year for Dassault Aviation, with major milestones for the Falcon busi-ness jet line, breakthrough export orders for the Rafale combat air-craft from Egypt and Qatar and the 100th flight of the stealthy Neuron UCAS demonstrator. So there was an air of quiet satisfac-tion about Eric Trappier’s pre-show media briefing on Friday.

Moreover, the company chair-man and CEO was “cautiously optimistic” that India will proceed with the full Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) re-quirement for 126 Rafale combat aircraft, not just the 36 that the country intends to buy from the French production line.

Trappier expressed hope that the contract for the first 36 jets could be signed in September. Dassault is awaiting that event before committing to an early increase in the Rafale production

rate. Right now, the company is still planning to maintain the rate at 11 aircraft this year and the same for next year. But six from this year’s production will go to Egypt instead of France, three of them “in the next few weeks,” Trappier confirmed.

Finding Local PartnersAmplifying on the negoti-

ations with India on further Rafale production there, Trap-pier said it was now agreed that Dassault would “take the lead and find local partners.” The MMRCA negotiations previous-ly foundered on whether state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) could take the re-sponsibility of prime contractor.

Trappier suggested that dis-cussions to revive the MMRCA deal could conclude by the end of this year. Among the other export prospects for Team

Rafale, which also includes Thales and Snecma, are Belgium, Canada, Kuwait and the UAE.

Dassault is the lead com-pany on the six-nation Neuron program. The 100th flight took place at Istres airbase in south-ern France this past February and was the most recent from French soil. The sole test vehicle has since completed some dozen flights from Decimomannu airbase in Sardinia in Italy and is en route for Sweden where the last few flights are scheduled. They include the release of a GPS-guided bomb on the Vidsel test range.

Trappier said that Dassault was talking to the French gov-ernment about a possible exten-sion to the program. Meanwhile, he will have a meeting with Brit-ish officials here next week on the follow-on Future Com-bat Air System (FCAS), which does not involve the other Neu-ron partners. Dassault and BAE Systems are working on a two-year FCAS study that was signed in November.

Last month, the defense min-isters of France, Germany and Italy declared their intent to fund project definition of a European

medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV. Trappier told AIN that he did not expect the coun-tries to ink the pact this week, because they have not yet decided how exactly to manage the proj-ect. Show-goers can view a model of a potential configuration on the Dassault stand (Hall 2a A251).

The Falcons and the Rafales are the glamorous side of the business, but there’s also the evergreen Dassault Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The company is upgrading 15 of

these for the French Navy as the ATL2 version.

Trappier took a dig at the UK for “giving up on mari-time patrol” via the controver-sial grounding of the Nimrods in 2010. In theory, Dassault could offer the UK some ATL2s if the country decides to reintro-duce an MPA after its current defense review. But Trappier isn’t wasting time on that possi-bility–“they’ll buy American” he confidently predicted, referring to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon. o

IFC says it’s ready to compromise on CSeriesby Vladimir Karnozov

Russian leasing group Il yu shin Finance Company (IFC) appears willing to lift its threat to cancel orders for Bom-bardier’s delayed CSeries air-liner. Following a trip to vis-it Bombardier in Canada early this month, IFC general man-ager Alexander Roubtsov told AIN that he hopes to salvage the deal for 39 CS300s with further meetings to be held this week at the Paris Air Show.

Roubtsov indicated that newly appointed Bombardier Commercial Aircraft CEO Fred Cromer could be the right person to get CSeries on track after a string of technical problems that has shaken the market’s confidence in the pro-gram. He said Cromer’s back-ground with leasing group IL-FC and Continental Airlines means he is more in tune with the customer’s perspective. “Our hope is that his team will manage to get Bombardier’s passenger aircraft business through current difficulties to success,” he commented.

But the question of fi-nancing IFC’s CSeries pur-chase continues to be a thorny

issue, with the leasing company now barred from export cred-it support through Export De-velopment Canada after the Canadian government imposed sanctions in retaliation for Rus-sia’s annexation of Crimea and alleged military support for separatists who have seized parts of eastern Ukraine.

Chinese Bank FundingAs a result, IFC, which is

also having to contend with a devalued ruble, has turned to Chinese banks as an alter-native source of funding, albeit at higher rates of inter-est than have been available to it in the West. “I cannot say their offers delighted us,” said Roubtsov. “But at least we have the chance to use Chinese funding for this and other procurements.”

Meanwhile, despite the mounting hostility between their respective countries, IFC and Ukrainian airframer An-tonov are cooperating over plans to support deliveries of the An-158 regional jet to Cu-bana, which at the 2011 Paris Air Show placed a $300 million

contract for 10 of the 99-seat-ers, the sixth of which is to be delivered later this month.

The two companies have worked together to maintain production of the An-148 and An-158, despite severe difficulties such as landing gear supplier YuzhMash, based in Dnepropetrovsk close to the ongoing conflict, being unable to complete de-liveries. Arrangements were made for Russia’s Gydro-mash to quickly step in to supply the equipment.

IFC has also expressed an interest in investing in China’s Avic MA-700 twin turboprop. The leasing group has also paid close attention to the joint plans by United Aircraft Corp. and Comac to develop a new generation widebody. It also has been a prominent backer of UAC’s MC-21 airliner.

Anticipating a possible lifting of international sanc-tions against Iran, IFC plans to resume active work with that country’s carriers. “Our contracts with Iranian col-leagues never got stopped or halted,” said Roubtsov. “Unfortunately, there have been no deliveries to this country because of the sanc-tions. Once they are gone, we will offer the Iranians all we can give them, including the Superjet, MC-21, Tupolev and Ilyushin airplanes.” o

4 Paris Airshow News • June 15, 2015 • www.ainonline.com

In the presence of French defense minister Yves le Drain and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier signs the contract for 24 Rafales last February. The breakthrough was one of many for the company this year.

program has suffered from a two-year delay due to various compli-cations, including problems with the engines.

At the start of Paris 2015, the CSeries has an order backlog of 243 airplanes and Bombardier is aiming to hit its sales target of 300 orders by the time the CS100 achieves certification. Bombardier Commercial Aircraft’s new presi-dent, Fred Cromer, played down

expectations that this week’s show will bring new orders. “It’s just five days like any other five days of the year,” he reflected.

Swiss International Airlines, which this spring committed to becoming the airplane’s first op-erator, is expected to take deliv-ery some time in the first half of next year. The European carri-er holds the key to proving the operating capabilities of the CSeries in revenue service, and perhaps to unlocking the sales potential it carries.

The CS300 will open the flying display at 1:30 p.m. every day. o

CSeries range boosted by 350 nmuContinued from page 1

PRATT TO RESUME GROUND TEST OF A320NEO ENGINEPratt & Whitney expects its PW1100G engines to resume certification

ground testing this week after a manufacturing defect in a 10-inch-diameter retaining ring in the combustor section resulted in the grounding of the Pratt-powered A320neo flight-test article.

Speaking Sunday at a Paris press briefing, Pratt & Whitney commercial engines president Greg Gernhardt explained that the company missed a step in the manufacturing of the part, and when the engine reaches operating tem-peratures the ring falls out of its retaining groove. Because the part resides in the combustor section, the fix requires that engineers “tear into the core,” said Gernhardt, a process that “does take some time.”

Pratt & Whitney has transported the two engines back to Connecticut to retro fit new retaining rings. “We have new parts available [and] we have changed the design slightly,” said Gernhardt. “We didn’t need to; we just had to go in there to make sure it was properly heat-treated, but we decided that since we had to go in there we’d put some positive retention to basically hold it in place.”

Ground testing will start with two engines unaffected by the problem and without the retrofit in place. Plans call for the retrofitted engines to arrive in Toulouse by the end of the month. “It actually works out about right,” said Gernhardt. “We do about two weeks of ground testing and by the time we finish that the retrofitted engines will be available.” –G.P.

Tested for years. Confi dence from day one.Deep inside an acoustic lab in Seattle, Washington, we put our scaled 4th-generation composite fan blades for the GE9X through extensive tests to ensure the technologycan deliver on its promises. It’s an extraordinary level of testing for an extraordinary engine – one with the lowest fan blade count of any twin-aisle available today.

See how GE is maturing the technologies that willmake tomorrow fl y at geaviation.com/GE9X.

81923_AIN_6.15_6.17_9X_fan.indd 1 5/22/15 1:30 PM

1,100+ E-JETS. 70 AIRLINES. 50 COUNTRIES.

E-JETS

The E-Jets E2 program has moved from concept to reality. We’re far beyond the milestone of

fi rst-metal being cut, and are now busy assembling the fi rst E2 prototype for fi rst fl ight next

year. The entire E2 family is on schedule, on target, and on the way to affi rming its position as

the world’s most preferred family of jets up to 130 seats. Our vision remains clear. And it is

taking shape today.

Our vision is taking shape.

In Boeing’s crystal ball single-aisles lead packby Ian Goold

Single-aisle airliners repre-sent an ever-growing propor-tion of new deliveries, while shipments of regional jets and large twin-aisle aircraft remain the smallest sectors, according to a new industry forecast. Boeing Commercial Airplanes predicts 20-year market requirements for just over 38,000 new commercial aircraft, up about 3.5 percent on its equivalent annual sur-vey 12 months ago. The U.S. manufacturer’s new current market outlook, published

last week, values all these machines at $5.6 trillion.

“The market continues to be strong and resilient,” according to marketing vice president Randy Tinseth. “We expect [it] to continue to grow,” he added.

The global airline fleet is seen as doubling from last year’s 21,600 machines to 43,560 by 2034, when trav-eler numbers are expected to have reached more than seven billion a year. Boeing suggests that almost six in 10

new aircraft will be needed to accommodate growth as traffic grows at a predicted 4.9 percent annual rate, close to 5-percent annual historic trends. The balance of new deliveries, just over 40 percent, will replace “a large and grow-ing number of aging aircraft” that will represent “about 2 to 3 percent of the installed fleet each year.”

Single-aisle, or narrow-body, designs continue to account for the bulk of deliv-eries, having increased from less than 60 percent of ship-ments forecast between 2005 and 2024 to more than 70 per-cent, or a total of 26,730 units, from 2015 to 2034.

“Carrying up to 75 per-cent of passengers on more

than 70 percent of airline routes, this sector is fueled by growth in low-cost carriers (LCCs) and airlines in devel-oping and emerging markets,” Boeing said. According to Tinseth, “LCCs will account for around 35 percent of the single-aisle market. They will require airplanes that com-bine the best economics with the most revenue potential.”

Small and medium-size twin-aisle, or widebody, air-craft will continue to com-prise 20 to 25 percent of new deliveries, while the U.S. manufacturer maintains its pessimistic view of pros-pects for very large aircraft. Boeing sees requirements for 8,830 new twin-aisle designs, “led by small widebody air-planes in the 200- to 300-seat range, a [continuing] shift in demand [away] from very large airplanes.”

Boeing predicts a small market share for regional jets, which has been stabilized at 6-percent market share since 2010, but well short of the 15-percent share commanded 10 years ago.

Finally, air freight traffic is forecast to increase at 4.7 percent annually as the mar-ket strengthens, according to Boeing. Some 920 newly dedicated freighters will be needed between 2015 and 2034, it predicts.

“We’ve seen two years of solid growth and we expect that to continue,” Tinseth concluded. o

Boeing Airplane Delivery Forecast Trend By Size

Airplane type Seats 2005-24 % 2010-29 % 2015-34 % 2015-34 $ value

Regional jets 90 and below 3,891 15.1 1,920 6.2 2,490 6.5 $100 billion

Single-aisle 90-230 15,276 59.5 21,160 68.5 26,730 70.2 $2.77 trillion

Small twin-aisle 200-300 3,183 12.4 7,100 23.0

4,770 12.5 $1.25 trillion

Medium twin-aisle 300-400 2,437 9.5 3,520 9.3 $1.22 trillion

Large twin-aisle 400 and above 907 3.5 720 2.3 540 1.4 $230 billion

Total 25,694 30,900 38,050 $5.6 trillion

Source: Boeing Commercial Airplanes current market outlooks: 2005, 2010, and 2015

Above: Boeing’s latest 20-year commercial airplane market forecast predicts that regional-jet deliveries will continue to account for a small 6.5-percent market share, much lower than the 15+ percent pertaining 10 years ago. Single-aisle designs constitute the vast majority of forecast deliveries, up from less than 60 percent of shipments in the 2005-2024 forecast to more than 70 percent during the 2015-2034 forecast. The proportion of new deliveries comprising small and medium-size twin-aisle aircraft remains between 20 and 25 percent, while the U.S. manufacturer maintains its pessimistic view of prospects for very large aircraft.

Right: Asia will provide the largest 20-year market for new commercial aircraft, according to Boeing, with about three out of eight such machines destined for customers in the region. North America and Europe each account for around 20 percent of new deliveries.

Boeing’s forecast envisions large aircraft, such as its 787-9, as relatively slow sellers.

Airshow News®

ParisFOUNDED IN 1972

JAMES HOLAHAN, FOUNDING EDITORWILSON S. LEACH, MANAGING DIRECTOR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – Charles AlcockEDITOR - INTERNATIONAL SHOW EDITIONS – Ian SheppardPRESS ROOM MANAGING EDITOR – Chad TrautvetterTHE EDITORIAL TEAM

GROUP PRODUCTION MANAGER – Thomas HurleyPRODUCTION EDITOR – Lysbeth McAleerTHE PRODUCTION TEAMMona L. BrownColleen Redmond

John A. ManfredoGrzegorz Rzekos

PHOTOGRAPHERS – David McIntosh, Mark Wagner

DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGNER – Colleen RedmondLEAD WEB DEVELOPER – Mike GiaimoWEB DEVELOPER – Evan WilliamsVIDEO PRODUCER – Ian Whelan AINtv EDITOR – Charles Alcock PRESS ROOM MANAGER & IT SOLUTIONS – Mona L. Brown

GROUP PUBLISHER – David M. LeachPUBLISHER – Anthony T. RomanoASSOCIATE PUBLISHER – Nancy O’BrienADVERTISING SALES – NORTH AMERICAMelissa Murphy – Midwest +1 830 608 9888Nancy O’Brien – West +1 530 241 3534Anthony T. Romano – East/International +1 203 798 2400 Joe Rosone – East/International/Middle East +1 301 834 5251Victoria Tod – Great Lakes/UK +1 203 798 2400

ADVERTISING SALES – INTERNATIONAL – Daniel Solnica – ParisMARKETING MANAGER – Zach O’BrienAUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – Jeff HartfordMANAGER OF ONSITE LOGISTICS – Philip Scarano IIIGROUP BRAND MANAGER – Jennifer Leach EnglishSALES/PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATOR – Susan AmissonADVERTISING/SALES SECRETARY – Cindy Nesline

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & HUMAN RESOURCES – Michele HubertACCOUNTING MANAGER – Marylou MoravecACCOUNTING/ADMINISTRATION STAFF – Mary Avella; Bobbie Bing

U.S. EDITORIAL OFFICE:214 Franklin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432Tel: +1 201 444 5075; Fax: +1 201 444 4647

WASHINGTON, D.C. EDITORIAL OFFICE:Bill Carey (air transport and defense) [email protected] Tel: +1 202 560 5672; Mobile: +1 202 531 7566Kerry Lynch (business aviation) [email protected] Tel: +1 703 969 9195

EUROPEAN EDITORIAL OFFICE:Ian SheppardHangar 9, Redhill Aerodrome, Surrey RH1 5JY, UKTel: +44(0)1737 821409; Mobile: +44(0)7759 [email protected]

U.S. ADVERTISING OFFICE:81 Kenosia Ave., Danbury, CT 06810Tel: +1 203 798 2400; Fax: +1 203 798 2104

EUROPEAN ADVERTISING OFFICE:Daniel Solnica78, rue de Richelieu, 75002 Paris, FranceTel: +33 1 42 46 95 71 [email protected]

Italian Representative: Diana Scogna; [email protected]: +33 6 62 52 25 47

RUSSIAN ADVERTISING OFFICE:Yuri Laskin, Gen. Dir., Laguk Co. Ltd.Russia, 115172, Moscow, Krasnokholmskaya Nab., 11/15 - 132Tel: +7 05 912 1346, +7 911 2762; Fax: +7 095 912 1260 [email protected]

THE CONVENTION NEWS COMPANY, INC. – AIN PUBLICATIONS

Paris Airshow News is a publication of The Convention News Co., Inc., 214 Franklin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432; Tel.: +1 201 444 5075. Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of The Convention News Co., Inc. is strictly prohibited. The Convention News Co., Inc. also publishes Aviation International News, AINalerts, AIN Defense Perspective, AIN Air Transport Perspective, AINtv, Business Jet Traveler, BJTwaypoints, ABACE Convention News, Dubai Airshow News, EBACE Convention News, HAI Convention News, Farnborough Airshow News, HAI Convention News, LABACE Convention News, MEBA Convention News, NBAA Convention News, Singapore Airshow News, Mobile App: AINonlinePrinted in Paris by Maury Imprimeur SAS, Manchecourt, FranceComputer Services: Léni, Lyon, France

Rick AdamsCaroline Bruneau Bill Carey David Donald Thierry DuboisIan Goold

Vladimir KarnozovChris KjelgaardGuillaume Lecompte-Boinet Kerry LynchReuben JohnsonNeelam Mathews

Liz MoscropChris Pocock Gregory Polek Mark PhelpsMatt Thurber

ELBIT’S KOLLSMAN ENHANCED VISION

Elbit Systems has been selected by the Shanghai Avionics Corp. (SAVIC) to pro-vide an enhanced vision sys-tem (EVS) for the single-aisle Comac C919.

The optional equipment will be a Kollsman Enhanced Vision System-Superior Performance (EVS-SP), which offers “the lat-est proven commercial tech - nology in cooled EVS,” accord-ing to its promoters. It will provide C919 operators the ability to see through some of the worst visibility conditions confronting pilots in the Asia Pacific region.

The Civil Aviation Au - thority of China (CAAC) has adopted current FAA rules, allowing pilots to go below the traditional decision height down to 100 feet, even if they do not see the runway with natural vision. –T.D.

Boeing Airplane Delivery Forecast

By Region 2015-2034Region Deliveries

Asia 14,330

North America 7,890

Europe (excluding CIS) 7,310

Middle East 3,180

Latin America 3,020

Africa 1,170

Russia & the CiS 1,150

Total 38,050


DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

© 2015 Raytheon Company. All rights reserved. “Customer Success Is Our Mission” is a registered trademark of Raytheon Company.

CYBERSECURITYOPERATIONS CENTERS.

CYBERSECURITYOPERATIONS CENTERS.

Raytheon deploys the people, processes and technologies you need to leverage industry-leading cyber defense and integrated

threat management. Our Cybersecurity Operations Centers effectively address advanced threats in high-risk environments,

enabling you to stay confi dent and in control.

CYBER SOLUTIONS

Learn more from our cyber experts on how Raytheon can help you secure your space.RaytheonCyber.com

Connect with us:

15IIS404_Cyber_AINShwNws_May15_Mv1.indd 1 5/18/15 1:58 PM

0 25 50 75 100

3C

4C

50K

50C41M41Y

Job Number: BOEG_BCAG_BRD_6373M_R3Client: Boeing

Date: 6/3/15

File Name: BOEG_BCAG_BRD_6373M_R3

Output Printed at: 100%

Fonts: Helvetica Neue 65

Media: AIN Show News

Space/Color: Page — 4 Color — Bleed

Live: 20 in. x 12.875 in.

Trim: 21.625 in. x 13.875 in.

Bleed: 22.125 in. x 14.125 in.

Gutter: .25 in.

Production Artist: S. Bowman

Retoucher:

GCD: P. Serchuk Creative Director: P. Serchuk Art Director: P. deKoninck Copy Writer: P. Serchuk Print Producer: Account Executive: D. McAuliffe Client: Boeing Proof Reader: Legal: Traffic Manager: Traci Brown Digital Artist: Art Buyer: Vendor: Garvey Group

Product: Commercial Airplane Company ApprovedDate/Initials

PUBLICATION NOTE: Guideline for general identification only. Do not use as insertion order.Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt.

If it is deficient or does not comply with your requirements, please contact: Print Production at 310-601-1485.

Frontline Communications Partners 1880 Century Park East, Suite 1011, Los Angeles, CA 90067

20 in. Live

21.625 in. Trim

22.125 in. Bleed

14.1

25 in

. Ble

ed

13.8

75 in

. Tr

im

12.8

75 i

n. L

ive

.25 in. Gutter

Built into every Boeing airplane is a relationship that transcends route maps and data points. It’s a personal

commitment to share your vision and understand your business like no one else can. A commitment that

continually delivers products, technologies and services that create bigger opportunities for you today and

tomorrow. It’s a nonstop commitment to superior value. That’s a better way to fly.

boeing.com/commercial

FROM SHARED VISION TO SHARED VALUEA BETTER WAY TO FLY.

Rolls steps up XWB-97 for Airbus’s A350-1000 by Ian Sheppard

With the Airbus A350-900 now in service, engine producer Rolls-Royce (R-R, Chalet 93) is turning its attention to the A350-1000 and the Trent XWB-97 engine, which is based on the -900’s Trent XWB-84. There also still is a significant “indus-trialization” effort going on for the -84, as production ramps up and more airlines take delivery. The A350-1000 is due to enter service in 2017.

Simon Burr, who was pro-moted to be R-R’s chief operat-ing officer for civil large engines in May, spoke to reporters three weeks ago referring to his expe-rience running the Trent XWB program until recently. He said the XWB-97 would make its first flight next year on Airbus’s A380 flying testbed (MSN001), and has “the largest fan Rolls-Royce has ever produced” –118 inches in diameter.

For now, the first test engine (one of four that have run to date) completed 150 hours of ground testing since its first run in July 2014. “It’s already gone to 99,000 pounds force,” said Burr. He added that engine (Serial No. 20021) is now being rebuilt to be ready for bird-ingestion and rail/hail tests this summer.

The key engine, however, is the flying testbed (Serial No. 26000), which will be close to the produc-tion standard and will be the first engine to fly. “The engine is com-ing together and will run [in June] and will be delivered to Toulouse in July so Airbus can pod it. This is a big milestone because in cre-ating the FTB [flying testbed] you

have to create all the tests associ-ated with the production engine.” With respect to a target certifi-cation date Burr would say only that, “It will be done when it’s ready, but way in advance of the aircraft flying…and that’s due to be in the second half of next year.”

Early AdjustmentsAfter the first 150 hours of

engine runs the company made “some adjustments mainly to the combustor thermal pro-file,” said Burr. Of the other test engines, 20022 will be used for endurance, 20023 for perfor-mance and fan testing, 20026

for icing and maturity, 20024 for the turbine and air system, and 20025 for telemetry testing.

Compared with the -84 the -97 engine is, obviously, larger with more thrust. It will “turn faster and run hotter to get the addi-tional thrust,” said Burr, who was quick to say that “the engine is still very comfortable.” In addi-tion, he said, the fan has been “tweaked” aerodynamically.

The result has been to obtain another 13,000 pounds of thrust with the same fuel efficiency, with the fan turning 6 percent faster than with the -84 to get a higher volume throughput. The

core of the engine is scaled up by 5 percent over the -84 and has unshrouded HPT (high-pressure turbine) blades. Overall, however, the company has come down on the side of commonality wher-ever possible, with 80 percent of line replaceable units being com-mon on the XWB engines.

With the first A350-900s hav-ing entered service with Qatar Airways, R-R is now working on an XWB-84 “maturity pro-gram,” alongside the industrial-ization. “Vietnam is shortly to get their first aircraft; the engines have been delivered already. And we’ve built the first engine for Finnair…and TAM will be toward the end of the year. We’re 100 percent on time on delivery for our engines,” said Burr.

The industrialization is “very important because of the order book.” (Overall, the 780 A350s have been ordered by around 40 customers). “Rolls-Royce has invested huge amounts in its facilities, such as UK Discs.” This plant in Washington, UK, is designed to produce 2,500 fan and turbine discs a year. Meanwhile, R-R has “put in a pulse line [for engine assembly] in Derby, which Burr described as “a big step forward in how we build our engines.” This was matured first in the Trent 1000 facility in Singapore; that engine powers the Boeing 787. o

Rolls-Royce’s is ramping up Trent XWB-series production as the Airbus airliners it will power roll out from the factories.

India’s Rafale buy spurs offset bizby Neelam Mathews

The clearance for the acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafales as part of India’s medium multi-role combat aircraft bid, following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in April, is attracting small and medium companies to enter into part-nerships to provide offsets for the $4.24 bil-lion deal. The latest to enter the fray is India’s OIS-AT (Hall 5 D210), which has signed a joint venture with French company Rafaut (Hall 2B C157), a specialist in weapons for aircraft interface devices.

OIS-AT (Offset India Solutions-Ad-vanced Technology) will “leverage Rafaut’s know-how on the manufacture of pylons and allied interface equipment that carry muni-tions and stores on aircraft and helicopters, at a new facility planned in Bengaluru [for-merly Bangalore],” said the Indian company.

Universal or specific pylon design, development and production are parts of Rafaut’s core business. For instance, its universal PU708 pylon can carry 30-inch standard armaments such as the SCALP cruise missile, GBU24 bombs, Rafaut 730

triple store rack and Rafale additional fuel tanks.

The joint venture will be an exclusive col-laboration for R&D, transfer of technol-ogy, manufacturing and marketing, as well as sales and services for a range of weapon-to-aircraft interface devices and flight control equipment and subsystems, according to OIS. “Rafaut has much to offer by way of technol-ogy and innovative design with state-of-the-art composite manufacturing techniques,” said Sanjay Bhandari, founding chairman and managing director of the OIS Group.

The partnership will “present our product range and foster collaborative relationships with India…Rafaut has had some of its sys-tems in use on the Indian Mirage 2000 for more than 30 years,” added Jacques Rafaut, chairman of Rafaut.

Meanwhile, OIS had participated in the military bid for 45 bird-detection and mon-itoring radars for India, for which Axis Aerospace was declared the lowest bidder. However, AIN has learned that the request for proposals was recently cancelled. o

OIS-AT and Rafaut are joining up to fill Dassault’s offset requirements in India.


Anyway you look at it, you’re ahead on all fronts

Delivering operational excellence in the most challenging scenarios. Equipping countless customers with total solutions to accomplish diverse missions. Customizing systems thatachieve far-reaching goals.Performance-proven time and time again in space, air, on land and at sea. No matter what,when or where. When results matter, you can count on IAI.

WhenResults Matter

[email protected]

PARIS AIR SHOW 2015SEE US AT

Chalet A210 & Outdoor Display


CARGO CARRIER INVESTS IN CNS/ATM UPGRADE A300S

An undisclosed European cargo airline has contracted Esterline CMC Electronics to upgrade its Airbus A300 fleet to ICAO’s standards for CNS/ATM (communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic man-agement). The avionics company will replace the existing flight manage-ment systems on the 21 A300s with its latest CMA-9000 FMS, including vertical navigation capability. Deliveries are due to begin in early 2016.

The upgrade will be installed under the existing Airbus A310 FMS sup-plemental type certificate, which covers up to around 400 other A300s and A310s. It consists of dual CMA-9000 units, providing the aircraft with multisensory-based navigational and operational capability. –C.A.

World’s most sophisticated bomb now ready for low-rate productionby Chris Pocock

After a six-month delay caused by a couple of test fail-ures, the world’s most sophis-ticated air-launched bomb is back on track. The Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II passed the Pentagon’s Milestone C review last month, and will soon enter low-rate initial production. The SDB II has a “tri-mode” seeker that allows simultaneous attacks in adverse weather and against moving targets at up to 40 nm range, from a subsonic launch at about 35,000 feet.

“We tripped a bit last fall,” admitted Jim Sweetman, Raytheon’s program director. He told AIN that the bomb failed a qualification test of its ability to withstand the type corrosive atmosphere to which it might be exposed on the [U.S.] Navy’s aircraft car-riers–salt-water spray and fumes. “That cost time, but we’ve solved it,” he said. Then there was an internal cable failure on the second live fire test that caused the bomb to miss its target. “We found the root cause, and the repeat test was successful,” he added. Sweetman noted that some half-dozen guided test flights last year without a warhead were all successful.

The tri-mode seeker in-cludes a semi-active laser, a millimeter-wave radar and an uncooled imaging infrared

seeker. Some other “smart” bombs have dual-mode guid-ance, but Raytheon officials are not aware of a compet-ing weapon with three guid-ance options. The predeces-sor SDB I offered only GPS guidance to fixed targets and did not contain the dual-band two-way data link of the SDB II. The first version was also heavier, with a necessarily larg-er warhead that did not feature the multi-effects shaped-charge/blast-fragmentation warhead of the SDB II. The second version is also smart enough to sort, cat-egorize and prioritize targets.

Despite the sophistica-tion, the SDB II is “afford-able,” according to Sweetman. U.S. Air Force assistant acqui-sition secretary Dr. William LaPlante said recently that the cost per round will be about $115,000, some $65,000 below the goal set when the SDB II entered development five years ago. Raytheon has managed its workforce well and controlled costs, he said.

The new weapon will be fielded first on U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, where the maximum load will be 28 bombs, although 16 will be the normal loadout, all on fuse-lage stations. Then the U.S. Navy will add it to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The SDB II is also slated for the F-35B and F-35C versions of the Joint

Strike Fighter. The smaller inter-nal weapons bays of the F-35B can each still carry four SDB IIs, plus an AMRAAM missile. But in any case, the Lightning II will not receive the Block 4 soft-ware required to drop the SDB II until 2022.

Jeff White, Raytheon’s SDB II business development man-ager, told AIN that export pros-pects for the weapon include operators of the F-15E, and all 13 of the F-35 international countries, because it will come ready-integrated with the stealth fighter. Raytheon’s British subsidiary is pitching the SDB II as a “low-cost, low-risk” alternative to MBDA’s proposal to meet the UK’s SPEAR (Selectable Precision Effects At Range) Capability 3 requirement. There is poten-tial for work on the SDB II worth some $500 million to be placed in the UK, includ-ing electronic subassemblies, fuses and integration onto the Eurofighter Typhoon, accord-ing to TJ Marsden, chief weapons system engineer with Raytheon UK.

Meanwhile, White told AIN that Raytheon is working on “translation software” for low-cost integration onto the F-16. That would allow European countries now flying the Fighting Falcon to start train-ing and using the SDB II before their F-35s arrive. o

A brace of Raytheon small-diameter bombs hang from a U.S. Air Force F-15E. The Strike Eagle will be the first operational platform for the second-edition SDB II.

Rolls-Royce and Airbus join to boost efficiency by Caroline Bruneau

When it comes to fuel effi-ciency, Rolls-Royce has proven a solid and trustworthy partner of Airbus. First, the enginemaker designed the Trent 900 for the super-jumbo A380 and now the Trent XWB for the new compos-ite A350-900. New evolutions are yet to come with the Trent XWB-97 for the stretched A350-1000 and the Trent Ten 7000 for the A330neo. This latest version should double the bypass ratio, halve the noise and offer 10 per-cent better SFC (specific fuel consumption). Testing should start at the end of 2015 for entry into service in 2017. Despite the focus on efficiency, Caroline Day, head of marketing and strategy at Rolls-Royce, insists that safety issues are at the cen-ter of research and growth for the engine manufacturer.

But Rolls-Royce is now tar-geting new evolution to increase efficiency and reach the ACARE (Advisory Council for Aviation Research and innovation in Eu-rope) goals. In 2050, accord-ing to ACARE, CO2 emissions should be reduced by 75 percent, and Rolls-Royce wants to con-tribute 30 percent on each air-craft to this objective. Similar

reductions are anticipated for NOx emissions. Rolls-Royce’s aspirations on noise reduction appears equally ambitious, ex-pecting a 65-percent reduction in the next 35 years.

To achieve this, Rolls-Royce is focusing on research and design. The open rotor, or UltraFan (Geared big fan), could be ready to fly around 2025, offering 25 percent more efficiency compared to the lat-est Trent XWB. Increasing the bypass ratio by 15, with big-ger blades and smaller core should help reduce both noise and CO2 emissions. New mate-rials and manufacturing will be involved in the future develop-ment. Additive layer manufac-turing, know as 3-D printing, will possibly be used for these engines. Rolls-Royce is also working on CastBond, a tech-nology combining cooling and manufacturing. The blades will be composed of a new mix called Cti (composite and tita-nium) and other advanced materials such as ceramic mix composites, aluminum tita-nium nitride (AlTiN) and nickel alloys. The UltraFan is forecast to fly before 2030, in less than

New technologies promoted by Airbus and Rolls-Royce, such as this open-rotor UltraFan, are expected to yield significant increases in fuel efficiency.

0 25 50 75 100

3C

4C

50K

50C41M41Y

Job Number: BOEG_BCAG_BRD_6374M_R4Client: Boeing

Date: 6/3/15

File Name: BOEG_BCAG_BRD_6374M_R4

Output Printed at: 100%

Fonts: Helvetica Neue 65

Media: AIN Show News

Space/Color: Page — 4 Color — Bleed

Live: 20 in. x 12.875 in.

Trim: 21.625 in. x 13.875 in.

Bleed: 22.125 in. x 14.125 in.

Gutter: .25 in.

Production Artist: S. Bowman

Retoucher:

GCD: P. Serchuk Creative Director: P. Serchuk Art Director: P. deKoninck Copy Writer: P. Serchuk Print Producer: Account Executive: D. McAuliffe Client: Boeing Proof Reader: Legal: Traffic Manager: Traci Brown Digital Artist: Art Buyer: Vendor: Garvey Group

Product: Commercial Airplane Company ApprovedDate/Initials

PUBLICATION NOTE: Guideline for general identification only. Do not use as insertion order.Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt.

If it is deficient or does not comply with your requirements, please contact: Print Production at 310-601-1485.

Frontline Communications Partners 1880 Century Park East, Suite 1011, Los Angeles, CA 90067

20 in. Live

21.625 in. Trim

22.125 in. Bleed

14.1

25 in

. Ble

ed

13.8

75 in

. Tr

im

12.8

75 i

n. L

ive

.25 in. Gutter

Boeing commercial airplanes are quieter than ever, significantly reducing noise near airports. They’re also the world’s

most fuel-efficient airplanes, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25%. And the Boeing ecoDemonstrator

program is accelerating the development and use of new technologies to further minimize aviation’s environmental

footprint around the world. That’s a better way to fly.

boeing.com/commercial

FROM PARIS TO QUIETERA BETTER WAY TO FLY.

CFM’s Leap engine is taking giant stepsby Charles Alcock

For CFM International, 2015 is a critical year in terms of pro-gram execution as the Leap engine family advances towards service entry on three new-gen-eration narrowbody airliners. On May 19, the first example of the Airbus A320neo powered by the Leap 1A made its maiden flight. Both the Leap 1B for Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft and the Leap 1C for Comac’s C919 are being evaluated on a 747 flying test bed operated by GE Aviation, which is partnered with Snecma in the 40-year-old CFM joint venture.

“This year is all about our ability to deliver on the promises we have made, both in terms of engine development and produc-tion,” CFM International presi-dent and CEO Jean-Paul Ebanga told AIN in an interview ahead of the Paris Air Show. “We’re convinced that this will be truly disruptive technology.”

CFM is preparing to deliver a total of 11 Leap 1A engines to Airbus for testing on its A320, 321 and 319neo aircraft. Airbus expects to complete certification of the Leap-powered aircraft in mid-2016, with the version powered by the rival Pratt &

Whitney PW1100G turbofan due to be approved around the end of 2015.

Next year should also see certi-fication of the Leap 1B engine for Boeing’s three 737 Max twinjets (the -9, -8 and -7 variants), which are due to enter service in 2017. Later this year, CFM expects to deliver the first Leap 1Cs to China’s Comac for the C919. For this program, CFM, with its sib-ling Nexcelle, is providing a com-plete integrated powerplant, that also includes a full nacelle, inlet, cowl and thrust reversers.

To date, CFM has logged almost 9,000 Leap engine orders

and the company is acutely focused on the need to deliver these on time and according to specification. According to Ebanga, some 28,000 examples of the existing CFM56 turbofans have been delivered to airframers and not one of these has delayed the delivery of an airliner.

According to Ebanga, CFM’s transition to production of the Leap family marks the first time in industry history that a man-ufacturer will have switched to a new product when the exist-ing product is at its peak rate of production. “The CFM56 pro-duction rate has increased year-on-year for the past 10 years,” he pointed out.

The company expects to con-tinue producing CFM56 parts for at least another 30 years, until 2045. It cannot be sure when the transition to an all-Leap produc-tion line will be complete since this will effectively be determined by the rate at which Boeing and Airbus continue to produce their respective 737 and A320 families with their original powerplants.

The foundation on which CFM is establishing Leap pro-duction is a multi-national supply

chain that Ebanga claimed is the most global in the aero-engine industry, and which is currently producing around 1,000 turbo-fans per year. Most of the exist-ing CFM56 partners are also involved in the Leap program. The main difference is in the new technology parts, such as resin-transfer molder composite fan blades, for which the CFM part-ners GE and Snecma are setting up new factories, respectively in New Hampshire and France.

“No-one is better equipped than us to deal with this ramp up,” said Ebanga. “Getting to production readiness for Leap has been a five or six year jour-ney.” Running in tandem with the Leap program’s technology

‘tollgates,’ which signify whether the engineering work is progress-ing in a satisfactory way, CFM also has conducted sequen-tial manufacturing readiness reviews to ensure that produc-tion planning is keeping up with development tasks. The Leap manufacturing team based at GE’s Cincinnati, Ohio, head-quarters is co-located with the program development team.

According to Ebanga, GE and Snecma have invested more than $800 million to build new factories for Leap, as well as to upgrade existing facilities. “We have already stess-tested the production system to deal with surges [in output] to the highest possible rates and this process

CFM International president and CEO Jean-Paul Ebanga

CFM International’s Leap 1A engine made a first flight on an Airbus A320neo in May. CFM International’s Leap 1B engine began flight testing on GE’s Boeing 747 flying test bed in late April, below.

TRAINING SYSTEMS INTEGRATOROffering training centres, training services and simulation products to deliver comprehensive, immersive training solutions to global defence and security forces.

@CAE_Defence

www.ainonline.com • June 15, 2015 • Paris Airshow News 19

has been applied to our inter-nal supply chain as well as to our external suppliers,” he told AIN.

Technology Leadership“When I joined CFM four

years ago, some people in the mar-ket were still trying to understand the path we chose with Leap,” said Ebanga. “Four years down the road, the industry got it, finally, not only because we have dem-onstrated that Leap has met the expectations we had for it but also because there is generally a greater awareness of the new technologies we have used. These include genu-ine industry-firsts that others have now embraced, such as additive manufacturing, which we were the first to talk about, and car-bon fiber composite fan blades, for which we will have the first in commercial service.”

According to Ebanga, GE was two generations ahead of the rest of the engine industry with car-bon composite technology. It first introduced laminate technology to the GE90 engine and views the three-dimensional woven materi-als employed for Leap as repre-senting the second generation of composite technology.

“With additive manufacturing, the question isn’t whether or not we can use it for Leap parts, but how are we going to optimize the technology to produce a high vol-ume of parts,” said Ebanga. “Each Leap engine has 18 or 19 fuel noz-zles, and by 2020 we will be build-ing at least 1,900 Leap engines. So at that point no-one else will be producing nozzles on that scale, around 36,000 per year.”

According to Ebanga, Leap customer-support initiatives are being prepared “with the same level of intensity” as the develop-ment and manufacturing process. “We have prepared a learning experience for the [airline] cus-tomers so that they have the right level of organization and pro-cess to deal with the engine after entry into service,” he explained. So far, there are almost 60 Leap customers, compared with the 550 CFM56 operators world-wide. “Most [Leap] operators will do about eight-to-10 flights per day and our goal is to help them to have a flawless entry into service,” he said. o

Leap Testing Set to Climax This Year

The majority of Leap engine certification testing will be com-plete by the end of 2015, which CFM Leap program manager Gareth Richards described as “our most intense year of testing, ever.” As of last month, there were 33 Leap engines involved in various tests at GE Aviation’s Boeing 747 flying testbed site in Victorville, Cal-ifornia, as well as in Peebles, Ohio, and at two Snecma sites in France. By comparison, Richards pointed out that the larger GE90 turbofan development program involved only seven engines.

Richards explained that all three Leap engines have been opti-mized for their respective aircraft but share a common design philos-ophy. “So we do apply the lessons learned from all tests when they

apply universally,” he told AIN. “For instance, we can use software to tune the way an engine operates through factors such as controlling clearances [between the case and the fans].” Other changes include improvements to the coating systems for the inside of the cases.

Even before the Leap engines take to the air on their respec-tive new airliners, CFM has tested their full flight envelopes on its own flying testbed and completed bird-strike and blade-out tests.

CFM uses the flying test bed to validate engine performance, and this process continues while flight-testing the new aircraft themselves. Other important tests include those needed to ensure that the engines will cor-rectly interface with all related systems, such as fuel tanks. Other tests

include assessing the engines’s acoustical and emissions performance.“We’re very confident that we will reach the promised specifi-

cations [for factors such as fuel burn], and we’ve made big finan-cial guarantees to back up this commitment,” said Richards. “We could have chosen to go further [in terms of fuel efficiency] by running the engine hotter or at higher pressure, but we chose not to do that, because Leap engines will be used for shorter flights of around one or two hours and so durability and maintenance costs are bigger considerations. We’ve reserved further advances in fuel efficiency for future developments, because Leap is going to be around for 30 years or so.” –C.A.

The PC-12 NG is part pacemaker, part insider tip. Its short-field performance lets you

say yes to trips that used to give you headaches. Its operating costs come in much,

much lower than competing aircraft. The large cabin makes it a joy for riders. And its

renowned safety and reliability are backed by the industry’s top-rated support. All in

all, a workhorse that looks good, any way you look at it.

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd • Switzerland • Phone +41 41 619 61 11 • www.pilatus-aircraft.com

1200 HORSEPOWER AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

PLEASE VISIT US AT PARIS AIR SHOW CHALET A278


Lisi benefits from recent acquisitionsby Guillaume Lecompte-Boinet

Since acquiring two busi-nesses–Creuzet in 2011 and Manoir Aerospace one year ago–Lisi Aerospace (Chalet 155, Hall 2b C172) has expanded its products for OEMs, from

major structural components for engines and airframes, to simple fasteners. “We can now offer a full assembly process to our customers,” said Emmanuel Viellard, CEO of Lisi Aerospace,

and one of the stakeholders of France-based Lisi Group.

The structural components division operates under the brand name Lisi Aerospace Creuzet, while the core business

of Lisi Aerospace (Lisi Group, Belfort) is metal deformation, complemented by heat treat-ment, machining, coating and assembly. Overall, aerospace represents more than 60 percent of total business at Lisi Group, which last year amounted to €1.3 billion ($1.45 billion). The group employs almost 7,000 peo-ple at 19 manufacturing sites in

eight countries. Moreover, Lisi Aerospace is the most profitable and fastest growing subsidiary of the group, which also has auto-motive and medical subsidiaries. The core business represents 96 percent of the group’s 2014 free cash flow and has grown 33 per-cent, from €592 million in 2012 to the €788 million achieved in 2014 (respectively, $657 million to $874 million). Viellard fore-casts even more growth in 2015, even if it’s at a slightly lower rate from the previous year.

Lisi Aerospace is one of the main fastener suppliers to Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Bombardier and Boeing, thanks, in part, to the acquisitions, but also to the strong market in aviation. Fasteners account for two thirds of Lisi Aerospace’s revenues.

Increased Production RatesThe French company has

enjoyed increases in produc-tion rates of components for the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 families over the past three years. Combined, the OEMs recently announced planned monthly rates of 52 narrowbod-ies a month (possibly as many as 60) for the 737 and A320 pro-grams. That’s good news for suppliers such as Lisi. “We will be ready to address this chal-lenge,” commented Viellard. The Dreamliner also represents solid activity, and Lisi Aerospace will have further growth opportuni-ties with the A350 ramp-up.

Since the integration of Creuzet and Manoir Aerospace, Lisi Aerospace has added a new business line incorporating air-frame components and sub-assembly, notably for engines and nacelles. For example, Lisi Aerospace provides blades, leading edges and air-intake components for airliner engine programs such as the CFM56 and the Leap powerplants. “Leap’s ramp-up is the big chal-lenge for us because a swing [in production] will occur between the CFM56 and the Leap in the next 24 months,” said Viellard.

In order to prepare, the com-pany has started building two new factories, one in Parthenay (in the west of France) to pro-duce the guide vanes for the Leap engines, and the other at Villefranche-de-Rouergue (southwest France) for Leap fasteners. During the past four years, Lisi Aerospace has invested more than €50 mil-lion annually in new factories, not only in France but also in Morocco and Turkey. “We still have some difficulty recruiting workers in France with good skills,” said Viellard. o

Client: Pratt & Whitney Commercial EnginesAd Title: Pure Profi t.Publication: AIN Int Airshow News - June 15 & 17, Day 1 & 3 Trim: 10.8125” x 13.875” • Bleed: 11.0625” x 14.125” • Live:

PurePower Geared Turbofan Engines

On Time On Spec On Wing

For Your Operations

Meeting performance specifications and certification deadlines, our PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ engine improves fuel burn by more than 16% over today’s best engines. That’s pure proof of performance. For operators of today’s next-generation airliners, it’s pure profit. Learn more at PurePowerEngines.com.

On Time On Spec On Wing

Paris Air Show: C2

34789_PP_PureProfit_AINIntAirShowNews.indd 1 5/29/15 2:12 PM

THE NAVITIMER 46 mm

A N I C O N J U S T G O T L A R G E R

CA106727_Navitimer46mm_563x359_International Air Show (AIN).indd 1-2 21.04.15 14:34


UNMANNED AIRCRAFT & SYSTEMS

Israel’s UAVs find new roles as hunters and data gatherersby Chris Pocock

Outside of the U.S., Israel is the country that has the most experience in developing and deploying UAVs. As European industrials and operators play catch-up, they can learn from Israeli practice that has been forged on the anvil of war with neighbors as well as internal conflict. In a recent presenta-tion in London, Dr. Tamir Libel described the evolution of UAVs in the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

It was during the largely for-gotten “War of Attrition” with Egypt along the Suez Canal in 1969-70, that one intelli-gence officer tired of the lengthy 24-hour cycle of tasking, pro-cessing and dissemination asso-ciated with the IAF’s RF-4 Phantom reconnaissance mis-sions. Besides, those flights were increasingly hazardous, as Egypt deployed more and more SA-2/3 surface-to-air missiles. So he fit-ted a camera to a radio-con-trolled drone and flew it over the Egyptian side of the canal.

By the end of this conflict, Israel decided to acquire Firebee and Chukar UAVs from the U.S. Using these, the first IAF UAV squadron performed well in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The loss of many IAF combat aircraft to lethal SA-6 SAM batteries in that war spurred the develop-ment of Israel’s first indigenous reconnaissance UAVs–the IAI Scout and the Tadiran Mastiff. By the time of the First Lebanon War in 1982, they provided feed-back in real-time, and proved valuable in the IAF’s efforts to counter Syrian-operated air defenses in Lebanon.

Thereafter, the IAF adapted its UAV operations to the low-intensity conflict in the occu-pied territories and Lebanon. In the latter, Hezbollah was prov-ing adept at camouflaging its forces, and Israel required sur-veillance capabilities that only UAVs could provide. By 1992, the IAF’s UAVs were equipped with laser designators to mark Hezbollah targets, including those on the move, for strikes by fighters and attack helicopters.

By the time of the Second Intifada on the West Bank in 2000-07, which coincided with a suicide-bombing campaign in Israeli cities, UAVs were integral to the Israeli state’s response. Nevertheless, Dr. Libel said, the IAF leadership remained “some-what skeptical” about the contri-bution that UAVs could make, and was reluctant to assign core missions to them, or develop doc-trine that fully embraced their potential. In the field, however,

lower echelons were steadily gaining expertise in coordina-tion between UAV, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter opera-tions. And the domestic security service Shin Bet certainly recog-nized the potential for UAVs in the counter-terrorism role.

Since 2006, the main focus of Israel’s UAV operations has been the Gaza Strip, during Operations Cast Lead (2008-09); Pillar of Defense (2012); and Protective Edge (2014). During these campaigns, joint plan-ning and training between the Army, the IAF and other Israeli intelligence and security agen-cies has accelerated. So has the government’s use of UAV imag-ery to boost public morale, for instance through postings to the

Israeli Defence Forces’ YouTube channel. Dr. Libel also noted that data collected by UAVs is increasingly used to provide legal justification for military actions. However, he said, there is not much public discussion on the morality of using UAVs for attack missions, with the accom-panying risk of civilian casual-ties. Indeed, Israel has never officially confirmed that its UAVs are armed. Nevertheless, Dr. Libel added, the persis-tent and real-time intelligence gathering that is possible with UAVs does decrease the collat-eral damage in the dense urban terrains of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Helicopter Stand-insToday, UAVs often replace

attack helicopters on close-air-support missions, according to Dr. Libel. The IAF’s AH-1 Cobra squadron was deactivated last year at Palmachim airbase–the same one that houses three of the four UAV squadrons, and the UAV School. One of these squadrons operates IAI Heron 1s, another has IAI Heron 2s and the larger Heron TP, and two have the Elbit Hermes 450. Dr. Libel cannot confirm whether Elbit’s latest Hermes 900 prod-uct has entered IAF service. The School–established in 2002–has helped develop a UAV concept and doctrine that was previously missing in the IAF. It also ensures that the IAF’s UAV operators are fully conversant with the army’s equipment and procedures.

Israel has avoided the inter-service arguments about “roles and missions” that has dogged the deployment of UAVs in the American and some other armed forces. In 2000, the Chief of the General Staff in Israel decided that the IAF would operate all UAVs. Since then, mini-UAVs have been developed, and these can be deployed by Army battal-ions. But according to Dr. Libel, Israel has not yet developed a new “theory of war” that fully embraces the potential of UAVs, and military robotics in gen-eral. The prospects for moving unmanned platforms from a sup-porting to a leading role “seem bleak,” he said. o

Dr. Tamir Libel is a visit-ing scholar in the Department of Political Science at the University of Trier and nonres-ident fellow at the Centre for War Studies, University College Dublin. Additional material used above is taken by AIN from an article that Dr. Libel wrote for the RUSI Journal, April 2015, with co-author Emily Boulter.

Special ReportE

LBIT

SY

STE

MS

IAI’s first UAV, the Scout, debuted in 1977. It was succeeded in Israeli service in the 1990s by the Searcher.

IAI

IAI

ELB

IT S

YS

TEM

S

Hermes 450, developed by Elbit Systems, came out in 1998. Like its rival Heron, it has been widely exported. Right, The IAI Heron first flew in 1994 and has since been widely exported, as well as serving the Israeli air force.

Hermes 450

AT-6 WOLVERINEAT-6 WOLVERINE

©2015 Beechcraft Corporation. All rights reserved. Beechcraft is a registered trademark of the Beechcraft Corporation.HELLFIRE is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All rights reserved.

The world’s most advanced surveillance and a full array of armament give you eyes on the target and laser-

guided precision firepower to hit it, with minimal collateral damage. To defend your territory from incursion,

insurgency and irregular warfare threats, call on the Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine Light Attack aircraft. HELLFIRE®

missile capability. Hardpoint versatility. Full NATO interoperability. On the U.S. military’s most proven platform.

For more info, contact: +1.316.676.0800 | Visit us at BeechcraftDefense.com.

Client: Beechcraft DefenseAd Title: AT6 - Wolverine - Territorial DefensePublication: AIN Show News - June 15-16 - Day 1 & 2Trim: 10-13/16” x 13-7/8” • Bleed: 11-1/16” x 14-1/8” • Live:

See the Wolverine at Textron’s static display in Pavilion A4

33295_AT-6_Wolverine_AINShowNews.indd 1 5/22/15 11:23 AM


The revolutionary but thorny U.S. Predator-Reaper programby Chris Pocock

Controversy is never absent from the U.S. Predator/Reaper program. Perhaps that is inevi-table, with such a revolutionary capability. But 20 years after the first Predator went into service, the issues remain numerous and persistent. Some of them have now been given the Hollywood treatment, in the newly released film Good Kill.

For a mass audience, that film explores the moral and ethical issues of remotely con-trolled warfare. But it also fea-tures the ongoing jurisdictional debate over CIA versus U.S. military operational control, and the motivation and training problems that beset the MQ-1/9

program. Other issues that occupy program officials and observers include the data deluge from persistent UAV operations that overwhelms the analysts, procurement procedures, export-ability, airworthiness and the vulnerability of the platform in anything other than a benign air defense environment.

Summing up the way this pro-gram has evolved, Lt. Gen. Bob Otto, U.S. Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveil-lance and reconnaissance (ISR), said recently: “Crisis has become the steady state.” Speaking at an AFA breakfast meeting in Washington, Otto noted that “the unconstrained demand

for ISR” can never be met. He recalled that when there were 11 full-motion video (FMV) combat air patrols (CAPs) over Iraq in 2005-07, Centcom com-manders complained they were meeting only a third of their requirement. “Now we have 65 CAPs, yet Centcom says they are still meeting only 21 percent of the requirement,” he pointed out.

The shortage of UAV pilots has been much discussed by the U.S. military leadership in recent months. In January, U.S. Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh described the problem in stark terms: “We can train only about 180 people a year and we need 300-a-year trained, and

we’re losing about 240 from the community each year.” His MQ-1/9 pilots currently fly six days in a row and work 13- to 14-hour days on average. The service has doubled their incen-tive pay. Instructors are also in short supply: the training squad-rons at Holloman AFB are one-third short of their assigned manpower levels. The U.S. Army has similar problems, although somewhat mitigated by the use of enlisted personnel as pilots.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) reported last March that its family of UAVs logged one million flight hours between 1994 and 2010. In the next four years, they amassed a further two million hours. The family now includes the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle (152 on order) as well as the MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers flown by the CIA; the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); NASA; the U.S.

Air Force; and the air forces of France, Italy and the UK.

GA-ASI produced 248 Predators for the U.S. Air Force between 1994 and 2011. About 140 of them are still in service; the other 100 have been written off in landing and other acci-dents, and a few shoot-downs. Their service life has been extended to at least 20,000 hours, based on nondestructive inspec-tion of high-time aircraft.

Introduced in 2001, the larger Reaper has a much better safety record. The U.S. Air Force fleet of MQ-9s is now nearing 200, and GA-ASI continues to pro-duce three per month, with the capacity to double that rate if required. The Air Force wants to phase out the Predators and buy a total of 346 Reapers by 2019. That plan has been criticized by the Pentagon’s own inspector gen-eral. Recent budget documents quote a planned total spend of over $6.6 billion on Reaper pro-curement, of which $4.5 billion will have been disbursed by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. The total includes sensors, com-munications equipment, weapon kits, ground control stations, simulators and other training devices, as well as spares and contractor support. Most of this is supplied by GA-ASI, includ-ing the Lynx surveillance radar, although Raytheon supplies the primary Multispectral Targeting System MTS-B EO/IR sensor and laser designator (improved DAS-2 version on the Army’s Gray Eagles). Raytheon also offered an alternative ground sta-tion, without success. L-3 Com supplies the data links.

After much criticism, GA-ASI has been improving the ground control station (GCS) for the MQ-1/9. The original version (above) is being replaced by better versions, including the advanced GCS (left).

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT & SYSTEMS Special Report

The U.S. Army ordered 152 copies of an upgraded MQ-1 Predator that is known as the Gray Eagle.


GUARDIAN 400TWIN OTTER

The Pentagon has spent a fur-ther $966 million on RDT&E to upgrade the MQ-9 alone, with another $616 million planned. It will cost an additional $2 bil-lion to modify in-service aircraft. The long list of desired improve-ments to the Reaper, some of which are under way or already implemented in the Block 5 ver-sion, includes:» Extended-range kits to boost

endurance without weap-ons from 27 to some 33 to 35 hours, through external fuel tanks. The mtow is increased from 10,500 pounds to 11,700 pounds. Alcohol water injec-tion is used to shorten takeoff length, especially from hot-and-high airfields. Seventy-two kits have been funded through FY2015. GA-ASI is addition-ally offering a 13-foot wing extension to further increase the fuel capacity.

» Anti-icing provision on the wings, tails and engine inlet.

» Automatic takeoff and land-ing system (ATLS)–already a standard feature of the Army’s Gray Eagles.

» Redundant avionics and a rede-signed forward avionics bay.

» High-definition camera upgrade to the MTS-B sen-sor, and addition of the “step-stare” function that converts FMV to still-frame imagery.

» Lynx radar improvements to both SAR and GMTI modes, including the ability to iden-tify dismounted (e.g., small) targets, which has proved dif-ficult with the current version from higher altitudes.

» Data link upgrades, including compliance with the common

data link (CDL), encryption, secure voice communication and IP networking. The status of a plan to migrate from com-mercial Ku-band satcom to mil-itary Ka-band satcom is unclear.

» Navigation and electrical sys-tems upgrades.

» Improvements to the sensor/stores management computer.

» MIL-STD-1760 weapons data bus.

» Integration of new weapons such as new AGM-114 Hellfire vari-ants, GBU-12/38/49/54 guided bombs and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) variants.

» Hardware and software upgrades to the ground con-trol station, including multi-aircraft control in transit, new LINUX processors, high-defi-nition monitors, open-systems architecture and ergonomic improvements, resulting in new Block 30 and 50 standards (the latter is called the “Advanced Cockpit” by GA-ASI).

» Airworthiness certification.This last item is currently a

major activity for GA-ASI. It is redesigning the Reaper struc-ture for protection against icing and lightning strikes, and for a

defined fatigue life. The flight- and ground-control software is being requalified to certification standards. The first flight of the “certifiable Reaper” is scheduled for late next year.

Meanwhile, the company has been flying its own Due Regard Radar (DRR) together with a TCAS II collision avoidance sys-tem on an Ikhana (the NASA version of the Reaper, which, it should be noted, GA-ASI con-tinues to call the Predator-B). A preproduction DRR flew in February, when GA-ASI said that it was “the first fully

functional air-to-air radar” on a UAV that meets the requirements for “due regard” operations in international airspace. The com-pany added that its sense-and-avoid system was “ready for a customer to conduct an opera-tional test and evaluation.”

In February the U.S. gov-ernment issued a new policy on the exportability of vari-ous unmanned systems. These were previously constrained by the U.S. desire to adhere to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a diplomatic agreement among 34 countries, as well as Washington’s perennial concerns about the export of sen-sitive and advanced technology.

Meanwhile, GA-ASI has been flying an unarmed export version of the MQ-1 for almost a year. The Predator XP has now been licensed for sale to countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South America and Asia. It includes a FLIR Systems Star Safire FMV camera, Lynx multimode radar, satcom, the automatic identifi-cation system (AIS) for maritime patrol, the automatic takeoff and landing system, and triple-redun-dant avionics. The first produc-tion aircraft is due for delivery next year–probably to the UAE.

European AccordThe larger and more capa-

ble Reaper has been exported only to France, Italy and the UK. European angst at the lack of a homegrown competitor to the American product (and its Israeli analog, the IAI Heron) finally resulted last month in a tri-nation agreement to fund a project definition study for a Euro-MALE (medium-altitude long-endurance) UAS. But GA-ASI continues to press the merits of the Reaper to Germany, the Netherlands and

The jet-powered and stealthy Predator-C has been deployed by the U.S. on a classified program, and is also proposed by GA-ASI for the U.S. Navy UCLASS requirement.

The GA-ASI Due Regard Radar (DRR) has been added to the nose of this MQ-9 Reaper for upgraded surveillance capability.

In the newly released film Good Kill, Ethan Hawke plays a U.S. Air Force Reaper pilot who is confronted by the moral dilemmas and day-to-day frustrations of remotely controlled warfare.

The Predator XP, seen here on its first flight in June 2014, is an unarmed but upgraded version of the MQ-1, licensed for export to countries around the world.

IFC

FIL

MS



Predator-Reaper programuContinued from page 26


Every day over 86,000 flights take off with UTC Aerospace Systems equipment on board. Our customers benefit from 24/7/365 technical support and a global network of nearly 60 MRO facilities.

With new in-flight position monitoring, we’ve put more real-time data in the hands of operators. Another example of how our advanced systems help connect, explore and defend our world.

This is where ingenuity takes off

utcaerospacesystems.com

Non-stop serviceVISIT US AT PARIS AIR SHOW 2015STATIC C2 UTC BEHIND CHALET ROW A 338

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT & SYSTEMS

World’s largest UAS conference ushers in a new commercial focus by Bill Carey

The Unmanned Systems conference in the U.S., tradi-tionally the largest event of the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry, is no longer your father’s military-focused trade gathering. As of next year, it will also have a new name. The sponsoring Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has rebranded the annual trade show as “Xponential.”

The new name reflects the robotic aircraft industry’s “tre-mendous growth and innova-tion…as well as the broad societal benefits of the technology,”

explained AUVSI. Indeed, UAS–more popularly called drones–have evolved relatively recently from military and model-aircraft roots into a promising new com-mercial industry.

AUVSI has also evolved. The association traces its start to 1972 as the U.S. disengaged from the Vietnam War, a conflict that saw drones used extensively as decoys and for jamming radars and reconnaissance. This year, AUVSI elected a new slate of directors that includes representatives from Amazon and Google, Internet-age companies that aspire to use drones for package deliveries

and telecommunications. The association’s chairmanship still reflects the old order; it changed hands from John Lademan of Northrop Grumman to John Burke of Airbus. In January, Brian Wynne, who previously led the Electric Drive Transportation Association, succeeded long-time former U.S. Department of Defense executive Michael Toscano as AUVSI’s president and CEO.

This year’s Unmanned Systems conference, held May 4-7 in Atlanta, Georgia, drew nearly 600 exhibitors and 8,000 attend-ees, roughly the same numbers as

in recent years. But the opening general session spoke to the new face of AUVSI. Moderated by Colin Guinn, chief revenue offi-cer of small drone manufacturer 3D Robotics (3DR), it featured a “visionary commercial UAS panel” consisting of David Vos, the leader of Google’s Project Wing effort; CyPhy Works CEO Helen Greiner, an MIT-trained roboticist who co-invented the “Roomba” robotic vacuum cleaner; and David Vigilante, chief editorial counsel for cable network CNN.

CNN later figured in the con-ference’s highest profile announce-ment, which saw Federal Aviation Administration administra-tor Michael Huerta traveling to Atlanta to announce that CNN, BNSF Railway and dronemaker PrecisionHawk will participate with the agency in a “pathfinder project” to explore beyond-line-of-sight and other operations of small fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones. Expanded flight enve-lopes are considered critical for the package delivery plans of Amazon and Google, as well as for other types of operations.

Legacy UAS manufacturers such as AeroVironment, Boeing Insitu, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Textron Systems and L-3 Communications remained prominent in the exhibit hall. Sikorsky displayed the event’s largest aircraft: a Black Hawk helicopter the manufacturer used for its UH-60M upgrade effort, with markings from its “Matrix” program to develop an autonomous helicopter. Sikorsky hopes to interest the U.S. Army in an optionally piloted Black Hawk. In the age of small multi-rotor drones, the manufacturer wanted to demon-strate the scale of what is possi-ble, an executive said.

But the American public will sooner see a small unmanned helicopter that has already flown for two decades in Japan as well as in Australia and South Korea.

On May 1, the FAA granted Yamaha Motor Corp. USA an exemption to fly its 200-pound Rmax agricultural helicop-ter over private or controlled-access properties to treat crops. The Rmax, which Yamaha dis-played in Atlanta, at the time was the largest unmanned plat-form the FAA had authorized to operate in the U.S., and the first approved for crop spraying.

Different Market Approaches

Other companies that exhib-ited at the conference are tak-ing different approaches to the burgeoning commercial market for unmanned aircraft. Drone designer Jordi Munoz and for-mer Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson co-founded 3DR in 2009. Guinn joined the company last year after heading the North America branch of Dajiang Innovation Technology Co. (DJI), the Shenzhen, China-based company that is on track to become the first billion-dol-lar manufacturer of consumer drones. In an interview with AIN, Guinn recalled drawing attention at the Unmanned Systems 2012 conference in Las Vegas with DJI’s Zenmuse Z15 three-axis stabilized cam-era gimbal, an industry first, mounted under a Spreading Wings S800 hexacopter.

“We made a big splash because we had a system that you could get for $6,500, that shot per-fectly stable imagery, that you didn’t see anywhere else at the show,” Guinn said. Next came DJI’s popular Phantom quad-copter, which, among other feats, made news in January when one crash-landed on the White House lawn. “With the Phantom being the success that it was, AUVSI realizes that it needs to bring in companies like that,” he added. “I don’t know for a fact, but I would venture to say that the number-one commercial drone being used today is the Phantom. That’s the drone that people have.”

Special Report

3DR Solo quadcopter


First of the Many

Few Paris show attendees took much notice in 2009

when Austrian manufacturer Schiebel first flew its S-100

"Camcopter" during the flying display. Back again in

2011 with a high-visibility paint job, right, the pioneer

unmanned aerial system had to pass stringent safety

standards and secure an EASA flight permit to leave the

ground. The Camcopter had a three-meter main rotor

span, a maximum takeoff weight of 200 kilograms (440

pounds) and could fly for more than six hours. According

to a company statement, "The drone meets all precondi-

tions for its participation in the Paris Air Show." n PH

OTO

S: M

AR

K W

AG

NE

R


all clear

Connected flight crews can save airlines time and money with Weather Information Service, Honeywell’s new Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) application for constantly updated in-flight weather information. Storms can be bypassed, and alternate routings planned earlier, avoiding potentially costly delays and even damage. Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has been finding ways to avoid the elements, from prehistoric shelter building to the invention of the umbrella and advanced meteorological instrumentation. Now Honeywell is doing the same for pilots with Weather Information Service. An EFB application for connected aircraft, giving a constantly updated weather display, Weather Information Service allows flight crews to react to changing conditions more quickly — saving fuel, as well as minimizing delays and adverse weather-related incidents. This provides a more comfortable flight for passengers.

Clear skies ahead with Weather Information Service.

To learn more about Honeywell’s Weather Information Service visit aerospace.Honeywell.com.

© 2015 Honeywell International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

HON15001Fm_AIN_10.8125x13.875.indd 1 6/5/15 1:19 PM

3DR displayed what Guinn described as its first mass-mar-ket offering–the Solo quadcop-ter–at Unmanned Systems 2015. Positioned to compete against DJI’s Phantom 3, the Solo weighs less than five pounds, runs on open-source software to allow for customized functions, and retails at $995 for the drone itself–more for a gimbal and GoPro camera. Solo is designed to accommodate both recreational uses and com-mercial drone applications, such as for aerial inspections of cel-lular towers, wind turbines and powerlines as well as real estate photography.

“My vision is [to combine] 3DR’s historic open innovation

model, and the ability for the entire community and third-party developers to add value to our platform, with the conve-nience of being ready to fly out of the box,” Guinn said. “So somebody who just wants to get really nice aerial video doesn’t have to become a pro or build their own system…Solo is a com-mercial product that consumers will buy and use all day long.”

AeroVironment, founded by aeronautical engineer Paul MacCready in 1971, sees things differently. The publicly traded company based in Monrovia, California, already supplies more than 80 percent of the small drones the U.S. mili-tary services use in the form of hand-launched Raven, Puma and Wasp airplanes. In 2013, AeroVironment secured one of the first two restricted-category

type certifications the U.S. FAA issued for a commercial unmanned aircraft, enabling it to fly the Puma for oil company BP on Alaska’s North Slope. It has also won customers for its Qube quadcopter among police agencies, including the sheriffs’ departments in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Ventura County, California.

“When we think of the com-mercial market, we’re defining that as the nonmilitary mar-ket, and there are different seg-ments within that commercial market,” said Steven Gitlin, AeroVironment vice president for marketing strategy and communications. “We’re not defining it as the consumer market–the hobbyist or RC types of devices. We’re look-ing at it more as an enterprise or institutional capability for major businesses or govern-ment agencies.”

For now, AeroVironment isn’t focused on “systems that you can use to take pretty pictures, because there are plenty of sys-tems out there that you can use to do that cheaply,” Gitlin said. But he didn’t rule out the legacy manufacturer eventually target-ing the consumer market.

“It’s hard to be everything to everybody,” Gitlin said. “You need to focus on those oppor-tunities that are going to create the greatest value for custom-ers and the greatest value for shareholders. There may come a point in the future where we’re convinced that there’s a compel-ling argument to be made for another segment of the mar-ket. If we can justify that, than I wouldn’t preclude us going after different segments.” o

The “show host” of this year’s Unmanned Systems conference was Colin Guinn, 3D Robotics’ chief revenue officer.

PH

OTO

S: B

ILL

CA

RE

Y

On the eve of the conference, the FAA granted Yamaha Motor Corp. USA an exemption to fly the Rmax helicopter in the U.S.

Spain, all of which have near-term requirements that may not wait for the Euro-MALE in the early 2020s.

Predators and Reapers have been the platforms for the devel-opment and fielding of various additional sensors, some of them exotic. They include the BAE/Exelis/SNC Gorgon Stare wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor pod that was first fielded on the MQ-9 in 2011, and two Raytheon ACES-HY hyper-spectral sensor pods that are being tested on the MQ-1. A plan to equip many of the UAVs with the Northrop Grumman Advanced Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP) was scaled back. The ASIP-1C version was fielded on some MQ-1s. The COMINT-only ASIP-2C version was slated for the MQ-9, but has not been approved for fielding. A Raytheon electronic attack payload has been tested on the Gray Eagle.

Over Iraq and Afghanistan, and then Yemen, Somalia, Syria

and elsewhere, the Predators and Reapers have roamed with rela-tive impunity. But if they fly too low, they become vulnerable to anti-aircraft guns, and they would be sitting ducks if flown against a comprehensive air defense system that includes air-borne interceptors. In General Otto’s opinion, “We’re over-invested in permissive ISR ver-sus contested environments.”

The response from GA-ASI was to privately fund develop-ment of the jet-powered and semi-stealthy Predator-C. It first flew in April 2009, with a larger version following in January 2012. A small but unknown number have since been deployed by the U.S. in a program that remains classified. The U.S. Congress has added funding for GA-ASI to demonstrate inte-gration of the UTA Aerospace Systems MS-177 multispec-tral sensor on the Predator-C. Meanwhile, GA-ASI has pro-posed the jet-powered drone for the U.S. Navy’s unmanned carrier-launched airborne sur-veillance and strike system (UCLASS), which is having a troubled gestation. o

Two screen grabs from surveillance video show the moment before...

...and just after a remotely controlled ordnance strike in a combat situation.

Equipped with the Raytheon MTS-B full-motion video sensor and laser designator, and armed with Hellfire missiles, an MQ-9 Reaper flies from Kandahar, Afghanistan.

UK

MoD

Cro

wn

©

Predator-Reaper programuContinued from page 28

UAS conference ushers in new focusuContinued from page 30




Seasoned by UK pact, Thales widens its viewby Chris Pocock

Thales is stressing its end-to-end capability in unmanned aer-ial systems, as well as seven years of operational experience, in its bid to supply the Watchkeeper UAS to the French Army. The company said it is close to achieving 35-percent French content for the bid, including a new high-definition EO/IR sensor. Poland is another near-term prospect, and there are “lots more in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific,” said Pierrick Lerey, strategy and marketing director for UAS and ISR.

The operational experience stems from the contract that Thales UK signed with the British Army. This involved Thales sup-plying the Hermes 450 for interim service in Afghanistan, and helping to operate it there, until the more sophisticated Watchkeeper based on the same Elbit Systems airframe was ready. This took much longer than anticipated because of additional certification requirements, according to Thales.

However, the full-up system was deployed to the theater in mid-2014 and flew successfully for 100 hours before the British troop withdrawal at the end of the year, according to Lt. Col. Craig Palmer, the British Army lead officer for implementing the Watchkeeper system.

Thales (Chalet 263, Static B1 and Hall Concorde 39) is keen to stress that Watchkeeper is now a fully “European” system, with no further recourse to Israel needed for support or export permission. Thales UK provides 80 percent of the content of

the British Army Watchkeepers and manufactures the UAV (the British Army has ordered 13 systems, which includes 54 air-frames). Another 15 percent of the content comes from France.

Key enhancements compared with the Hermes 450 include the Thales I-Master multi-chan-nel SAR/GMTI radar, and the Thales Magic automatic takeoff and landing system (ATOLS). The company also provides the secure communications and the ground control stations, includ-ing the imagery exploitation sys-tem. “We master the imagery chain and are the only company that masters the whole frequency spectrum,” claimed Lerey.

“It’s all about the exploita-tion–not the platform, that’s just a taxi,” said Lt. Col. Palmer as he briefed journalists in Paris earlier this month on operations by 32 Regiment, Royal Artillery.

100,000 Hours...and CountingThe regiment logged 100,000

hours on the Hermes 450 before the Watchkeeper arrived in Afghanistan, but the latter’s radar “has given us new ideas about how to operate,” he said. He described GMTI surveillance by the UAV that replaced “many man-hours on ground patrols,” and showed SAR imagery that enables ana-lysts to easily detect changes–“Blue is new, Red is fled.”

In Afghanistan, the Hermes 450 and Watchkeeper sometimes operated in conjunction with UK Royal Air Force and U.S. Air Force Reapers, cross-cueing these much larger UAVs, which

are armed. “But we think 500 kilograms is where it’s at,” said Palmer, a reference to the take-off weight of the Watchkeeper. He stressed the importance to the Army of having organic control of a tactical UAV.

Personnel from the French Army have been deployed to 32 Regiment to observe the British operations. Lerey said the French requirement is similar to the UK’s. Neither country has plans to arm its tactical UAV–yet.

However, Poland might spec-ify weaponization from the out-set. At the Farnborough Air Show last year, Thales displayed a Watchkeeper full-scale model carrying the company’s own light-weight modular missile (LMM).

The Watchkeeper proposal to the French Army includes a new full-high-definition (1,920 by 1,080 4K) video camera from L’Heritier, which previously supplied a 720p version for the UK platform. L’Heritier is one of 35 French small and medium

enterprises that Thales has gath-ered to support its bid.

Thales’ French Army proposal also includes a sovereign data-link, connectivity with the French C4ISR system, and a remote video terminal that is fully compatible with the Rover 4 and 5 terminals used by French ground forces.

Lerey claimed that the Watchkeeper is the only UAV platform that is civil-certified to STANAG 4671 and CS23. However, it des not yet have a sense-and-avoid system and in the UK is limited to flying over a UAV test range in West Wales,

and the Army’s training grounds on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

Looking forward to new customers, Thales proposes a “Customer Club” to share con-cepts of operation, lessons learned, attrition stocks, changes and repairs. The UK plans to operate the UAS through 2042 so “future buyers will benefit from the UK investment, and the UK will benefit from their through-life plans,” Lerey said.

Apart from arming the UAV, other possible options are a de-icing system and an electronic warfare payload. o

Special ReportUNMANNED AIRCRAFT & SYSTEMS

After a long process, Thales finally satisfied the airworthiness certification requirements of the British authorities. But

the UAV can still only fly over two specified areas of the UK, including the West Wales coast seen here.

THA

LES

After seven years of operating an interim Hermes 450 system in Afghanistan, the British Army finally deployed

the Watchkeeper UAS to Camp Bastion in 2014.

CR

OW

N C

OP

YR

IGH

T 20

14

Israel’s UVision munitions introduces family of Herosby David Donald

UVision (Static A8) is unveil-ing its Hero family of smart loi-tering munitions this week here in Paris. To meet a variety of operational requirements, the Israeli company has evolved a range of highly maneuverable weapons, from the 6.6-pound man-packable Hero 30 with a warhead of 1.1 pounds and an endurance of 30 minutes to the 214-pound Hero 900 that can carry a 44-pound warhead for an endurance of up to seven hours.

The munitions are applicable to a variety of tactical and strate-gic missions, offering the pinpoint accuracy required for urban war-fare and the ability to attack mov-ing targets. Able to be launched from land, sea and air, the Hero family uses stabilized optics for surveillance and target acquisi-tion, as well as low-noise pusher propellers that are driven by either electric or gasoline-fueled engines.

The short-range members of

the family–the Hero 30, 70 and 120–employ cruciform wings that fold out on launch. They all have electric engines and are canister-launched. The long-range systems–the Hero 250, 400 and 900–use gasoline engines and have fixed wings for rail launch or folding wings for can-ister launch. The Hero 900 has a range of 155 miles.

Each system is designed for a high dash speed to the target area, followed by low-speed loitering as the munition searches for the assigned target or waits for one to pop up. They can also attack pre-programmed GPS coordinates.

An advanced datalink allows operators to select targets that are spotted by the munition’s elec-tro-optics and also permits the changing of targets mid-mission and the transmission of recall/abort commands. Low noise and thermal signatures are significant features of the Hero family. o

Embraer rides ‘next wave’ of E2 developmentby Gregory Polek

Now that the Embraer E2 program has entered its systems integration phase in earnest, program managers can start to turn their attention toward final assembly of the first of three fam-ily members–the Pratt & Whitney PW1900G-powered E190 E2– at the company’s main plant in São José dos Campos, Brazil, “in a few months.”

Speaking with AIN just ahead of the start of the Paris Air Show, Embraer Commercial Aviation COO Luis Carlos Affonso reported that the 106-seat airplane’s first wing spars had just arrived in Brazil from the company’s metallics “cen-ter of excellence” in Evora, Portugal, and that the upper and lower skins would follow in a matter of days. The deliv-eries marked an important milestone for a program whose promise of 16-percent fuel-burn

improvement depends largely on newly designed wings, notwith-standing common references to the E2 as a re-engining exercise.

“Very soon we’ll be assem-bling the wings here in São José dos Campos,” said Affonso, who noted that one important change in the production pro-cess will involve the location of wing assembly. Now building what it now calls the E1’s wings at its plant in Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil, Embraer has decided to move the function for all three E2 models to its main plant in São José dos Campos to help streamline the production sys-tem and reduce logistics and inventory costs. Originally a site occupied by former E-Jet wing producer Kawasaki, the Gaviao Peixoto plant has belonged to Embraer ever since it assumed responsibility for wing assembly in 2006.

Other subassemblies now in São José dos Campos include the forward fuselage and the lower center fuselage section 2. In France, Latecoere’s work on the passenger and emergency exit doors has progressed well, said Affonso, while, in Spain, Aernnova has nearly finished building the first empennage.

Responsible not only for systems integration and final assembly but also for fabrica-tion of a high proportion of

the airplane’s structural compo-nents, Embraer builds the E2’s wings, some 75-percent of the fuselage and the landing gear. Fuselage subassembly suppli-ers include Triumph, which builds the sections just aft of the wings and ahead of the empen-nage. Other suppliers and part-ners include Liebherr, control systems for flaps and slats; Rockwell Collins, horizontal stabilizer control system; UTC

Aerospace Systems, wheels, brakes, APU, electrical sys-tem; Intertechnique, engine and APU fuel feed, pressure refu-eling, fuel transfer, fuel tank inerting and ventilation, and fuel gauging and control; and Crane Aerospace & Electronics, electronic control module for landing gear, brake control sys-tems and proximity sensors.

Apart from the switch in engines from the GE CF34s

used in the E1s to the Pratt geared turbofans in the E2s, what Affonso termed impor-tant supplier changes included the switch from UTAS to Liebherr for the engine bleed air system. Others involved the award for pilot seats to England’s Ipeco in place of Zodiac. Affonso also said that Embraer decided to “verti-calize” its structural supply base, taking responsibility for the forward fuselage section 1 and center fuselage 3 from Latecoere, for example.

Extensive Design ChangesAlthough Embraer (Chalet

393) promotes the principle of cockpit and systems archi-tecture commonality between the current E-Jets and the E2s for an easy transition from an operational standpoint, the company will enjoy little pro-duction commonality due to the fairly extensive design changes. Consequently, the company has had to install all-new rigs, and face a challenging three- to four-year period during which production of the current E-Jet and E2 variants will overlap.

Test rig construction and operation has advanced as planned, said Affonso, both in São José dos Campos and, per-haps most notably, 12 miles away in Eugenio de Melo, where Embraer performs ground test-ing such as static, fatigue, iron bird and environmental control analysis. “All of those rigs are well advanced, some of them fully operational and others

A wing subassembly for the E190 E2 rests in its tooling at Embraer’s “center of excellence” in Evora, Portugal, before shipment to Brazil.


New tooling in São José dos Campos stands ready to accept the first E190 E2 wing.Embraer Commercial Aviation COO Luis Carlos Affonso


still, let’s say in a progressive way, they are getting more and more complete,” said Affonso.

Now programming the E2’s flight control laws, Embraer has started the process of integrat-ing software code into fly-by-wire hardware made by Moog, which carries responsibility for the pri-mary controls and spoilers. Other contributors to the fly-by-wire system include Belgium’s Sonaca (flaps and slats) and Germany’s Liebherr (flight control system). Full fly-by-wire constitutes one of the program’s most conspic-uous advances over the current generation of E-Jets, which uses traditional controls for its aile-rons. As a result, engineers could reduce the sizes of the family’s empennages, helping to cut drag.

Affonso stressed that al-though E2 development marks Embraer’s first application of full fly-by-wire in an airlin-er, it has gained valuable ex-perience integrating such sys-tems in the Legacy 500 business jet and the KC-390 tanker. “In both cases we developed the control laws,” he said. “So even though fly-by-wire systems are always are often challenging…in this case, given those other

two programs, we consider this a low-risk development.”

In fact, Embraer has now passed the point in develop-ment at which any particular aspect of design represents a so-called watch item, said Affonso. Although a few assembly draw-ings remain unreleased, it has virtually completed detailed design. Completion of fabrica-tion, systems test and integra-tion and preparation for flight test lay ahead, but Affonso expressed satisfaction with the company’s progress in all areas as it looks toward scheduled delivery of the first E190 E2 in the first half of 2018.

“There really are no areas of concern,” he said. “I would say we are past the big challenges in the physical airplane. But the next phase we are entering right now really is the systems inte-gration phase, so that’s the key phase now that the components are getting ready and our rigs are up and running. This is the next wave, let’s put it that way.” o

HONORING OLD WARBIRDS, GREAT AND SMALL

Here at Le Bourget, military history is served with the participation of historic warplanes. In the background, from France’s Warbirds, a World War II P-51 Mustang painted in the colors of 357th Fighter Group Major Leonard "Kit" Carson, whose memoir, “Pursue and Destroy,” is one of the best. In the foreground is a 1951 Piper PA-18 Super Cub, but painted to honor the WWII L-4s that served as artillery spotters, air ambulances and “flying jeeps.” For their ability to land and take off from tiny clearings, they were nicknamed "grasshoppers."�

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

New Russian Helicopters designs expected to boost sales performanceby Vladimir Karnozov

At HeliRussia 2015, held May 21 to 23 in Moscow, Russian Helicopters announced its backlog of firm orders was 585 rotorcraft valued at 490 billion rubles ($9.8 billion at the then-current exchange rate). In 2014 the number of shipments stood at 271, compared to 275 in 2013; they were distributed almost equally to local and foreign customers in 11 coun-tries. By number of deliveries, Russian Helicopters is second only to Airbus Heli-copters (471 in 2014). It is set to deliver 244 helicopters this year.

Alexander Mikheyev, Russian Heli-copters’ general manager, said he expects annual shipments to range from 230 to 280 helicopters through 2030. If accurate, this prediction would secure jobs for most of Russian Helicopters’ workforce of 46,500 who are employed on 26 projects under the umbrella of the holding company.

“The trend to a reduction in the num-ber of our shipments year-on-year [dur-ing the 2013 to 2015 time frame] can be offset through the introduction of new designs and an increase in both quality and volume of services offered to our cus-tomers,” Mikheyev told AIN. “In the past several years we have delivered a lot of helicopters, and thus fulfilled a great deal of market demand for our products. This applies both to domestic and overseas markets. A new challenge we are facing now is to provide better after-sales sup-port and maintenance for the global fleet of Mil and Kamov helicopters, which has grown recently. In order to keep our mar-ket share at some 20 pecent, we need to improve after-sales support, and we also need to add new helicopter models. These changes can help relieve the recent trend of a decline in shipments.”

Last year the manufacturer’s income amounted to nearly 170 billion rubles with a profit of 20.7 billion rubles. Helicopter sales accounted for 83 percent, the rest coming from services and after-sales sup-port. The share of R&D in the company’s expenses stood at 5 percent of income.

“Broadly speaking, our economic model remains more or less predictable even in the current conditions,” Mikheyev stated. “The problems we are facing or are going to face are also predictable. This gives us opportunity and time to address them and find some cures.” Among prob-lems experienced by Russian manufac-turers, he mentioned “high costs of hired capital, inflation and residual effects from escalation of global tensions.” He stressed that none of Russian Helicopters problems are specific, but rather shared

throughout the whole of the national economy. “And yet we have a rather large portfolio of export contracts. This brings us income in hard currencies, and enables us to partly offset the difficulties arising from the national economy problems.”

The constantly evolving Mi-8/17 fam-ily of helicopters accounted for more than half of all shipments in the past several years. Last year, two of the factories–Kazan Helicopters and Ulan-Ude Avia-tion Plant (UUAZ)–assembled more than 150 units. The main export customers are China, India and the U.S. (which bought a total of 63 Mi-17V5s for the Afghan Army in 2011-2014).

Composite ContentMikheyev does not see a need to

develop a replacement: “This helicopter remains very popular in the global mar-ketplace,” he said. Continuous efforts have been made to improve the cur-rent factory standard by replacing some metallic parts with those made of com-posite materials; for example, metallic armor is being replaced by Kevlar. Since

its introduction into service the Mi-8 has been constantly improved through numerous modernization programs. “The platform itself is well proven and its pro-duction streamlined. We continue work-ing on extending its lifetime resources, avionics and weapons systems.” A new evolution of the highly successful design comes in the form of Mi-171A2, which is equipped with KBO-17 avionics from the Ulianovsk instrument-making design house (UIMDB). It is now under trials with two prototypes and will become pro-duction standard starting next year.

The Mi-38, which originally was intended to be a replacement for the Mi-8/17, is now being marketed as a new, improved design. “The Mi-38 is to fill another market niche; it is a unique machine in the class of its own,” according to Mikheyev. The fourth operable proto-type (OP-4), powered by Klimov TV7-117V turboshaft engines, began flying last October. Two earlier prototypes, pow-ered by Pratt & Whitney PW127Hs, have been reequipped with Klimov engines. Mil design house hopes to win Russian airworthiness certification by year-end. The OP-4 sets the production standard for Kazan Helicopters, which has already begun assembly of first production exam-ple, with delivery planned for next year.

At HeliRussia 2015, Russian Helicop-ters accepted airworthiness certificates for commercial versions of the Kamov Ka-226T and Ansat-GMSU medium helicopters. At the show, the manufac-turer signed contracts for five Ansat-GMSUs with Tulpar Helicopters and Vector. They will be first commercial users of the type. Meantime, the Rus-sian air force, which took six last year, is deciding whether to place additional orders for the Ansat-U, its customized version with the KSU-A fly-by-wire con-trols from Moscow-based MNPK Avi-onika (the commercial version has an hydraulic mechanical flight control sys-tem). A total of 30 Ansat-Us are opera-tional with the Syzran flying school in the role of training helicopters.

The Ka-226T’s future was secured in December 2014, when Russian president Vladimir Putin paid a visit to New Delhi. India has selected this type for local production under license at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. On May 13, the Indian MoD’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the deal. “We expect that an initial order would be up to 200 helicopters,” Mikheyev said. Eventually, the number may grow to 400 to 500, he suggested. The Russian partner is expect-ing an official confirmation of the deal shortly, he added. o


Russian Helicopters Mi-26s perform a ceremonial fly-over at this 2015 Moscow parade. The aircraft is manufactured by the group’s Rostvertol subsidiary, which is marking its 75th anniversary.

Having accepted a half dozen Kazan Ansat medium helicopters last year, the Russian air force is contemplating ordering the Ansat-U, a modified, fly-by-wire-equipped variant.

Anyone can travel, but few will travel in the unsurpassed comfort and style of the

Gulfstream G450™. With forward and aft lavatories to optional equipment like a Broad

Band Multi-Link (BBML) high-speed data system, the G450 has cabin amenities to

help you cross continents and arrive relaxed and ready for business.

Visit the G450 on static display at Chalet 500.

LEASUREPBUSINESS IS

*At the typical initial cruise altitude of 12,497 m

CABIN ALTITUDE: 1,524 M* PASSENGERS: UP TO 16SIGNATURE OVAL WINDOWS: 12

GULFSTREAMG450.COMTo contact a Gulfstream sales representative in your area, visit gulfstream.com/contacts.


Russian defense leader hints at Blackjack redealby Vladimir Karnozov

“Right now, we need to address not only keeping our long-range aviation assets intact through repair and upgrade, but also resuming production of the Tu-160,” said Russian defense minister Gen. Sergei Shoigu. He spoke to the factory manage-ment and their superiors from the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), who accompanied him on an inspection of Kazan’s Aircraft Production Organization (KAPO) on April

29. Shoigu was referring to the Tupolev Tu-160 swing-wing supersonic bomber–the world’s largest combat jet ever, NATO codename Blackjack. “The Tu-160 is a unique machine, which when it first appeared was decades ahead of its time. Even now, the capabilities embedded in her design are not yet fully exploited. Nobody else has invented a better supersonic bomber design,” he said.

In Shoigu’s view, production

restart–even though “a major challenge” for UAC–looks fea-sible, provided the corporation manages “to consolidate [its resources] on reconstruction and renovation of manufacturing facilities.” The minister believes this is manageable for KAPO, which since his last inspection a year ago “has demonstrated pos-itive dynamics in materialization of [earlier fielded defense min-istry] contracts on repair and modernization” of the Russian

air force’s strategic bombers.Under earlier defense ministry

contracts, KAPO is tasked with completing repair and upgrade work on 12 Tu-22M3s and two Tu-160s. According to the UAC’s press service, “the minister has drawn up a list of immediate tasks to be solved first,” includ-ing an increase in the volume of work on the bombers’ repair and upgrade, an improvement in the quality of services being rendered to the military and a reduction in time the long-range aviation assets spend at KAPO.

The maiden flight of the Tu-160 prototype occurred in December 1981, followed by first deliveries in April 1987. The type remained in produc-tion at KAPO from 1984 until the early 1990s, when funds dried up following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since 2000, using parts manufactured ear-lier, the factory has been able to complete two new aircraft. Both were accorded honorary names memorializing distinguished pilots: The aircraft named for Alexander Molodchiy entered service in 2000; the Vitaly Kopylov followed in 2008. At the latter’s hand-over ceremony, then-UAC-president Alexei Fedorov said, “From now on, KAPO will perform only repair and modernization on Tu-160s and Tu-22M3s built earlier”

(despite the fact that the plant did have parts for both designs in stock).

Modernization and Upgrade Programs

Out of 36 Tu-160s built, 16 remain active with the Russian air force. Others were lost in crashes, cannibalized for parts or cut up under disarmament treaties witthe U.S., including a number of aircraft that were based in Ukraine when the USSR collapsed. The Russian air force has been running vari-ous modernization and upgrade programs for quite some time, with the most recently reworked bombers often referred to as Tu-160Ms. Among freshly added features is the ability to launch, from Raduga, improved cruise missiles (the Kh-101 and Kh-102) with interchangeable conventional/nuclear warheads rather than nuclear-only weap-ons on the earlier Kh-55 series. Reportedly, the maximum range to target increased to 5,500 km (2,970 nm), and ordnance deliv-ery accuracy improved to within 10 meters. The Tu-160 can carry up to 12 cruise missiles.

The call for Tu-160 produc-tion restart may well be a man-dated decision based on funding shortages hampering plans to complete development of the Perspective Complex of a new long-range aircraft [Russian acro-nym PAKDA] in 2020. Russia is struggling with the combination of economic decline and U.S./EU sanctions imposed last year over the events in Ukraine. The PAKDA is, reportedly, a sub-sonic aircraft intended to replace the aging Tu-95MS, currently the most numerous type in that role. The design was once also con-sidered as a suitable replacement for the supersonic Tu-22M3 and Tu-160, but Shoigu’s recent com-ments may suggest that a change in plans is in the offing.

The decision to revitalize the Tu-160 may also have been prompted by the recent success with tests on a reworked ver-sion of its Kuznetsov NK-32. Improvements include a much better gas-generator (core en-gine). Kuznetsov and its indus-trial partners in the Samara re-gion signaled their readiness to start making improved NK-32s a couple of years ago, following completion of bench trials. o

This image of the Tupolev Tu-160 from the 1995 Paris Air Show could represent déjà vu for Russia if the country opts to resume production of the supersonic bomber.

According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Tu-160 design represents the best supersonic bomber ever built.

CH

RIS

SO

RE

NS

EN

Boeing helping AWACS users to remain ‘relevant by Bill Carey

NATO and user nations are modernizing their Boeing 707-based airborne warning and con-trol system (AWACS) aircraft with their distinctive, top-mounted radar domes, keeping them “rele-vant and ready” for contemporary missions, Boeing says. The man-ufacturer is currently performing four major AWACS moderniza-tion programs under its ASC2, or airborne surveillance command and control, portfolio.

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is in the middle of upgrading its 31-aircraft E-3 Sentry fleet to Block 40/45 standard, which replaces the aircraft’s mission computer systems, some of which date to the 1970s. The new con-figuration includes a network-based architecture and increased processing power.

Boeing (Chalet 321/324) pro-vides shipset hardware, spare parts and delivery and logistics support for the upgrade, which Air Force technicians install at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla-homa. E-3s are based at Tinker, at Kadena Air Base, Japan, and at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

The service declared initial operational capability of the upgraded E-3G last July. It plans to upgrade the entire fleet by 2020.

On December 31, Boeing

completed the first flight of a NA-TO E-3A AWACS aircraft with a modernized flight deck under the so-called Dragon upgrade (Di-minishing manufacturing sourc-es Replacement of Avionics for Global Operations and Naviga-tion). Fourteen NATO E-3s will receive the upgrade, which replac-es analog instruments with the Rockwell Collins (Chalet 21 Hall 2b D108) Flight2 integrated avi-onics system, including large for-mat displays, flight management system and new communications and navigation equipment.

The Dragon cockpit meets fu-ture communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic man-agement (CNS/ATM) mandates, allowing the E-3 broader access to world airspace. The U.S. Air Force also plans to install the up-grade, with a first flight planned next year.

The French air force is half-way through modernizing its four-aircraft E-3F AWACS fleet. The mid-life update (MLU) to Block 40/45 standard is the largest single upgrade of the fleet it has undertaken, and represents a $380 million foreign military sale through the USAF, said Mark Ellis, Boeing’s ASC2 program direc-tor. The MLU increases the

number of operator worksta-tions in the aft cabin from 10 to 14 and incorporates a modern-ized IFF (identification friend or foe) system with new AN/UPX-40 interrogator, improv-ing the aircraft’s surveillance capability.

France’s AWACS UpgradedOn May 20, Boeing an-

nounced that initial operation-al capability of the modern-ized French AWACS fleet was achieved with the delivery of the second of four upgraded aircraft and the completion of operational tests. The manu-facturer delivered the first up-dated aircraft last July and the second this March. Under sub-contract to Boeing, Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance installs the MLU modification kits at its

Paris Roissy facility at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Ellis said the third aircraft should be delivered in October; the manufacturer expects to deliver the fourth in June 2016.

Last August, the U.S. State Department approved a foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia con-sisting of the Block 40/45 mission computer system upgrade, AN/UPX-40 IFF interrogator sub-system, parts, training and logis-tical support for five Royal Saudi Air Force E-3s. Ellis said Boeing is on contract to provide the ini-tial development of the Saudi ra-dar system upgrade.

Within its ASC2 portfolio, Boeing also supports six British Royal Air Force E-3Ds and four Boeing 767-based AWACS air-craft operated by Japan’s Air Self Defense Force. In February, the USAF awarded Boeing a $402

million contract modification to complete a mission computing upgrade of the Japanese fleet by June 2020.

The manufacturer provides ongoing support of what will soon be 14 Boeing 737-based air-borne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft: six Australian Wedgetail; three Turkish Peace Eagles, with a fourth being deliv-ered this year; and four South Korean Peace Eye aircraft.

At the Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference in March 2014, Qatar announced $23 billion in new arms orders, including three Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft. Qatar would be the fourth customer for the AEW&C platform, which features Northrop Grumman’s Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array surveillance radar above its fuselage. o

France has received two of the four E-3F AWACS aircraft undergoing a midlife update to Block 40/45 mission system standard.


LOC

KH

EE

D M

AR

TIN

Lockheed Martin follows ‘blueprint’ to pare down its F-35’s flyaway costby Bill Carey

Lockheed Martin (Chalet 316) is taking steps to improve its manufacturing processes for the F-35 Lightning II. The com-pany contends that more effi-cient manufacturing methods will help it drive down the flya-way cost of the fifth-generation fighter by $10 million by 2019, and by more if the U.S. govern-ment invests.

Last July, the U.S. Depart-ment of Defense (DOD), Lockheed Martin and its indus-try partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems announced the “blueprint for affordability” accord to reduce the unit recur-ring flyaway cost of the F-35 to a price that compares with cur-rent fourth-generation fighters. The agreement required the con-tractors to invest $170 million over two years on new materi-als and processes, with Lockheed Martin spending the majority of that amount. If they succeed in significantly reducing the fight-er’s unit cost, the U.S. govern-ment has the option of investing another $300 million over three years, which it would recoup by paying less for the F-35.

Not ‘Chump Change’Earlier this year, Lorraine

Martin, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program executive vice president and general manager, reported on the company’s progress toward meeting the blueprint’s goals. Initially, the manufacturer expected that it would see the first cost savings during F-35 low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot 9, which Lockheed Martin and the DOD were negotiat-ing at the time of Martin’s pre-sentation in mid-February. But it realized early benefits while producing LRIP 8 airframes, cutting about $260,000 from the cost of each of 43 fighters that it will begin delivering in 2016. “So that’s not chump change,” Martin declared. “I rolled that cost savings into the offer I made to the government when I nego-tiated the contract,” which the parties signed last November. The contract did not include the cost of the fighter’s F135 turbo-fan, which the DOD and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney negotiated separately.

At the time of the LRIP 8 con-tract award, Lockheed Martin said the average unit price of air-frames for the three F-35 variants

was 3.6 percent lower than the LRIP 7 price. The company reports that the LRIP 8 cost of an F-35A for the U.S. Air Force without its F135-PW-100 engine was $94.7 million. The price of an

F-35A with its engine was $108 million, which was $4 million lower than Lot 7 prices, accord-ing to the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO).

Martin said the manufacturing

improvements her company is implementing could knock another $780,000 from the price of LRIP 9 jets. Ultimately, the blueprint’s goal is to deliver an F-35 with an engine for $80 million in then-year dollars, accounting for inflation. Martin has generated news by saying the price could be even less. “If this works, and we have confidence that it will, [the government is] potentially willing to invest on the tail end $300 million. With

these two sets of investments, that’s what gets us down to under an $80 million aircraft,” she said.

Since launching the blue-print effort, Lockheed Martin and F-35 partner companies as of late April had formally sub-mitted 156 candidate projects to the JPO, of which 68 had been approved to change manufactur-ing processes. The 68 approved projects required the three com-panies to invest $59 million. Another $56 million in projects was being considered.

Martin outlined several man-ufacturing process changes and resulting cost savings. Previously, Lockheed Martin applied stealth coatings to the diverterless supersonic inlet “bump” in the F-35’s engine intakes as a sep-arate process in its paint shop; going forward it will perform “mold-in-place” coatings using a robotic arm to inject the coatings through a precise mold around the jet. The new approach allows work to continue on other parts of the aircraft. It required an investment of $742,000 and saves $6,000 per jet, or potentially $27 million over the life of the pro-gram, says the manufacturer.

Materials applied to the F-35’s wingtip leading edges and horizontal tail trailing edges are placed in a vacuum bag and cured in autoclaves. A new “closed-vol-ume composite molding” pro-cess uses matched metal tools for each surface part, reducing the labor and time required to treat the different pieces. The new approach required an investment of $493,000 and saves $10,000 per jet.

Lockheed Martin will employ cryogenic machining in its man-ufacturing process, using com-pressed liquid nitrogen in place of oil-based chemicals to cool drill bits. The new approach, which involves an investment of $119,000, rids chemical residue and extends tool life and produc-tion speed, saving an expected $4,000 per jet.

A relatively low-tech change will save $65,000 per shipset on the F-35 conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, Martin said. The manufacturer now uses “right-sized” aluminum forgings for the CTOL bulkhead. In the past, it acquired 13,000-pound aluminum sections and forged them in a steel die; now,

Program Under Scrutiny

The F135 engine program of the F-35 Lightning II has come under sharp criticism from two U.S. government enti-ties over quality control and reliability issues. Engine man-ufacturer Pratt & Whitney and the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) challenged some of the findings and defended the program.

A “Quality Assurance Inspection” the Department of Defense Inspector General released on April 27 identified 61 “nonconformities,” or violations, of quality management regu-lations and requirements. It recommended that the JPO coor-dinate with the Defense Contract Management Agency to implement corrective actions for those violations, and called for tighter program management overall. The JPO did not ensure that Pratt & Whitney “proactively identified, elevated, tracked and managed” F135 program risks; did not ensure that its supplier selection and management of underperforming suppliers were sufficient; and did not ensure that its software quality management practices were adequate, the IG found.

In a statement, the JPO acknowledged that the IG’s report is “factually accurate.” But it disagreed with three of six findings relating to the need for additional F135 pro-gram management oversight, risk management practices and software quality management practices. “In these three cases, the JPO believes the DOD IG findings and recom-mendations for corrective action are unnecessary, and, if implemented, would add cost and schedule growth to the program for items that are already well understood and carefully managed,” the JPO said.

Pratt & Whitney said that it has worked aggressively to implement corrective actions since the IG’s audit, which was conducted over two weeks in November at the manu-facturer’s Hartford and Middletown, Connecticut, facilities.

As of earlier this month, it had implemented 60 percent of identified corrective actions, with the balance scheduled for completion by July.

“This was an audit of P&W’s quality system and F135 contractual adherence, not an audit of F135 product qual-ity,” the manufacturer stated. “None of these findings had any impact on the product performance. None of the find-ings has, or would have, affected the operational fleet, safety or mission capability of the aircraft or the F135 engine.”

On April 14, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on F-35 “affordability challenges” that described F135 engine reliability as “very poor” and dragging against the fighter’s overall reliability progress. Data Pratt & Whitney provided the agency indicated that the mean flight hours between failure of the engine used in the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant was at 21 percent of where it was expected to be at this point in the program; the engine for F-35B short takeoff and landing (STOVL) variant was at 52 percent.

“While overall reliability has increased, engine reliability over the last year has remained well below expected levels. Improving the F-35 engine reliability to achieve established goals will likely require more time and resources than origi-nally planned,” the GAO stated.

Pratt & Whitney contested the GAO’s conclusions relat-ing to reliability. “The report incorrectly assessed engine reliability, as it did not account for new designs that have been validated and are being incorporated into production and fleet engines,” the manufacturer said. The F135 CTOL engine exceeds its specification at 147 percent of require-ments; the STOVL engine meets 119 percent of current requirements, it said. –B.C.

A robotic arm applies coatings to the diverterless supersonic inlet “bump” in the F-35’s engine intakes.

it uses 8,300-pound pieces that more closely approximate the size of the actual bulkhead. “This is a maturity improve-ment, but we had to change the engineering drawings. We had to get it approved, and it bought its way onto blueprint,” Martin said.

Lockheed Martin was also collaborating with engine man-ufacturer Pratt & Whitney and F-35B lift fan supplier Rolls-Royce to drive down engine costs, Martin said. Separately, Pratt & Whitney reports that it has waged a “war on cost” to reduce the price of the F135 turbofan since 2009. From the time it built the sixth flight-test engine to those it is pro-ducing today, the engine manufacturer claims to have reduced the cost of the F135 by 55 percent.

As of March 31, Pratt & Whitney had delivered 217 F135 engines to Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth and the Cameri Final Assembly and Check-Out facility west of Milan, Italy, that is assem-bling F-35s for that country and the Netherlands. It was negotiating with the JPO for its own blueprint for afford-ability that will start after the 300th engine, said Mark Buongiorno, Pratt & Whitney F135 program vice president. “In raw terms, the blueprint for affordability is incentiv-izing us to continue to make investments in cost reduction

with a defined mechanism to recoup that investment,” he explained.

Despite early progress and optimistic assumptions, the jury remained out on the ulti-mate success of F-35 cost-cutting exercises. In an April report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Lockheed Martin had improved efficiency, reduced major engineering design changes and lowered the num-ber of hours required to build each jet. But the congressional watchdog agency also noted that both Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney were experiencing late deliveries and quality defects from their suppliers, which could chal-lenge planned F-35 produc-tion increases. With the DOD planning to ramp up spending over the next five years, it rec-ommended that the Pentagon conduct an “affordability anal-ysis” of that plan.

“While the F-35 pro-gram office and contractors have initiatives under way to improve affordability, those initiatives have a specific focus on reducing procurement and sustainment costs but do not assess the affordability of the program’s overall pro-curement plan within budget constraints,” the GAO said. “The initiatives are still ongo-ing and the total cost savings related to these initiatives is yet to be determined.” o

NHIndustries on displayfeaturing France’s Alat

by Thierry Dubois

NHIndustries (NHI, Static C2) is here highlighting its local customer, the French army’s light aviation division (Alat). An Alat NH90 TTH is part of the daily flying display and a flight crew that is just back from operations in Mali is ready to talk to visitors.

As of June 15, NHI had deliv-ered more than 245 examples of its multi-mission helicopter to 13 customers. Another 250 or so aircraft are in the backlog–about five years of production at the current rate. The fleet has logged a total of 80,000 flight hours.

Discussions with Qatar are in the final phase, for a combination of 22 copies of the TTH (tacti-cal transport) and NFH (naval) versions. Germany is about to

ink a contract for an additional 18 NH90 NFHs. Discussions are at preliminary stages with several other countries. NHI is hoping to sell another six NH90 TTHs to the Alat, to replace old Pumas and fulfill special-opera-tions needs.

Mali (operation Serval) is the Alat’s first operational use of the NH90 TTH. As of late May, four Alat NH90s were planned to be flying there this week. The Alat’s 15th NH90 TTH is to be deliv-ered here during the show.

Meanwhile, the French Navy is using an NH90 NFH from the Chevalier Paul frigate that is part of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier’s battle group. Its MU90 torpedo was declared

operational in March, giv-ing the aircraft full capability in antisubmarine warfare. The French Navy’s NH90 can there-fore detect and locate a subma-rine and send the information to a frigate via data link, leading to the firing of a torpedo.

In another use, the French Navy is operating the type for search and rescue from its Lanvéoc-Poulmic base in Brittany, having saved 150 since 2011, according to the manufacturer. Last December, the Italian Navy involved one SH90 (the country’s designation of the NH90 NFH) in a major rescue effort for the Norman Atlantic ferry, which was burning in the Adriatic Sea. An Australian MRH90 (the coun-try’s designation of the NH90) joined the relief effort in Vanuatu in March to repair damage in the wake of the devastating tropical cyclone Pam.

In the works at NHI are exter-nal fuel tanks, new optronics and fast-rope equipment. o

The NH90 TTH flying here at Le Bourget is operated by an Alat crew fresh from duty in Mali, West Africa.


‘Make in India’ push means more open offsetsby Neelam Mathews

Defense manufacturing in India is undergoing a transi-tion from a traditional buyer-supplier relationship to a more open and transparent one. Easing of licensing policy, an increase in foreign direct invest-ment from 26 to 49 percent and a forecast that envisions a ten-fold increase in exports (pres-ently at a minuscule 0.3 percent) are drivers propelling a defense sector currently riding high on the “Make in India” program. The initiative was launched and promoted widely by new Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An attempt to boost GDP, Make in India sees aerospace and defense (among other indus-tries) as its focus to enhance skill development and build an effi-cient manufacturing infrastruc-ture. Transparent policies and speedy implementation are also vital ingredients.

‘Make in India’Since India’s defense require-

ments are based largely on imports, Make in India encour-ages private-sector participa-tion and alliances with OEMs for internal use and to bolster exports. As India’s procurement gets a kick-start with mega proj-ects such as the 36 Dassault Rafales, M777 ultralight howit-zers, medium transporters and light utility helicopters, among others, opportunities are increas-ingly opening up for aviation- and defense-product manufacturing and supply-chain sourcing.

Defense offsets are expected to generate $4 billion over the next eight years. The policy (which stipulates the mandatory offset requirement of a mini-mum 30 percent for procure-ment of defense equipment), once introduced in capital pur-chase agreements with foreign defense players, should ensure that an ecosystem of domestic suppliers grows rapidly.

“The Make in India policy has thrown open a new arena of opportunities for businesses…the imperative to innovate, driven largely by global oppor-tunities,” said Samir Yajnik, president of sales, Asia-Pacific, and COO Asia-Pacific at Tata Technologies (Hall 4 B84, Hall 3 B80). “Intense competition and technological advances are leading to a need to tap global knowledge resources. This will

better assist in shortening pro-duction cycles and reducing development costs, while allow-ing products to be developed for local markets with differing cus-tomer preferences, geographic conditions or regulatory require-ments,” he said.

Tata Technologies has a joint venture with government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL, Chalet 128). Tata HAL Technologies addresses the entire virtual value chain for aerostructures and related aero systems. Based in Bangalore, the partnership delivers engi-neering, design, optimization and manufacturing solutions for major aerospace OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers in North America and Europe.

Under the twin pressures of financial austerity and environ-mental constraints, frugal inno-vation will become critical over the next few years, said Yajnik. “For example, the Indian avia-tion industry is expected to show significant growth, which will usher in opportunities in main-tenance, repair and overhaul [MRO],” he added.

“Indian aerospace is leap-frogging into a new era of stra-tegic autonomy,” added Air Vice Marshal S.J. Nanodkar, assis-tant chief of air staff, operations. However, glitches remain in the policy. In an effort to stream-line defense procurements, the Ministry of Defense is set to make changes in the soon-to-be-announced Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2015. A major change expected is the option to migrate from offset obligations to a “Buy and Make” category, where products being manufac-tured in India will be considered as meeting offset obligations, pro-viding a boost to “Make in India.”

“I want our offset policy not as a means to export low-end products, but to acquire state-of-the-art technology and skills,” said Modi. The new policy draft, which AIN has reviewed, says that transfer of technology (TOT) will be made to the Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) so it can assess the demands on the industry. “This is a bit far-fetched. The role of the OEM ends once TOT is done, and why should DRDO decide which Indian production agency should receive the technology?” a private sector official told AIN.

“There is also the question of liability. We need the OEM to share liability for the product that comes under TOT,” said Puneet Kaura, chairman and man-aging director, Samtel Group, which recently signed a cooper-ation agreement with General Dynamics to coproduce digital displays in India for a range of military and nonmilitary vehi-cles worldwide. Samtel has a lot at stake. It has supplied display ship-sets for 500 civilian aircraft, via Honeywell, and hopes to export about 1,000 shipsets by next year. More than 100 Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30 fighters are fitted with Samtel displays. “We have also gotten into the electronic warfare area which we have started to develop with a foreign partner,” said Kaura. Moving for-ward, Samtel is looking at multi-ple line replaceable units (LRUs).

A request by the industry to include services in the policy has not been acted upon yet. “This puts MRO off the list,” said the official.

On reforms in the offset pol-icy, Modi has said candidly: “I am acutely aware that it still needs a lot of improvements. We will pursue them in consultation with domestic industry and our foreign partners.”

“Unfortunately, some official in the MoD has just done a ‘cut and paste’ on Modi’s announce-ments without seeing the practical aspects,” said an industry official.

C-295s in IndiaDuring Modi’s visit to

Toulouse in April, Airbus Group (Hall 17 C4) CEO Tom Enders said, “India already takes a cen-ter-stage role in our interna-tional activities and we want to increase its contribution to our products. We support Prime

Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ call and are ready to manufacture in India, for India and the world.”

“Land, labor and capital are essential for the Make in India campaign,” said Arijit Ghosh, president of Honeywell Aerospace in India (Chalet 100). A focus on developing an entire learning ecosystem around aeronautics and training would “boost capabilities of domes-tic employees and suppliers,” he added. In partnership with Tata (Hall 4 B84), Ghosh said the first phase this year of the licensing agreement with Tata Power’s strategic engineering division to produce Honeywell’s tactical advanced inertial nav-igator (TALIN) in India will include production kits, train-ing and expertise to assemble the system. “By 2016, we plan to move into the second phase where Tata Power manufactures these build kits under license from Honeywell,” said Ghosh.

Airbus Defense & Security, which has emerged as a single vendor for India’s medium-trans-port bid, has linked up with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. to pro-duce C-295s in India. It is also active in aerospace manufactur-ing, having 35 suppliers working across the Airbus supply chain, contributing $400 million to turnover in 2014. “Every Airbus program is now partly made in India,” said Dwarakanath Srinivasan, managing director of Airbus India.

Airbus has 196 commer-cial passenger aircraft flying in India, a fleet that creates further opportunities. “Airbus has been a major driver for commercial aero-space manufacturing in India in the past decade,” said Aravind Melligeri, CEO of Aequs, which

manufactures landing gear com-ponents and ships them to Airbus for final assembly.

Another agreement in India is with Dynamatic Technologies, and Airbus has made the Bangalore-based company the single-source supplier of flap-track beams for the widebody A330 family. Others, such as IT giant Infosys, help manufactur-ers worldwide to take advantage of the talent pool in India. “So when you are doing some part of manufacturing or real ‘Make in India,’ you need integration, IT and intelligence to be inte-grated together, and that is how we are facilitating…[by] bringing to manufacturers the quality and knowledge horsepower of India to bind the things together,” said Nits Bansal, vice president of manufacturing for Infosys.

Level Playing Field To enable OEMs to commit

long-term capital to India and to establish/expand their presence in the country, “It is imperative that the emerging policy framework provides for integration of their manufacturing footprint in India into their global supply-chain network. The larger objective of making it easy to do business in India will be achieved when the government is able…[to] alleviate concerns around foreign direct investment, investor protection, land acquisition, licensing issues [and] taxation regime,” said a report by law firm Khaitan & Co.

“We have to create a level playing field to drive the private sector…Exports need to liberal-ize…[and] certificates for exports take too long…,” acknowledged Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP (the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion). o

As part of the “Make in India” initiative, Tata Advanced Systems links up with Airbus to produce C-295 transports in-country. Airbus said everyone of its programs includes parts from India.

Under new leadership, India adds defense work

India’s thrust in the past year to get a greater slice of the international defense equip-ment pie has resulted in a host of agreements being signed in the first five months of 2015, under the new Narendra Modi government.

The country is aggressively tapping the world for high-tech equipment. Underscoring India’s aerospace technology plans, Minister of State for Defense Rao Inderjit Singh said the focus is to “open opportunities for innovative minds to exploit the globally evolving spirit of team-ing up and pooling resources.”

Modi has not been shy about talking openly about relations

with Israel, which is a top-three exporter of arms, following India’s establishing of diplomatic relations with the country in the early 1990s (which it kept under wraps due to sensitivities). He will become the first prime minister to visit Israel, the dates of which are to be announced soon.

During the Aero India air show in Bangalore in February this year, Israel’s Defense Minister Lt. Gen. (ret) Moshe Ya’alon became the first Israeli defense minister to visit India. In a briefing to reporters, he said the relationship between Israel and India is “finally out of the closet.” In late May, India and Israel agreed to jointly develop

a medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) system for the Indian Army to replace Russian-made air defense systems.

In late January, when U.S. President Barack Obama vis-ited as chief guest for India’s Republic Day, he pledged an increased degree of military-sec-tor cooperation.

Then the Defense Technology Trade Initiative (DTTI), some-thing that had not seen the light of day for many years, got a boost when it was renewed for another decade. The agreement defines steps to boost the bilateral defense partnership, and incorpo-rates for the first time a provision to coproduce weapons in India, along with transfer of technology through the DTTI.

However, challenges remain as three unsigned agreements need to be signed before the four projects announced under the DTTI can move forward. The major agreement is the administrative framework for sharing communications, the

Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA). Frank Kendall, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for acquisition, tech-nology and logistics, told AIN: “We would like to get that, in time.” India has yet to sign it, based on “sovereignty issues.”

The other two include the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), a cross-servicing agree-ment designed to enable the two militaries a quid pro quo on coop-eration in logistics support, refu-eling and berthing facilities for warships and aircraft; and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA).

Four “pathfinder projects” announced under the DTTI include AeroVironment devel-oping the next-generation Cheel UAV along with Dynamatic Technologies; roll-on roll-off cargo modules for disaster-relief operations for the C-130J tacti-cal transport aircraft (in coop-eration with Lockheed Martin);

The General Atomics Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System for India’s second indig-enous aircraft carrier; and hot-section jet engine technology by GE, for other unspecified mili-tary projects.

The visit in March of the Spanish Minister of Defense, Pedro Morenés, led to the sign-ing of a Memorandum of Understanding for Mutual Protection of Classified Information. This sets out the practices and procedures for the application of industrial security principles for admin-istration of contracts and pre-contractual arrangements that involve the exchange of classi-fied information.

Morenés had also committed to a government-to-government deal for the Avro replacement project for which the (now Airbus) C-295 was the sole bid-der. Recently, the $2.4 billion project was cleared for the C-295 to be produced in India–the first private project for production of a military aircraft.

While Modi visited Toulouse recently, German defense minis-ter Ursula von der Leyen visited India not long ago for explor-atory talks on the manufacture of six diesel-electric submarines, as well as upgrading Dornier aircraft used by the Navy and Coast Guard. –N.M.

Prime Minister Modi and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, left, have taken the relationship between his nation and India “out of the closet.”

During his visit to India in January, U.S. President Barack Obama promised Prime Minister Narendra Modi that U.S. industry would increase military-sector participation.

Airbus is busy hatching a nestful of derivatives by Thierry Dubois

Airbus has no clean-sheet aircraft design under way but is busy with several “incremental” developments or derivatives–the A350-1000 XWB, the A320neo, the A330neo, new A330ceo ver-sions and the Beluga XL. The business case for an A380neo does not appear compelling yet.

Subcomponent assembly of the first A350-1000 XWB widebody has begun. Final as-sembly is scheduled to begin early next year, with a first flight planned for the middle of 2016. Type certification and entry in-to service are seen as occurring in mid-2107.

Those subcomponents that are undergoing assembly include the center wing box, lateral junc-tion panels, pylons, surrounds made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) for passenger doors and a fixed trailing edge for the wing.

The Trent XWB turbofan is to be flight-tested on an A380. “Some certification tests will thus be done in advance,” said Bruno Hernandez, senior v-p and head of A350 program developments. The plan calls for 120 flight hours, starting in October.

The A350-1000 is a significant evolution, in systems and struc-tures, from the in-service A350-900, partly due to its greater size. Eleven frames are added to the fuselage, six in the forward section and five in the aft section. The larger Trent XWB-97 provides more thrust, at 97,000 pounds.

The main landing gear fea-tures six-wheel bogies and its bay is one frame longer. It is supplied by UTC Aerospace Systems, while the -900’s main landing gear is produced by Messier-Bugatti-Dowty.

The -1000 also has some specific design features, such as the aforementioned CFRP door-surround structure. A greater proportion of the fuse-lage frames–half of them–are now CFRP. The bilge has a new arrangement. An electric open-ing system has been designed for landing gear doors, for mainte-nance purposes. A new aft gal-ley arrangement also is available as an option. Finally, fitting the underfloor electric network has been simplified.

“The -1000 benefits from the -900 experience–for example, we have improved some system installation,” Hernandez said.

He has set a target of finding room for another 20 seats in the -1000, by 2020. The program’s engineers are thus working on shrinking the footprint of the cabin-crew rest compartment, the lavatories and the galley.

Three A350-900 XWBs are in service today. As of May 28, they had logged 485 flight cycles and 2,100 flight hours. “Qatar han-dles the aircraft in full auton-omy,” said Didier Evrard, Airbus executive v-p and head of pro-grams. Daily utilization is said to be greater than 11 flight hours. Fifteen deliveries will be made to three additional operators in 2015–Vietnam Airlines, Finnair and Latam.

“Twenty-one A350s are in final assembly in Toulouse and we are on the way to rate 10,” Evrard went on. He emphasized the supply chain has improved a lot, especially for A350-1000 aerostructures. “We need to reduce lead times, we have buf-fers and we will progressively remove them,” Evrard added.

A320neo and A330neo Progress

On the single-aisle A320neo, 130 flights and more than 420 hours had been performed by May 28 with the two Pratt & Whitney-powered aircraft. However, flight-testing was on hold due to a maturity issue on the PW1100G-JM engine, according to Evrard. “A snap ring retaining a seal has to be replaced; it is a matter of days,” he said.

He expressed confidence that certification will take place by year-end. The lead-time between certification and entry into service is hoped to be shorter than it was for the A350 because the A320neo is not a brand-new product.

Already validated are high-speed and low-speed perfor-mance, approach and takeoff noise, aircraft handling in “nor-mal” and “degraded” control laws, flutter and engine develop-ment testing. The next steps are autopilot certification, handling-qualities certification flights and functional and reliability testing. Hot-weather and high-altitude campaigns are planned, too.

The A320neo powered by the other engine option, the CFM Leap-1A, first flew on May 19 and had performed six flights as of May 28.

The A330 program is prepar-ing for neo transition, too. The latest version of the A330ceo, at 242 metric tons mtow, was deliv-ered on May 28 to Delta Airlines. It features shortened flap-track fairings and a reshaping of slat one. Fuel burn is reduced by one percent, according to Airbus.

Another version may be pro-duced before the neo–the shorter-range A330 Regional. Although no order has been received yet, CEO Fabrice Brégier was ada-mant that it is the right product for some markets. “Growth in Asia, especially in China, cannot be accommodated with only sin-gle-aisle, so there is a good case for an A330 Regional,” he said.

The A330-900neo is planned to be certified in 2017 and enter into service the same year, about a year before the A330-800neo. They will seat, respectively, 310 and 252 pas-sengers. Airbus is targeting the same type rating as that of the A330ceo (but the airframer makes it clear it will be subject to regula-tory approval) and common type rating with the A350 XWB.

Will Airbus offer an A380neo? Emirates has been pushing for it but Airbus has made no deci-sion yet. “Our biggest customer wants a long-term commitment; this is good news,” Brégier said. However, as COO customer John Leahy noted, “it would be a hard sale to our board to do some-thing for one customer, even though a big one.”

While the A380neo’s business case is still under study, contin-uous improvement is going on with the current version. In development is a combined crew rest space for cabin and flight crews, with separate entrances but in a single compartment. This will free up space for 6 pre-mium economy seats.

New BelugaSometimes manufacturers

develop aircraft they don’t offer to customers. For Airbus, this is the case with the aging A300-based Beluga, to be replaced with the in-the-works Beluga XL. The latter will be a deriv-ative of the A330 and will be

3.3 feet wider. “It will be able to transport two A350 wings,” Evrard said. Its payload will be 12 percent greater than that of the Beluga.

Flight testing is slated to start in 2017. Starting in 2019, five Beluga XLs will progressively replace today’s five Belugas. For this development, Airbus engi-neers are testing new methods that may one day be reused on commercial programs.

Trying to think out of the box, Airbus has created “bizlabs,” one use of which is to provide a frame-work for small companies to come and offer innovative prod-ucts. One of these enterprises is in the process of being brought in to supply an ultra-narrowband system that remotely seals doors, inspection panels and hatches. As many as 32 doors and such can be found on an Airbus and are usually checked physically, Brégier said. Without the bizlab scheme, that small, innovative company may well have been received a polite, “No, thanks,” he acknowledged. o


High on Airbus’s pecking order is the P&W-powered A320neo, with more than 420 test hours flown. It should be cerfified by year-end.

Chirac Walked the Walk in ’95 France’s President Jacques Chirac strolled the flight line at the 41st Paris Air Show accompanied by Dassault Aviation chairman and managing director Serge Dassault. Chirac gave unequivocal backing to French aerospace manufacturers at that time in his first major speech on the industry since his election. However, he had just weeks earlier struck a blow against executive aviation by guillotining the special air force squad of jets and helicopters used to transport the head-of-state and senior members of the government.

C’était Le Bourget

TED

DY

NE

GR

IN

www.extantcomponents.com

For more information, please contact Gary Boekenkamp, Vice President Corporate Development | Phone: 407-443-6240 | E-mail: [email protected]

Over 50 years of experience in support of leading OEMs, DoD, and aerospace operators

Complete in-house manufacturing, engineering, repair, obsolescence redesign, and test resources to support your products and customers and protect your IP

100% focused on legacy aerospace electronics and avionic systems

AS 9100, ISO 9001, FAA Part 145 & Part 21, and EASA Part 145 Certi�ed, ITAR Regulated and Compliant

Blending Art & Science for Legacy Electronics Sustainment

Our Engineers, Manufacturing professionals, and expert Test technicians at Extant Components Group understand the importance of blending the art of design with new equipment and processes like our SPEA 400 in sustaining legacy aerospace electronics and avionics systems.

We’ve combined our decades of build to print experience with continuing investment in the latest in obsolescence management and counterfeit prevention technology and training to provide OEMs and their customers with both viable and reliable sustainment services for aging electronics and avionics systems.

Our creative and �exible product Licensing programs o�er OEMs a wide range of solutions to the challenges of maintaining long term support for older or non-core products. And our customer service and technical support experts assure that your customers continue to receive the highest quality service for the full product lifecycle.


Ukraine’s air force has struggled to find its role in the military conflict sparked by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean pen-insula and alleged support for pro-Russian militia occupying eastern Ukraine. The rea-sons for the inability of Ukraine’s armed forces to make wide-scale use of air power are largely related to the fact that it has suf-fered from more than two decades of what has been described as “anemic” defense spending since the country gained inde-pendence from the former Soviet Union.

In addition to this long-term funding problem, the administration of the mili-tary under the previous, pro-Russian Pres-ident of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych took several decisions that amount to what both NATO member states and current Ukrainian military officials characterize as a “dismantling” of a good portion of the remaining effective units of Ukraine’s defense establishment.

A U.S. military official charged with assessing the needs of Ukraine’s military and those areas where military assistance from Washington could be most effective stated that “all of the available evidence points to the people in the defense minis-try [appointed by Yanukovych] sabotaging the country’s armed forces for the purpose of rendering them incapable of conduct-ing an effective resistance against these invasions in Crimea and the Donbas.”

Technology and Industrial ConstraintsTwo other difficulties facing the air

force are that Ukraine’s air assets have failed to keep pace with the many inno-vations in the effective employment of air power since the 1990s. Combat oper-ations in the regions of Eastern Ukraine currently occupied by Russian-backed separatist formations dictate the use of

precision-guided munitions and surgi-cal strike capability in order to mini-mize collateral damage, but virtually none of Ukraine’s combat aircraft are equipped with these types of modern-ized capabilities.

The other factor is that Ukraine lacks some of the industrial facilities that it would need to conduct a prolonged cam-paign against the Russian military. Some of the most experienced and capable air-craft overhaul plants in all of the former Soviet Union for the refurbishment of Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29 fight-ers are located in Ukraine.

However, there are no facilities for the production of the aircraft engines–the Su-27’s Lyulka AL-31F and the MiG-29’s Isotov RD-33 models–in all of Ukraine. Again, there are overhaul facilities, but in the long term they would need to source components from Russia, which would not be possible. Additionally, a sizeable portion

of the air-launched weaponry that Ukraine would need to maintain a bombing cam-paign is not produced in the country.

Challenges For AntonovUkraine is one of the poorest nations

in Eastern Europe and cannot afford to purchase much in the way of military hardware from abroad. It does have a fairly impressive defense industrial capa-bility, but there are no firms in Ukraine that are capable of designing and building combat aircraft. Just about all the com-panies that previously supplied Ukraine’s military needs, such as Mikoyan, Sukhoi and Tupolev, are located in Russia.

The one former Soviet aircraft design bureau that is located in Ukraine is the Antonov aircraft conglomerate in Kiev. However, Antonov produces only trans-port and passenger aircraft and has not produced a combat model in decades.

A plan proposed more than a decade

ago would have seen the Antonov plant converted to a facility to modernize and license-assemble MiG-29s, but this initia-tive never went beyond an on-paper plan due to lack of funding and the unwilling-ness of the OEM in Russia, RSK-MiG, to grant full license authority to the Ukrai-nian firm to modify the aircraft.

In the last two decades Antonov has largely survived on the revenue generated by a fleet of aircraft it still owns–includ-ing seven An-124 Ruslan heavy cargo lifters and one six-engine An-225. These aircraft are leased out for charter flights that usually involve specialized cargo shipments that only these out-sized aeroplanes can handle.

One of Antonov’s few customers for its commercial aircraft designs is the isolated dictatorship of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The North Korean state airline, Air Koryo, has been trying to modernize its fleet by replacing its old Tupolev Tu-154Ms and Ilyushin Il-62Ms with Russian-made Antonov Tu-204s and An-148s. The second An-148 was deliv-ered earlier this year.

These sales, plus the deliveries of a deriv-ative model, the An-158, to Cubana de Avi-ación, were all financed though the Russian leasing company, Ilyushin Finance Co. This arrangement will probably no longer be permitted due to the increased tension with Moscow and more recent embargoes instituted by the government in Kiev, which will end even this small revenue stream.

Strategic DilemmaUkraine’s military finds itself in a pre-

carious situation in that if it bases its mil-itary units close enough to the front they could be overrun and encircled. However, if positioned further back from the front lines, UAVs and other assets needed to be able determine from which direction an anticipated attack from Russia might come are not available. These kinds of airborne platforms, plus the intelligence fusion centers needed to process the information that they would provide, are on the Ukrainian military’s wish list, but without foreign assistance and funding they are not likely to become available anytime soon. Both the U.S. and Europe, however, have been reluctant to provide anything beyond “nonlethal” aid despite mounting evidence that the latest in Rus-sian weaponry continues to pour across the border into the Donbas region.

In the meantime, Ukraine’s air forces are struggling against a much more well-armed adversary that has shot down some 20 of their fixed-wing aircraft and heli-copters using a combination of MAN-PADS; larger, mobile air defense systems; and air-to-air weaponry.

“This is what happens,” said a Ukrai-nian defense industry executive, “when you do not spend anything on your air force for some 20 years. You cannot expect to suddenly shout, ‘Please save us now.’ These are the consequences of more than two decades of neglect.” o

Ukrainian design bureau Antonov has a proud heritage of producing aircraft such as the An-225 transport, left, but lacks the capability to produce the combat aircraft that the country needs to defend itself in its conflict with Russia-backed militia.

Ukraine’s Antonov has subsisted, in part, on charter revenue generated by its company-owned fleet of seven An-124 Ruslan heavy lifters.

Underfunding cripples Ukraine air forceby Reuben Johnson

NextGen ADS-B Avionics for All AircraftAs the aviation industry turns to ADS-B to securely track and monitor air traffic, ADS-B pioneer L-3 is there with a full line of mandate-compliant products for all types of aircraft:

• ACSS was first to certify ADS-B Out, with installations on hundreds of airliners, and has since introduced the NXT-800/NXT-600™, a new generation of transponders for air transport, regional, corporate and military transport aircraft.

• SafeRoute®, a suite of certified ADS-B In solutions, brings ADS-B benefits to the cockpit, helping airlines reduce flight times and fuel consumption, while improving situational awareness.

• L-3’s new Lynx® line of products brings ADS-B In/Out to General Aviation, including ADS-B traffic and weather information.

Whatever aircraft you fly, contact L-3 for the right ADS-B upgrade solution. Visit L-3com.com/AviationProducts for more information.

Aviation Products L-3com.com

FROM BIG TO SMALL ADS-B FOR ALL


India’s Ka-226 choice is a ‘win-lose’ for Franceby Vladimir Karnozov

French aerospace simultane-ously lost one contract, but won another last month. India’s deci-sion in favor of the Kamov Ka-226T for its reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter (RSH) requirement was a blow to Air-bus Helicopters, but a boon to Turbomeca. The former’s AS550 Fennec was the losing finalist in the long-running RSH con-test. But the latter’s Arrius 2G1 turboshafts will power the

Ka-226–replacing the Rolls-Royce Allison 250-C20R/2s that powered the baseline Ka-226A.

In early May, India’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the Ka-226T deal that was reached “in principle” dur-ing Russian President Vladimir Putin official visit to New Delhi in December 2014. “We expect that an initial order would be up to 200 helicopters, [which] will set a record for us and will

require closer partnership with the local industry.” said Alex-ander Mikheyev, general man-ager of Russian Helicopters. The Ka-226T will be produced under license at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in accordance with the “Make in India” princi-ple. The Russian side is expecting an official confirmation of the deal to come shortly, he added. Rosoboronexport will be the contract holder.

Speaking to AIN at the Heli-Russia 2015 show in Moscow last month, Olivier Andries, chair-man and chief executive offi-cer at Turbomeca, said: “Our partnership with Russian Heli-copters, and with India, is cru-cial.” He noted that Turbomeca has been in India for 50 years and is currently the supplier of engines for most Indian military helicopters. “Through the Ka-226T project we can develop our

presence in this marketplace,” Andries added. He said that although manufacturing details are yet to be agreed, “We will probably follow the guidance of Russian Helicopters, but we have to be compliant with the ‘Make in India’ requirement. So, it may well be that these engines will be assembled in India and partly manufactured there.”

More Power Where It CountsCertified in November 2011,

the Arrius 2G develops 804 shp at emergency setting, 730 shp at takeoff and 622 shp at maximum continuous mode, compared to the Rolls-Royce Allison’s 450 shp at takeoff and 380 shp at max continuous settings. Due to the French engine’s higher power, the rotorcraft’s maximum takeoff weight has been increased from 3.4 to 3.6 metric tons. The con-figuration of the Ka-226T may have been the crucial factor in its selection: it is noticeably slower than the Fennec, but hot-and-high performance in mountain areas was a key criteria for India, and the coaxial main-rotor lay-out takes maximum advantage of engine power. The Ka-226T also features a beefed-up VR-226 gearbox and improved avion-ics, compared with the original Ka-226. The certification trials of the Arrius 2G were performed on two Ka-226T prototypes.

Indian ambassador in Mos-cow Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan told the Russian media that India will sign an initial a contract for 197 Ka-226Ts. “Details are being sorted out. It will be a joint Indo-Russian project,” he added. The Indian press reported that the DAC has allocated $470 million for the project. Eventually, the number of Ka-226Ts to be man-ufactured in India may reach 400 to 500. Initially, India may take a small number of Ka-226Ts built by Russian Helicopters’ factory KumAPP in Kumertau.

In the wake of the Indian selection, the Russian air force is forming a demonstration-and-utility squadron of these multi-role helicopters at Chkalovskaya airbase near Moscow. So far, the service has received 36 Ka-226Vs, placing them all with the pilot training school at Syzran as a tool to prepare students to flying heavier Ka-50/52 strike helicopters. “The new squadron will have 12 Ka-226Vs; 10 have already been delivered,” Russian Helicopters announced at Heli-Russia. Addressing the media, Mikheyev said the Ka-226T has successfully passed trials in Russia and India, and it repre-sents “an optimal choice for the Indian armed forces.” o

The good news for French aerospace is that India has opted for Turbomeca power for its Ka-226T models. Arrius 2G1s will replace the Rolls-Royce Allison 250s.

Kamov’s Ka-226 won the contract for India’s RSH rotorcraft, in part due to the efficiency and resulting hot-and-high performance of its contrarotating main rotor configuration.

Though somewhat slower than the competing Airbus Fennec, Kamov’s Ka-226T entry in the Indian reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter competition, after re-engining with Turbomeca Arrius 2G1s, has an increased payload of 3.6 metric tons.

Textron on the prowl for buyers of AT-6 and Scorpion ISR jetby Kerry Lynch

Textron recently participated in U.S. Air Force student joint evaluations of its Beechcraft AT-6 light attack single turbo-prop and Textron AirLand Scorpion ISR/strike jet. The company has both mod-els here at the Paris Air Show as part of a full display of its special-mission and utility aircraft.

The display marks the first appearance at the Paris Air Show of the now year-old Textron Aviation, formed out of the merger of Beechcraft and Cessna. But it is not the first appearance at a major inter-national airshow for the company’s newly combined defense business. That occurred last year at the Farnborough International Airshow, just months after Textron com-pleted its acquisition of Beechcraft.

The company since has been inte-grating the operations of what had been cross-town rivals. David Rosen-berg, vice president of integration and strategy, said one of the first tasks was to assess and build on the strengths of Beechcraft turboprop and Cessna Cita-tion jet families. This included leveraging the Beechcraft’s well-established defense

and special-mission business to expand Cessna’s reach into those markets, Rosen-berg said.

Textron hopes to continue that effort as it looks to secure launch custom-ers for both the Scorpion and the AT-6. Based on the T-6 trainer, the attack ver-sion was developed with an eye on the U.S. Air Force Light Air Support com-petition, only to lose out to the Sierra Nevada/Embraer team that offered the Super Tucano. The Scorpion was devel-oped without a specific competition, but designed to fill what Textron believes is a need for a lower-cost, commercially developed platform for battlefield and/or homeland security missions.

The company was able to showcase both during trials conducted at Textron Aviation’s Wichita, Kansas facility for U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School students. The evaluations involved both classroom and cockpit ground training, along with preparatory and evaluation flights. The trials involved 19 flights (12 involving the Scorpion, seven on the AT-6) over a four-day period.

“The demonstrations not only allowed us to showcase the capabilities of the aircraft, but it also allowed us to gather feedback, which has already proven beneficial as we continue to pre-pare these aircraft for entry into the market,” said Russ Bartlett, president, Beechcraft Defense Co.

Before coming to Paris, the Scorpion headed to South America for demo flights requested by a foreign air force and also participated in static display events in Florida. As for the AT-6, a spokeswoman noted the company is “actively engaged

in multiple international pursuits” for a launch customer.

Aside from the AT-6, Textron Avia-tion also is showcasing other special-mission and utility aircraft, including the Beechcraft King Air 350ER twin-turbo-prop and Beechcraft Baron G58 ISR pis-ton model.

Beechcraft unveiled the extended-range variant of the 350 at the Paris Air Show a decade ago and since has sold the model for numerous missions, ranging from tra-ditional passenger and cargo transport to surveillance, air ambulance, airway calibra-tion, photographic mapping and training. The aircraft has more than 12 hours of endurance for a 2,500-nm range.

The company began testing the mar-ket in 2012 for an ISR variant of its ven-erable Baron piston twin. At the 2013 Paris Air Show, it would formally offer the aircraft, which is equipped with a package that includes a FLIR 230-HD electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera system, an operator’s console housing a mapping/mission management computer, a recorder and a multi-band communica-tions radio system and data link for spe-cial-mission operators.

Joining the traditional propeller-driven Beechcraft models on display is Cessna’s Grand Caravan EX turbo-prop utility aircraft. The big fixed-gear single received a new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 engine in 2012, boost-ing power output to 867 shaft horse-power. Most recently, Cessna obtained approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency for a 14-place variant of the Grand Caravan. o


Mid 1990s Renaissance For TornadoThe multi-role Panavia Tornado was conceived in the mid-1960s and became operational in 1983, but the program waned in the next decade. However, Saudi Arabia purchased both fighter and fighter/bomber versions of the two-seat swivel-wing strike aircraft around the time of the 1995 Paris Air Show, reinvigorating the program. The Royal Saudi Air Force was the only export operator of the Tornado in addition to the three original partner nations: the UK, Germany and Italy.


Textron’s AirLand Scorpion ISR/strike jet appeared at last year’s Farnborough Air Show, and most recently completed a South American demonstration trip. It also completed 12 evaluation flights for U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School candidates.

From the Beechcraft side of the newly merged Textron Aviation defense family, the AT-6 attack turboprop is here at Le Bourget, hoping to sink its teeth into some solid sales prospects.

Semi-compound S-97 Raider enters its flight-testing phaseby Thierry Dubois

Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider semi-com-pound helicopter made its first flight on May 22. A follow-on to the X2 dem-onstrator, the S-97 combines two rigid coaxial, contra-rotating rotors and a pusher propeller to achieve speeds unat-tainable with a conventional rotorcraft.

The maiden sortie took place at the manufacturer’s development flight cen-ter in West Palm Beach, Florida. It lasted approximately one hour, during which pilot Bill Fell and copilot Kevin Bredenbeck took the aircraft through a series of maneuvers designed to test hover and low speeds.

With first flight achieved, the Raider is now moving onto “demonstrating key performance parameters critical to future combat operations including armed reconnaissance, light assault, light attack and special operations,” Sikorsky said, referring to the needs of the U.S. Army.

Based on the X2 demonstrator, the S-97 can be developed into a multi-mis-sion configuration to carry six troops and external weapons. Cruise speeds are pre-dicted to reach 240 knots.

“With the Raider aircraft’s unmatched combination of speed, maneuverability

and acoustic signature, Sikorsky Aircraft is ideally positioned to provide the mili-tary with essential mission-specific ca-pabilities. With this flight, we have start-ed the demonstration of solutions to not only near-term capability gaps, but also solutions for future vertical-lift needs,” Samir Mehta, president of Sikorsky De-fense Systems & Services, said.

In addition to military missions, Sikorsky is exploring commercial applications for the S-97. “In a com-mercial role, applications could include VIP transport, offshore oil support, search and rescue and medevac. The speed of the S-97 Raider makes it an interesting option,” Chris Van Buiten, vice president of Sikorsky Innovations, told AIN.

Another feature for both kinds of operations is that the S-97 is relatively quiet. The rotor has a lower blade tip speed, there is no tail rotor and the pusher propeller can be shut off during hover and operations at normal helicop-ter flight speeds.

The program is 100-percent funded by Sikorsky and its 53 industry part-ners. For the single-engine rotorcraft, GE Aviation provided an YT706-GE-700R turboshaft, part the T700/CT7 family. The 2,500- to 3,000-shp, Fadec-controlled engine is currently used in the Sikorsky MH-60M for the U.S. Army Special Forces. United Technologies Aerospace Systems provided the flight control com-puters, air data system and prop drive. Triumph provided the gearbox.

“The S-97 is much more produc-tion representative than the X2. While the X2 was a single-seater, the S-97 has two flight crew and room for six pas-sengers in a flexible, open cabin,” Van Buiten said.

The X2 was designed to prove the physics of the X2 configuration, but the Raider is rather designed to demon-strate the operational value to custom-ers. According to Van Buiten, significant improvements have been made in sev-eral areas of the design, including the fuselage, flight controls, drive train and rotor system.

The final assembly of a second proto-type is to be completed this year. A dem-onstration tour of the Raider is planned for 2016. o


DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

BOEING WOWS AT LE BOURGET

Having just completed one of its validation flights, Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliner settles onto short final here at Le Bourget, with the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur vis-ible in the background. Soon to be delivered to Vietnam Airlines, the 787-9 on display here in Paris fea-tures a 20-foot stretch com-pared with the -8 version. Meanwhile, the Pakistani JF17 prepares to validate as a Paris debutant.

The Sikorsky S-97 Raider made its first flight in May and has now advanced to detailed flight testing.


Current systems will do for ICAO tracking needby Bill Carey

Avionics and communica-tions service providers say exist-ing systems will readily support the 15-minute tracking standard the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) called for after Malaysia Air- lines flight MH370 disappeared. However, future requirements will require further develop-ment and cost.

MH370, a Boeing 777-200 with 239 people on board, dis-appeared from radar on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kua-la Lumpur to Beijing. An on-board Inmarsat satellite commu-nications terminal continued to operate after the aircraft left ra-dar coverage, indicating through a “handshake” response to a ground station interrogation that its last known position was over the southern Indian Ocean. Despite a multinational search effort, the aircraft still had not been found one year later.

At the ICAO High Level Safety Conference in February, member states recommended the adoption of a tracking stan-dard for aircraft that requires them to report their positions at 15-minute intervals. The rec-ommended tracking standard is “performance-based and not prescriptive,” ICAO said, mean-ing that airlines would be able to comply with it using exist-ing and planned technologies and procedures.

Service and equipment provid-ers said the standard can be met with existing technology, which includes the aircraft communica-tions, addressing and reporting system (Acars), a datalink most airline operations centers already use to communicate with their aircraft; automatic dependent surveillance-contract (ADS-C), a primarily satellite-based means by which an aircraft periodically reports its GPS-derived position to ground stations; automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), in which an aircraft automatically broadcasts its posi-tion to controllers at rapid inter-vals; and radar data.

“Fifteen-minute tracking is a pretty simple thing to go do; I think the expense is very low,” said Chris Benich, vice president of government relations with avi-onics manufacturer Honeywell (Chalet 106). “Most airplanes today that are flying in non-radar airspace are equipped with an Acars system, likely supported by a satcom-type communications system, which is perfectly capable of reporting position information on a 15-minute interval.”

Available SystemsHoneywell was among ven-

dors that briefed regulators, air navigation services providers (ANSPs), aircraft manufactur-ers and airlines on existing ca-pabilities in advance of ICAO’s

high-level safety conference, Benich said. “We have been brief-ing the International Air Trans-port Association, ICAO and our customers on what’s available to-day to address that initial capa-bility of a 15-minute update,” he said. “That’s Acars, which is already on the airplane, [and] ADS-C, which basically works through Acars as an additional functionality.”

In March, Rockwell Collins (Chalet 21, Hall 2b D108) an-nounced a new flight-tracking service that incorporates those systems and its own high-fre-quency datalink enhancement of its Acars system. The “Arinc MultiLink” service uses a proprietary algorithm to merge and standard-ize data from the

various inputs, yielding “higher fidelity” position reporting, the company said.

“Multiple data feeds…can allow us to provide positional data more frequently than any one could by itself,” said Tim Ryan, Rockwell Collins direc-tor of Globalink programs and services management. “If you focus on just one [feed] you may

not have enough coverage to sat-isfy even the 15-minute recom-mendation by ICAO. With the aggregate of them all together, you certainly do.”

Airline communications pro-vider SITA OnAir announced in April that Malaysia Airlines will be the first carrier to begin flight tracking this summer using its Aircom FlightTracker, which draws position informa-tion from existing equipment and “repurposes” ATC data.

Using multiple data sources, including the ADS-C application of the Future Air Navigation System airlines use for oceanic ATC communications, the sys-tem “guarantees” tracking inter-vals of at least every 15 minutes for every flight, and airlines can configure it for intervals of less than 15 minutes. SITA describes the tracker system as “simply an extra software layer” on top of its ground-based Aircom server Acars message handling system.

In January, Inmarsat and ANSP Airservices Australia, in conjunction with airlines Qantas and Virgin Australia, began testing a system using ADS-C to regularly track air-craft over Australia’s oceanic regions. The trial aligned with ICAO’s 15-minute tracking requirement, the parties said.

Over the longer term, satel-lite surveillance system developer Aireon has pledged to provide a free emergency tracking ser-vice using ADS-B receivers con-tained as hosted payloads on new Iridium Next satellites. The service will provide search-and-rescue organizations with the

location and last flight track of any 1090-MHz ADS-B trans-

ponder-equipped

aircraft flying in airspace without other surveillance. Iridium plans to place its second-generation sat-ellite constellation in orbit by 2017.

Avionics suppliers offer their own onboard position reporting systems. Honeywell’s Aspire 200 satcom system, a new generation satcom radio, supports a position reporting function of Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service. Its Sky

Connect Tracker III is a satcom system with an integrated GPS unit that transmits over the Iridium satellite network. While the product is focused on tracking offshore oil and emergency medi-cal services helicopters and small, fixed-wing turboprops, Honeywell and operators have supplemental type certificates for larger aircraft, including widebody airliners.

Canadian supplier Flyht Aerospace Solutions was also among vendors that informed ICAO’s deliberations leading to the tracking recommendations. It said the 15-minute standard and other requirements “can easily be met” by its existing Iridium-based Automated Flight Information Reporting System (Afirs), which is designed for flight-follow-ing applications. Afirs continues transmitting as long as an aircraft has electrical power, and its asso-ciated antenna remains intact. Installing Afirs would cost “less than $100,000,” depending on the aircraft type, the company said.

“We are pleased that AFIRS fits the recommendations revealed at the ICAO meetings,” stated Bill Tempany, Flyht Aerospace Solutions CEO. “AFIRS is the only safety services certified product able to immediately meet published recommendations.”

Distress System EnvisionedThe 15-minute tracking re-

quirement, however, is considered a near-term step toward a more comprehensive Global Aeronau-tical Distress and Safety System (GADSS), a three-tiered approach to tracking covering normal, ab-normal and distress conditions. A working group ICAO estab-lished after the disappearance of MH370 developed the GADSS concept of operations, which envi-sions 15-minute tracking for nor-mal flight operations by 2016 and one-minute tracking for abnormal and distress conditions by 2021.

The evolving ICAO require-ments will be more demanding, requiring an aircraft to not just report its position on a more fre-quent basis, but also produce more sets of information with a higher level of integration with other onboard systems. That is expected to add cost to the even-tual tracking solution. In addi-tion, vexing questions such as whether tracking systems should be tamper-proof, preventing flight crews from deactivating them, still have to be resolved.

“I fully expect that we will offer whatever our customers need to align with ICAO require-ments or regional requirements for tracking and we will evolve our systems accordingly,” said Honeywell’s Benich. o

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

SPECIAL DELIVERY

It can practically stand on its head. Following an impressive performance in the aerial dis-plays here at Le Bourget, NHIndustries will deliver its 15th NH90 TTH to the French army. The medium transport rotorcraft also serves with the Italian and Finnish armies and the Australian Defence Force.�

Honeywell’s Sky Connect Tracker III is a satcom-driven system incorporating an integrated GPS unit that transmits over the Iridium satellite network.

INDUSTRY LEADER INAVIONICS INNOVATION

See us at Paris Airshow #3B158

BELL 412/212 • HUEY • BLACKHAWK • S61 • C212 • C235 • PC7/9

A Rogerson Company

RDR FLIR VID1 SYSEICAS

MGT

OIL

MGT

FUELPSIPPH

FUELPSIPPH

FWD

HYD 1 HYD 2

XMSNC'BOX2:32:59EL

22:59:59UTC

Most MonitoringMost Features

7 0 0 7 0 0NG

9 0 9 0

MGT

9 0EOT9 0

C-BOX9 0FUEL9 0 9 0XMSN9 0PSI

TOT

Co9 09 0

PSICo

EOP

RDR FLIR VID1 SYSEICAS

90 .6 90 .6

3

2

1

0

3 630 33WND: 15

DCLT

53

TAS: 20DOP: 15.3

ATT

HDG

ADC

RA

1

2

3

45

6

7

8

09 A L T

FT

0

20

40

6080

100

140

160KTS

I A S

120

200

In Hg29.92

OAT-21oC

LNAV IASVAPP ALTP

GSAPR1

3

2

1

1

2

3

.5

.5

0

IVS

RNG

DH

BARO

COMP ARC

VOR2117.95 12 NM

FMS

ADF1200

MAP-TA339

CYRP-2

20+03

-02

+04

DTK

006

CYRP-225.0 NM

GS: 122 KTSTTG: 12 MIN

RDR

Most Synthetic Vision Most Information

ATT

HDG

ADC

RA

1

2

3

45

6

7

8

09 A L T

FT

0

20

40

6080

100

140

160KTS

I A S

120

200

In Hg29.92

OAT-21oC

LNAV IASVAPP ALTP

GSAPR1

3

2

1

1

2

3

.5

.5

0

IVS

DH

BARO

FMS

WPTDR

COMP MAPRDR

NAV2117.95 12 NM

FULL

ADF 11200

WXRFAULT

RNG

2BCN-2-3.5 o

SRCH-1

GS: 122 KTSTTG: 12 MIN

25

CYRP-225.0 NM

DTK

006339

CYRP-2

ATT

ADC

1

2

3

45

6

7

8

09 A L T

FT

0

20

40

6080

100

140

160KTS

I A S

120

200

In Hg29.92

OAT-21oC

LNAV IASVAPP ALTP

GSAPR1 WPT

DR

ATT

ADC

1

2

3

45

0A L T

FT

80100

140

160KTS

I A S

120

200

In Hg29.92

OAT-21oC

LNAV IASVAPP ALTP

GSAPR1

2

1

1

2

3

3

VS

Rogerson Kratos certifies first... www.RogersonKratos.comRogerson Kratos is the pioneer in flat panel flight displays. Starting back in 1992 with the first primaryflight display flat panel certification on a fixed wingaircraft, first to certify a primary flat panel helicopterflight display, and now with the industry leading 3DSynthetic Vision, you can support your mission the most.


Nexcelle’s nacelle shipsets prepping for first deliveriesby Chad Trautvetter

GE Aviation and Safran joint-venture company Nexcelle plans to deliver ini-tial nacelle shipsets for the Bombardier Global 7000 and Comac C919 flight-test aircraft this month, president Michel Abella told AIN. The compa-ny’s integrated propulsion system pro-grams include the GE Aviation Passport engine that will power the Global 7000 business jet and the CFM International LEAP-1C for the C919 airliner.

With these upcoming parallel land-mark deliveries, Abella said seven-year-old Nexcelle has “come of age” and is delivering on its promise of bring-ing to market a new generation of inte-grated propulsion systems that offer “enhanced operational efficiency and improved ease of maintenance.”

Nexcelle’s nacelle components are produced by GE Aviation’s Middle River Air-craft Systems (MRAS) seg-ment in Baltimore, Maryland and the Safran group’s Le Havre, France-based Aircelle division. The shipset for the C919 includes an inlet with anti-ice system, fan cowl, O-Duct, inner fixed structure (IFS), electrical thrust reverser actuation system (ETRAS), exhaust and engine mounts. For the Global 7000, it consists of the inlet, fan cowl and thrust reverser with its associ-ated hydraulic actuation system.

The LEAP-1C nacelle, which Nexcelle bills as “the world’s first truly integrated propulsion system,” features an electrically-operated O-Duct thrust reverser, “advanced” inlet configuration

and extensive use of composites and acoustic “treatment.”

Nexcelle’s integrated system for the GE Passport engine features a one-piece extended aluminum inlet-lip outer barrel that reduces aerodynamic drag; an anti-ice system that uses a directed-flow nozzle concept; a single-piece extended compos-ite inner barrel incorporating acoustic protection; a simplified clamshell com-posite fan cowl that is lighter and eas-ier to maintain; and a target-type thrust reverser with a fixed nozzle to provide lower weight and reverse-thrust efficiency.

Nexcelle–which has a presence here this week at Paris Le Bourget in both the GE and Safran exhibits (Chalet 142 and Hall 2a A252, respectively)–plans to develop, produce and support inte-grated propulsion systems for jet en-gine applications on single-aisle airliners and business aircraft. The cooperative is patterned after the GE Aviation/Saf-ran-Snecma CFM International joint venture, which has delivered more than 20,000 CFM56 engines to date. o

The electrically-operated O-Duct is a key innovation on Nexcelle’s nacelle system for the CFM International LEAP-1C integrated propulsion system (IPS) on COMAC’s C919 twin-engine jetliner. This O-Duct is ready for shipment.

Aircelle is delivering thrust reversers for the Passport engine shipset to equip the first Bombardier Global 7000 business jet to fly. Aircelle builds the reversers as part of its role in Nexcelle–the joint venture with GE Aviation’s Middle River Aircraft Systems.

U.S. ARMY’S TRAINER OF THE FUTURE

In March, Airbus delivered the U.S. Army’s first UH-72A Lakota configured from the Columbus, Mississippi factory for its dedicated training mission. Seven Lakotas had already been modified for the entry-level training configuration, and a fleet of 187 Lakotas is envisioned as the ultimate complement. The twin-engine UH-72A takes over the Army train-ing role from Bell's stalwart single-engine trainer. In all, the service has 400 UH-72s on order, of which close to 350 have been delivered.�

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

S.S. White Provides Flexi Reverser Shafts

S.S. White Technologies (Hall 6 C3) is here at Paris 2015 highlighting the flexi-ble shafts it is providing for the CFM Leap-1C’s thrust reversers. The flexible rotary shafts transmit power to activate the Nex-celle O-Duct thrust reverser actuation sys-tem that will equip the single-aisle Comac C919. For each nacelle, S.S. White supplies a set of three shafts that synchronize the O-Duct actuators. They also prevent inadver-tent deployment, according to the company.

The one-piece composite O-Duct replaces a conventional thrust reverser’s two-piece D-doors and is deployed with new kinemat-ics that transition the entire O-Duct aft to the reverse thrust position. The actuation system is electric, which was pioneered by the Air-bus A380. The benefits of the O-Duct archi-tecture are reduced weight and an elimination of the D-door’s bifurcation in the flow path, thus increasing efficiency. –T.D.

ADV_SSJ_2015_AVIAT_INT_NEWS_275x352.indd 2 12/05/15 18:00


Airbus rallying forces for A350 service effortby Ian Goold

With Vietnam Airlines pre-paring to join Qatar Airways as an Airbus A350 operator and Finnair scheduled to follow with its first delivery next month, the manufacturer has confirmed plans to become a major player in maintenance provision for the twin-aisle twinjet.

Airbus said in April that it was “close” to setting up its first A350 customer-support con-tract with an unidentified oper-ator that accounts for more than 20 of the almost 800 exam-ples ordered by the world’s air-lines. Support for the Qatari fleet began earlier this year and Airbus Customer Services has begun to issue initial A350 ser-vice bulletins (SBs).

Publication of such docu-ments is but a small part of an enterprise that serves a fleet of 8,000 Airbus aircraft, including some of the original A300s now nearly 40 years old. On average, more than seven SBs are issued by Airbus each day, beginning when a new model enters ser-vice. Early SBs for the A350 included, for example, proce-dure to activate passenger-cabin connectivity services.

The broad range of Airbus Customer Services covers six main “platforms” of activity, according to senior vice presi-dent Didier: upgrade services, flight hours and line-replaceable units (LRUs); material, logistics and supplies; training; flight operations; and engineering and maintenance. Lux oversees some 5,000 customer-service employees, including almost 300 representatives working at more than 150 locations comprising a network of international sup-port centers (Toulouse, France; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing) and training centers (Toulouse, Beijing) and Miami, Hamburg and Bangalore), plus spares facilities worldwide.

The manufacturer acknowl-edges the opportunity for in-creased customer support, both as airframes mature–through what services-solutions vice president Pierre Revile calls “end-of-life management”–and as the global fleet grows, led by Asia-Pacific operators. Since 1990, the 10 largest Airbus air-line fleets worldwide have col-lectively grown by some 775 percent, from 256 units to 2,240, said Lux.

Among these, the larg-est Asia-Pacific fleets have increased by almost 1,100 per-cent, growing from the 59 flown by Korean Air (19), Japan Air System (15) and Thai Airways International (25) a quarter-cen-tury ago to the 707 aircraft that in early 2015 made up Airbus fleets operating with Air China (167), China Eastern (272) and China Southern (268).

Fleet Support RequiredInternational airworthiness

regulations–specifically, type certification requirements–mandate that manufacturers offer fleet

support for all aircraft types that have more than four examples in service. During the next 10 years, the global Airbus fleet will grow some two thirds, from about 8,000 last year to around 13,500 in 2024, according to Lux. (Three months ago, the first of seven A321s for Asian carrier VietJetAir was the 9,000th Air-bus to be delivered.)

Airbus is working to under-stand its customers’ evolv-ing requirements. Lux said appreciation of the “spec-trum of airline values world-wide, and [provision of] the right approach for those values [is] absolutely key” to anticipat-ing and supporting the chang-ing needs of a wide diversity of customers, including more than 100 lease companies. “There’s a lot of evolution in airlines’ way

of managing their operations. One size doesn’t fit all.”

Having recognized the increas-ing diversity of its fleet (“the cen-ter of gravity is expanding from Europe to the whole world”), Airbus has been “regionalizing” customer-support activity. Out-side North and South America, Asia-Pacific is now one of two world regions offering two cus-tomer-support centers: in Beijing and Singapore.

The latter region’s predomi-nance as demonstrated by cus-tomers’ fleet growth is reflected in the number of established (or planned) Airbus training centers in Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Seoul and Singapore–more than in any other area, including Europe. The man-ufacturer has also set up (or plans to set up) maintenance and engineering (M&E) cen-ters in Bangkok, Beijing and

Kuala Lumpur, with materials and logistics points in Beijing and Singapore.

Airbus Customer Services reports growing interest in the manufacturer’s flight-hour ser-vices (FHS) and line-replaceable unit (LRU) solutions product and the related tailored-support package (TSP). These are being provided to more than ten cus-tomers together flying almost 200 A320, A330 and A380 air-craft. The FHS offer covers on-demand exchange, loan, maintenance and sales of com-ponents and integrated materi-als packages, as well as access to a components pool and on-site stock repair, modification and component engineering.

Expanded from this, the TSP also includes engineering, main-tenance and other technical and

consulting services. The complete TSP package combines the FHS components plan with a combi-nation of airframe maintenance, engineering and additional ser-vices, and guarantees aircraft on-time performance, emphasizing logistics, maintenance and tech-nical delays.

The FHS/TSP service cov-ers all current single-aisle and twin-aisle Airbus models that the manufacturer outsources to maintenance, repair and over-haul (MRO) centers, a change from procedures through the former Airbus MRO network, which shared data and infor-mation but did not place cus-tomers’ contracted business with members.

Airbus deliveries in 2015 will be the equivalent to around 8 percent of the current opera-tional fleet, according to vice president of upgrade services

Valerie Manning. In the coming ten years, this share is expected to fall to less than 6 percent as the net in-service fleet grows to about 13,000 units. Manning values the upgrade market at up to $2 billion per year.

Expansion in Passenger Capacity

As the operational Airbus population grows, that increase in aircraft numbers is being outstripped by overall expan-sion in passenger capacity. Manning pointed out that growth in average size–a notion frequently questioned in the recent past by Boeing (and in contrast sometimes to the U.S. manufacturer’s internal market forecasts)–is illustrated by the growing numbers of, for exam-ple, A320-series customers

selecting the largest sub-vari-ants available.

Over the past 15 or so years, numbers of single-aisle operators almost quintupled from less than 10 percent to nearly 50 percent.

Manning said the peri-od was marked by particular-ly steep growth in the middle of the past decade, a phenome-na she attributes to a high inci-dence of deliveries to low-cost carriers during 2004-06. Such airlines typically follow business models that require high-densi-ty cabin configurations to mini-mize seat-mile costs. (The Euro-pean manufacturer also reports a trend in this mid-decade–es-pecially among single-aisle op-erators flying in the U.S. coast-to-coast market–to providing a luxury cabin service.)

Airbus Customer Services material and supply-chain so-lutions are offered through the wholly owned (but indepen-dent) Airbus logistics and parts subsidiary, Satair, which also supports Boeing products. Ac-quired in 2012 and having op-erated for more than 12 months as Satair Group, it aims to ex-pand and provide “consumables and expendables” for all air-craft, according to chief execu-tive Mikkel Bardram. “We inte-grate the entire aerospace value chain, connecting all our OEM business partners to the global aftermarket,” said the official, who reports 2014 Satair materi-al sales revenue of $1.3 billion.

Satair offers used and stan-dard parts and has started to increase its three-dimensional (3-D) printing activity. Having produced an initial plastic item for a twin-aisle design in 2014, the company expects to produce the first metallic parts in the near future.

Airbus Customer Services training includes some facili-ties planned for maintenance instruction as well as flight train-ing, said Fabrice Hamel, vice president of training services. Of Airbus training centers at 12 locations around the world, only two do not offer mainte-nance training, which is other-wise available in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea and the U.S.

Acknowledging the incom-plete network, Hamel said that “one or two more dots” will appear on the training-services network map as new plans are revealed in the near future. o

With more than 8,000 Airbuses in service worldwide, some nearly four decades old, fleet support services is a critical component of running the OEM. Service support for the A350 is in its early stages, and the first service bulletins have already been distributed.

Prepare your aircraft for NextGen® with the Rockwell Collins Large DisplaySystem. Certified on the 767 and available for the 757, our avionics system improves flight safety while lowering direct operating costs. You’ll experience enhanced performance and operational efficiency – including a 5X increase in reliability. All within a system built for long-term growth, with the full support of Rockwell Collins and the OEM. All available now.

Visit us at the Paris Air Show, hall 2B, stand D108.

Five times higher reliability

Lower direct operating costs

Prepares airframe for NextGen

Long-term OEM supported

rockwellcollins.com/lds

Upgrade your 767 tothe only OEM-backedlarge-display system.

© 2015 Rockwell Collins. All rights reserved.

All logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

RC_LDSUpgrade_AIN Convention_Jun2015_1275x352.indd 1 6/1/15 12:15 PM

Russian defense spending faces many new realitiesby Reuben Johnson

Several years ago when then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the beginning of a moderniza-tion program for the Russian armed forces, many analysts voiced skepticism that it could be carried out successfully. At the time, there were two main reservations voiced by critics, including Russia’s then-finance minister Aleksei Kudrin.

One perceived problem was that total proposed spend-ing of around $700 billion over a decade would sim-ply be too much for Russian industry to absorb effectively over that period of time. This is largely due to the contrac-tion of Russian industry over the previous two decades, and particularly through the

disappearance of numerous second- and third-level com-ponent suppliers.

Officials from Russia’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, which has oversight for the defense industrial sector, stated more than once that if indus-trial enterprises were too overwhelmed by trying to man-ufacture too many weapons sys-tems too fast, “the result will be an increase in prices and a drop in quality.”

Another issue was the steady decline of Russia’s world market share in defense exports, a revenue stream that has traditionally been relied upon to finance new weapon systems. As far back as 2009, Anatoliy Isaikin, the current director of Rosoboronexport,

the state-run weapons export agency, told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper that a drop in research-and-development funding meant that Russia may soon “trade only in tank, ship and aircraft hulls,”

with the consequence that the market for high-technol-ogy systems will be conceded to nations that are becoming more competitive with Russia in the world arms market.

“The share of Russian re-search-intensive products in global exports was 6 percent in 1990, 1 percent in 2000 and 0.2 percent in 2008,” said Isaikin to illustrate his point. “The coun-try spends on research and de-velopment four times less than Japan, three times less than Ger-many and two times less than the Czech Republic.”

More recently, pressures on the Russian defense industry have been compounded by fac-tors such as declining oil reve-nues, the collapse in the value of Russia’s ruble currency and the impact of economic sanctions imposed in response to the mil-itary conflict in Ukraine. Last July, Medvedev, now Russia’s Prime Minister, insisted that these unforeseen events would not result in a reduction in the state defense orders that are the central element in Russia’s modernization of the nation’s armed forces.

Two Key ProgramsBut more recent develop-

ments suggest that “engaging in the Soviet-style method of try-ing to repeal the laws of eco-nomic reality by decree and declaring that there will be no cuts in weapons procure-ment has not produced magi-cal results,” said a Russia-based defense analyst, speaking to AIN on condition of anonymity.

Two key Russian defense programs central to Russia’s military modernization plans are the Sukhoi T-50 and Su-35 fighters. And it remains to be seen whether the Russian

government will stand by its earlier spending commitments to these programs.

On March 23, deputy defense armaments minister Yuri Bor-isov visited the Komsomolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (Knaapo) plant that manufactures both aircraft, declaring that the facility is fully prepared to start series produc-tion in 2016.

However, he went on to point out that the defense min-istry reserves the right to “re-evaluate” the number of units it intends to purchase and under what timeline. “Due to the newly emerged economic condi-tions, our plans can be adjusted accordingly,” he said. “A better approach now might be to hold the T-50 in reserve and move forward on this later while in the meantime getting as much as possible out of our four-plus generation [Su-30MK and Su-35] fighters.”

Yuri Slyusar, who had only recently been appointed as the CEO of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which owns Knaapo, said that the company agreed with the defense ministry’s position.

The military modernization plan was supposed to include the purchase of 52 T-50s, now being referred in the Russian military by the acronym of PFI (Perspective Frontline Fighter). Originally, the Russian air force was due to receive eight aircraft per year in the 2016-2018 time frame and then 14 more from 2019-2020.

According to a source close to the program and with direct knowledge of the cur-rent budget constraints, this schedule would have been feasible if Russia’s economic


Russia Says Defense Export Growth Is Defying Sanctions

Russia claims to be the world’s number-two defense equipment exporter, according to data released by Presi-dent Vladimir Putin at the May 25 meeting of the country’s Commission on Military Technical Cooperation with Foreign States. According to the Russian government, the value of exports achieved by the country’s state-backed arms sales agency Rosoboronexport (Hall 2c Stand C198) in 2014 was more than $15.5 billion. Putin stated that this gives Russia 27 percent of the global mar-ket, behind the U.S. at 31 percent.

During 2014, Russian defense companies signed around $14 billion worth of new con-tracts, taking their total backlog to $50 billion. Among the country’s top export customers are India (28 percent), Iraq (11 percent), China (9 percent), Viet-nam (7 percent) and Venezuela (6 percent). Russia delivered military equipment to 62 countries last year and has military technical cooperation ties with a total of 91 states.

Putin told the meeting that politically motivated attempts to block Russian defense exports constitute unfair competition, without being specific about particu-

lar cases of alleged interference. He claimed that Ukraine had been forced to break its long-established ties with the Russian industry in a way that had brought its own domestic indus-try to the point of bankruptcy.

In April, Rosoboronexport CEO Anatoly Isaykin told the Kommersant newspaper that, despite economic sanctions, Russia increased the value of its defense orders in 2014 by $22 million, reporting the breakdown of exports last year as being 41 percent for air forces, 27 percent for armies, 15 percent for air defense

systems and 13 percent for navies. He, too, condemned Western sanctions against Russia as amounting to “unfair competition” and “petty tricks” that he said have become “more concentrated and cynical now.” –C.A.

Russia has hopes to export its new T-50 fighter to various countries, such as China and India.

Rosoboronexport CEO Anatoly Isaykin

With prospects looking bleak for T-50 exports, the Russian military aircraft industry might be better served by getting as much as possible out of the more mature Su-35 program.


FIA16_AIN_MRO_advert_Monday 15th UPDATED.indd 1 05/06/2015 18:49

difficulties had not arisen. “The idea now is that as a first step we will sign a con-tract for a squadron of T-50s [12 aircraft],” he said. “After this, we will take a decision as

to how effective they are and how many more aircraft we can afford to take on.”

The six T-50 prototype air-craft that have been produced so far are being used for flight testing. Borisov said that the Russian air force would receive four more fighters to finish the flight tests. Aside from these air-craft, the Knaapo plant will build

14 multirole Su-35s and five Su-30MK2s by the end of 2015.

Chinese and Indian Prospects

Traditionally, China and In-dia have been important export customers for Russian fight-ers, but it is unclear whether this trend will continue with the new products.

China has embarked on two fighter programs of its own that are at least fifth-genera-tion in external appearance: the Chengdu J-20 and the Shenyang FC-31. The Chinese defense industry is still heav-ily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian aircraft engines and the FC-31 may provide a source of financial support

for an increased-thrust version of the Isotov/NPO Klimov RD-33 engine that powers the MiG-29 fighters.

Two versions of that engine are installed on the FC-31 that debuted last November at Air Show China in Zhuhai, prompting comments from independent observers that the jet is underpowered. Chinese officials are now in discussions with the Russian engine makers to secure a 10- percent increase in thrust.

China’s commitment to the FC-31 and J-20 programs raises doubts as to whether it will be a T-50 customer, but the coun-try has expressed an interest in buying the Su-35. However, pro-posals made by Beijing so far indicate that any purchase would involve relatively small num-bers of aircraft that would be below those required to trigger the usual offset involvement of Chinese industry in the program.

India has made some ini-tial commitments to the T-50 program and had wanted to develop a unique version of the aircraft for its own require-ments. This would follow the cooperation pattern estab-lished almost 20 years ago when India agreed to support a Su-30MKI version of the Su-30MK fighter.

However, this scenario has all been called into question by India’s recent decision to pur-chase 36 of Dassault’s Rafale fighters. The Indian govern-ment has yet to indicate whether its budget would also allow for an investment in the T-50.

Meanwhile, Russia is now exploring ways to make its defense modernization bud-get go further by consider-ing cost-cutting measures such as a reduction in the num-ber of armed forces person-nel to 800,000. Similar plans have been put forward by the finance ministry, which include an attempt at balancing the fed-eral budget by also cutting back on the number of new recruits by 10 percent.

The idea is that, with re duced armed forces, the goal of modernizing and re-equip-ping units with all-new hard-ware would become a more manageable task for Russia’s defense industry. o


Russian defense spendinguContinued from page 60

Proudly Keeping the World in Flight.

aviall.com

Come see us at Paris Air Show Hall 4, B207

40 is the number of stocking locations Aviall operates around the world.

This allows us to have trained customer service representatives who

know your business and a customized mix of aftermarket aviation parts

close to you.

No other aviation parts provider has more parts in more places

than Aviall. Aviall Delivers.

40


Airbus CEO considers A320 production boostby Guillaume Lecompte-Boinet

“Airbus is doing well glob-ally,” said Fabrice Brégier, CEO of Airbus, told a recent gathering of French journalists. He said the market is still well oriented, and a book-to-bill of 1 remains a goal for this year. Brégier pre-sented the update about the main challenges facing the European airframer to members of the Association des Journalistes Pro-fessionnels Aéronautiques et de l’Espace (AJPAE) in April.

The main problem, he said is deliveries. Airbus is about to increase the rate of monthly pro-duction for the A320 from the

current 42 to 50 by 2017. A rate of 60 per month by 2020 is being considered, “if it becomes neces-sary,” said Brégier. Contributing to reaching that goal of 50 per month will be the new A320 final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, set to begin produc-tion this summer, with an official opening scheduled for Septem-ber 14. It is expected to produce four aircraft per month by 2017, as is the final assembly line in Hamburg, Germany. Questioned about the possibility of an even-tual new A320 FAL, Brégier said, “Four FALs are sufficient.”

The other two are in Toulouse and Tianjin.

The new Pratt & Whitney PurePower 1100G-powered A320neo, of which almost 3,800 units have been sold, will be part of this increase in production. “A customer who wants to buy an A320 has to wait until 2020 to get a production slot,” said Brégier. The A320neo is still in flight tests; Brégier said certification of the P&W-powered A320neo is still scheduled before autumn, with an entry to service at year-end.

A350XWB ProductionRamp-up for production of

the new A350XWB, 15 of which are to be delivered this year, has started, and is expected to reach a monthly rate of 10 to 12 by 2017, according to Brégier. “A350’s ramp-up is key to beat-ing Boeing in tems of deliveries,”

said the Airbus CEO. He added that, in 2017, a reengined version of the A330neo, powered by the Rolls-Royce’s Trent 7000, which offers10 percent better fuel con-sumption, will steadily replace the A330 classic. At that time, the monthly production rate of the A330 will decrease from nine to six aircraft.

Another major challenge fac-ing Airbus is related to its supply chain. “Cabin equipment suppli-ers should have the same level of industrial standards as airframe suppliers, but generally they haven’t,” said Brégier. He said that serious delivery delays to both Airbus and Boeing by seat supplier Zodiac Aerospace, for example, has signaled a warning. In his opinion, Zodiac isn’t an isolated case.

Brégier also addressed the lack of orders in the A380 program,

but said he doesn’t consider it a “trauma” for Airbus. He stressed that Airbus has done everything possible to improve the program. “Perhaps this aircraft came too early but I’m sure it will address the market needs.” Around 30 A380s are to be delivered this year–the breakeven point at which the program is profitable.

Brégier further said an A380neo is off the table until a business case can be found to cover the $2 billion invest-ment that would be necessary. The recent $9.2 billion order won by Rolls-Royce to power 50 Emirates A380s with its Trent 900 could have been con-sidered a sign that the British OEM will develop a new ver-sion of the Trent 900 (possibly a Trent 9000), as Rolls did with the Trent 7000, but Brégier has not expressed interest. o

Rockwell Collins is showing a trio of new cockpit avionics technologies by Matt Thurber

On display at the Rockwell Collins stand this year are three products making their debut at the Paris Air Show: combined vision, MultiScan ThreatTrack weather radar and Pro Line Fusion for helicopters. These products are interactive so visitors can see them in action at the Rockwell Collins stand (Hall 2b D108).

For aircraft with Rockwell Collins avionics and its head-up guidance system head-up display (HUD), the company now offers an added capability called com-bined vision system (CVS). With CVS, pilots can view not only enhanced-vision system (EVS) infrared imagery on the HUD combiner glass but also synthetic-vision system (SVS) imagery. With CVS, both types of images–the “real” view provided by EVS and the synthetic view provided by SVS–are combined so the images are conformal with each other and with the outside world as seen through the windshield. This elim-inates the need for a pilot to switch between the two types of images and helps pilots “maintain opti-mum awareness,” according to Rockwell Collins, “especially in low-visibility conditions.”

The MultiScan ThreatTrack weather radar has been selected by airlines for installation on more than 2,500 airplanes, according to Rockwell Collins. Key features of the weather radar system include display of hail and lightning predictions

adjacent to or above thunder-storm cells as well as “two levels of turbulence detection–severe and ride-quality–which more accurately informs flight crews of the type of turbulence in their path,” the company explained.

Imagery in All Types of Weather

Rockwell Collins also plans to take advantage of additional MultiScan capabilities, by using the radar as a sensor for EVS and SVS. Although EVS cameras can help pilots “see” through dark-ness, haze and light fog, accord-ing to the company, “[infrared], however, does not effectively penetrate high-moisture weather phenomena, like dense marine fog or heavy snow.” The Multi-Scan radar’s ground imaging can provide imagery in all types of weather because it operates at a

much lower-wave frequency than infrared. The weather radar pic-ture can also be supplemented with air-to-air and air-to-ground networks to provide additional weather information to pilots.

As Boeing prepares for the entry into service of the next-generation of its twin-engine widebody 777 series–the 777X–in 2020, Rockwell Collins is likewise developing products for the new airplane. Boeing expects to deliver the larger version, the 777-9X, in 2020 followed by the shorter 777-8X in 2022. The new jets will be equipped with Rockwell Collins flight displays, surveillance avion-ics and flight control electronics.

The contract award for the 777X, which was announced late last year, represents a significant increase in the content supplied by Rockwell Collins compared to existing members of the 777

family, but also similar to the products the company supplies for Boeing’s 787 family.

The Rockwell Collins Inte-grated Surveillance System avi-onics include compliance with the 2020 ADS-B out mandate and also ADS-B in features, which help pilots see improved displays of airborne and airport surface-based traffic. ADS-B in also can allow the operator to take advantage of upcoming NextGen capabilities that will improve flight efficiency and allow reduced separation on some over-ocean routes.

Production Ramps UpPilots of the 777X will fly with

five 15.1-inch cockpit displays arranged in landscape format, with two mounted in the instru-ment panel in front of each pilot seat and one in the control stand. This is similar to the setup in the 787 and 737 Max models, and will help Boeing and its custom-ers realize savings in purchasing, maintenance and training costs. The displays are manufactured at the Rockwell Collins LCD cen-ter of excellence in Manchester, Iowa, and the company expects the production rate to climb to 305 displays per month in 2018,

as the production rate for all three airplanes ramps up.

For the first time in a 777, Boeing has selected the Rockwell Collins head-up guidance sys-tem HUD. The Rockwell Col-lins HUD is standard on the 787 and optional on the 737 Max. The HUD’s projection of essential flight information on a combiner glass in front of the pilots’ eyes allows the pilot to keep looking outside the cockpit while flying an approach or dur-ing other critical flight phases. HUD-equipped airplanes can be certified to fly to lower landing minima, which can help airlines reduce the number of weather-related diversions.

Rockwell Collins is also sup-plying the control stand, digital audio system, mode control panel and primary control damper for the 777X, in addition to the flight control module. The entire fly-by-wire system is being developed in partnership with BAE Systems, which designed the software for the flight control module. The module “delivers high-integrity fly-by-wire computing function-ality that supports the 777X’s new wing with load alleviation, and its high-lift and folding wing tips,” according to Rockwell Collins. o

The pilot’s view through the head-up display combiner glass looks like this, with the flight data display overlaid on synthetic-vision system imagery, enhancing awareness.

Pilots can view a conformal combination of infrared enhanced-vision and synthetic-vision system imagery on the Rockwell Collins head-up display.

Piaggio Aerospace.Innovation to perform.

A unique mark in the sky.

Our planes have a unique, unmistakeable and innovative design.

It is our distinguishing mark. A mark that accompanies civil and military cutting edge programmes, conceived

to meet the market and society’s expectations of our time.

The P.1HH, remotely piloted aircraft system, among the most advanced in the world, and the MPA

patroller are synonyms for intelligence, surveillance and security for all. Avanti EVO, the latest generation

of a legendary aircraft, rewrites the rules for efficiency and elegance of flight.

They all combine style and high technology. All of them are the product of Italian talent and craft.


Recovering airline confidence is priority for new CSeries bossby Gregory Polek

Since assuming the post of president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft in April, Fred Cromer has spent much of his ear-ly tenure assessing the strengths and weak-nesses of an organization that has drawn its share of criticism over the CSeries’ slow industrial and commercial progress. But now that the program appears to have found some momentum in terms of its cer-tification effort (now projected for the end of 2015), Cromer can set his sights on en-suring the company’s readiness to support the airplane in the field, and ultimately es-tablish a foundation on which Bombardier can cultivate confidence among potential customers and financiers.

Finally registering orders for 300 airplanes by the time the CSeries gains certification–a target set by Bombar-dier hierarchy well before Cromer joined the company–certainly would aid the cause, as would helping to se-cure financing for one of the program’s largest customers, Russia’s Ilyushin Fi-nance Company (IFC).

In an interview with AIN in early April, IFC general director and co-own-er Alexander Roubtsov said he had be-gun reconsidering his company’s com-mercial commitments to the CSeries due not only to Canadian sanctions placed on Russia for its annexation of Crimea and alleged support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, but because of his con-cerns over Bombardier’s readiness for high-quantity production, the availabil-ity of delivery slots and airline accep-tance of the product.

Bombardier wants to dispel skep-ticism over its ability to maintain the pace of industrial progress and Cromer told AIN in an interview just before the Paris show that the manufacturer in-tends to behave “proactively” to ensure that the CSeries finds a position in the Russian market.

“Rather than sit around and be hopeful that sanctions will be lifted, we’re going to be a little more proac-tive and figure out with our Russian customers and our potential Russian customers a way to help them secure financing,” said Cromer. “I can’t go into specifics, but I can tell you those

are conversations we’re having with our Russian customers right now.”

In the meantime, Bombardier and its newly announced launch opera-tor–Lufthansa Group subsidiary Swiss International Airlines–continues prepa-rations for entry into service in the first half of next year. Cromer character-ized the decision by Lufthansa not only to become the launch customer but to commit to making Swiss the first opera-tor as “natural,” given the long relation-ship Bombardier has cultivated with the European airline, starting with service entry of the first 50-seat CRJ in 1992.

“The lines of communication are open…they know us, we know them, and this sort

of feedback loop as the airplane goes in-to service is going to be extremely impor-tant to us,” said Cromer. “I’ve been through this before, and to have that level of com-munication with the OEM is going to be key. They’re obviously pretty sophisticat-ed with Lufthansa behind them, [and with] Lufthansa Technik as part of that family as well. I think that we’re well positioned to be extremely successful with entry into service.”

Strong Industry BackgroundCromer should know, given his ex-

perience with fleet planning and ac-quisition at Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines, then as CFO of Continental Express and, finally, CFO and president of International Lease Fi-nance Co. (ILFC). While working on the airline side of the business gave Cromer a broad exposure to North America, his experience at ILFC, half of whose busi-ness resides in Europe and 25 percent in Asia, lends him a global perspective that Bombardier felt it needed for the CSeries program.

“So developing the network with all the international carriers on top of what I already had in North America is something that I bring now to Bombar-dier in terms of customer connections,” explained Cromer, who also referred to his finance background. “So I can get a little creative when we think about how to finance airplanes into a new custom-er, as well as understand what an air-line goes through in making a fleet deci-sion,” he said.

On criticism from competitors and some analysts about the level of export credit agency financing on which Bombardier historically has relied, Cromer noted that although “at times” customers will certainly avail them-selves of such support, no CSeries cus-tomer has yet received ECA financing.

“We’re actually seeing a lot of interest

P&W Develops eFast for CSeries Health Data

Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney (Cha-let 338) are collaborating on a data manage-ment service as part of the Aircraft Health Management System (AHMS) for the CSeries narrowbody.

Using real-time and recorded data from the aircraft, the AHMS will allow for remote trouble-shooting and diagnostics for maintenance and flight crews, explained Bombardier vice presi-dent for customer service Todd Young.

“Traditionally, when aircraft arrive at the gates, maintenance technicians download parameters with a laptop, which takes a lot of time,” said Young. “With the HMS system, we can instantaneously transmit that information through a cell or Wi-Fi network, and do it on multiple airplanes at the same time.”

Under the agreement, Pratt’s eFAST system will serve as the infrastructure unit used to per-form data transmissions from the CSeries’ on-board health management unit (HMU) to the ground. The system encompasses the data

acquisition structure that automatically down-loads, processes and stores data for upload to respective customer portals.

Separately, Bombardier (Chalet 284 Hall 2b G172) revealed in recent video recording featur-ing CSeries vice president Rob Dewar that the airplane’s various flight test articles have now flown more than 1,600 hours, including more than 100 hours by the CS300, which flew for the first time this past February and is participating in the Paris Air Show’s flying displays.

Dewar reported that the first flight-test vehi-cle, FTV1, just completed testing with artificial ice shapes, and FTV2 completed testing in nat-ural icing conditions during high-altitude oper-ations in Colorado. Meanwhile, FTV3 continues avionics trials, including tests on the autopilot and FMS. FTV4 has finished cruise performance testing and now is in the midst of runway per-formance trials. Finally, FTV5–the airplane fitted with a cabin interior–has finished handling and electromagnetic interference tests. –G.P.

Recently appointed Bombardier Commercial Aircraft president Fred Cromer has a wealth of experience.

Bombardier’s C100 regional jet made its first flight back in 2013, but service entry has been delayed until the first half of 2016.


The Bahrain International Airshow offers an exclusive business to business networking platform for the high-level international aerospace community.

• US$ 2.8 billion total deals• 29 military delegations from 18 countries• 57 civil delegations comprising 106 delegates from 17 countries

Book your presence now or call our dedicated hotline +44 (0) 1252 523 800www.bahraininternationalairshow.com

• 120 participating companies• Over 27,000 trade visitors from 35 countries• 650 international media from 17 countries• 106 aircraft on display

Organised by: In Association with: Official Logistics PartnerOfficial Carrier Headline SponsorGold Sponsor

10875 Bah Airshow 2016_Aviation Int.pdf 1 6/3/15 12:31 PM

from the leasing community,” said Cromer. “Over the last year we signed on with five lessors and they are certainly helping our customers source solutions to the financing challenges facing the

industry. As for ECA use, we are no different from any other OEM in that regard.”

Although Bombardier fully in-tends to gain certification by the end of this year, it has given itself a substantial time buffer to ensure on-time EIS. The cautious ap-proach would seem warranted; as potential customers exhibit what Cromer called a “wait-and-see

attitude” until certification au-thorities issue their approvals. “The general sentiment is that ev-eryone wants us to get it right up front,” said Cromer. “We are now proving that to be the case, consid-ering what we’re now seeing with the impressive performance–we’re building that market confidence.”

Having finished more than 60 percent of the flight-test hours required and 70 percent of the certification requirements, the program has performed as expected, judging by the accounts of Bombardier executives.

“Coming from an aircraft fleet-planning background, I’ve helped bring new aircraft pro-grams to market [before], and I can tell you that I’ve never seen an aircraft program that got it right up front–until now, that is,” said Cromer. “The CSeries is performing beautifully, [and I’m] very impressed with the data we are seeing.” o


Bombardier boss discusses CSeriesuContinued from page 66

Bombardier’s CS300 regional jet made its first flight in February. It’s the 135-seat member of the CSeries.


MiG-21 cockpitIn 1995, Mikoyan’s MiG-21 received an avionics upgrade by Israel’s Elbit, which was on display on the static line. Further upgrades to the nearly 40-year-old delta-wing interceptor included a pulse-Doppler Kopyo radar with a slotted antenna, new electric power supply, digital INS, helmet-mounted target designator and a digital computer–and cockpit.

CH

RIS

SO

RE

NS

EN

Technology / Profitability / Comfort

Propelling New Horizons

ATR (Avions de Transport Régional) is the leader of regional air transport today. ATR 72-600 and 42-600 aircraft, with a unique combination of flexibility on regional routes, reliability and unbeatable fuel efficiency, enable airlines to offer their passengers great flight experience at unique comfort standards.With more than 190 operators in over 90 countries worldwide,ATR turboprops are good value for money over time.

Opt for the best solution for regional flights!www.atr-aircraft.com

atrbroadcast atraircraft atraircraft atr

Market shareDispatch reliability 99.6%

ATR flights per day5,000 78%

C

M

J

CM

MJ

CJ

CMJ

N

ATR_Annonce_Presse_275x352mm_HD.pdf 1 26/05/2015 18:27


GKN has its imprint on six big programsby Ian Goold

GKN Aerospace (Chalet 73 Hall 2b Stand H174) has inno-vative technology on all new transport aircraft entering ser-vice, according to engineer-ing and technology senior vice president Russ Dunn, a for-mer Airbus head of A350 wing engineering. “It’s not just about developing technology, but get-ting onto aircraft,” Dunn told AIN. “GKN Aerospace is a company that everyone wants to partner with.”

Here at Le Bourget, six major aircraft and equipment programs are providing the manufacturer with debut platforms for its lat-est technological developments. On board the Airbus A350 twin-aisle twinjet are GKN spars, automated trailing-edge assem-blies and CrystalVue II passen-ger windows, the latter similarly adorning Bombardier’s C Series jetliner, which also is fitted with the UK company’s co-cured aile-rons and winglets. All are made from composites.

The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine, which powers the A350, has engine case structures that include GKN additive-manu-factured features, while Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000 geared tur-bofan (GTF) sports intermedi-ate engine and turbine-exit cases.

For the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter, GKN provides the cockpit canopy, plus various composites and metallic assemblies, and the F135 engine case and ice protection. Finally, the supplier has produced the composite airframe and cock-pit windows for the Japanese HondaJet executive aircraft.

Such myriad products rep-resent the wide range of GKN Aerospace’s expertise in aerospace technology; indeed, chief execu-tive Kevin Cummings argues that the company offers “the widest range of capabilities” of any Tier 1 supplier of airframe and engine-support structures (a claimed Number 3 in the world), engine static and rotating structures, including maintenance (Number 2), and cockpit and cabin trans-parencies and ice-protection sys-tems (respectively, Numbers 1 and 2). It employs 12,300 people at nearly 40 locations in nine coun-tries on three continents.

“Five years ago, there was a lot of pressure on original equip-ment manufacturers [OEMs] to improve performance for new platforms–programs that are now entering service,” said Dunn. “Today, much more emphasis is being put on cost reductions, with OEMs having become very

interested if we can see opportu-nities to save.”

Collaboration permits GKN to exploit “differentiating” technologies and to influence industry strategies. Its partners include government and aca-demic research agencies and cen-ters, along with world-famous airframe, engine and system manufacturers with which the

company has established “active technology programs.”

Working with research cen-ters has provided GKN with access to funding for both parties through government agencies, said Dunn. Such partnerships have permitted the company to harness knowledge during early research, while de-risking new technical developments through

so-called “catapult” centers (organizations set up by the UK Technology Strategy Board to promote research-and-develop-ment collaboration among busi-nesses, engineers, and scientists).

Pointing out that increased competition demands world-class technology development, Dunn claims that GKN Aerospace leads the world with the widest range

Additive Technology Has Big Potential for Increasing Efficiency

GKN Aerospace has established a “strong strategy and plan” to lead in the exploitation of additive manufacturing (AM) in aerospace, according to the UK company’s engineering and technology senior vice president, Russ Dunn.

Additive processes have huge potential for application in aerospace, where there is “a growing demand for more, and more efficient, aircraft,” said Dunn. “In coming years the indus-try will need to manufacture at greater speeds and with total consistency, producing lighter and more cost-effective [compo-nents] that generate less waste during manufacture and lower emissions in operation.”

With Swedish AM specialist Arcam, GKN Aerospace has set up a joint technology development (JTD) partnership to develop and indus-trialize electron beam melting (EBM), a “most promising” process in which three-dimensional metal components are built up layer-by-layer. A conductive metal powder–titanium for example–is melted by a pow-erful electron beam to produce “very precise, small- to medium-sized components” that require very little finishing.

Under the JTD agreement, GKN Aerospace has ordered two Arcam Q20 EBM machines for its Bristol, UK AM center, where it produces military and commercial aircraft components. Arcam says the Q20 system permits “industrial volume” production, including increased productivity, higher resolution and a camera monitoring system for part quality verification.

The partners will collaborate to develop EBM equipment to man-ufacture complex titanium structures at the high volumes required to

meet future demand. Alongside the Arcam partnership, GKN Aero-space is working with its parent group’s powder metallurgy division.

“Our aim has been to fully understand how EBM can be applied to our future aerostructures and aero engines portfolio,” said Dunn. “We believe [additive] processes will revolutionize manufacturing, particularly in aerospace, where cost, weight and performance are critical. [This will] unlock innovations in low-drag, high-perfor-mance wing designs and lighter, even more-efficient engine systems

that will dramatically improve airframe performance and reduce noxious emissions and noise.”

In April, GKN Aerospace revealed it was to lead a three-year, $4.8 million collaborative research program to develop titanium powder specifically for aerospace-component AM. Dubbed “titanium powder for net-shape component manufacture” (or TiPOW), it aims also to develop techniques and equipment to produce the powder consis-tently, in quantity, and less expensively.

TiPOW will investigate development of titanium alloys and pow-ders more specifically suited to AM than initial materials that were not optimized for such processes. Backed by the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and Technology Strategy Board “innova-tion agency,” this research will be followed by definition of produc-tion methods aimed at minimizing AM material costs while meeting aerospace quality, quantity and consistency standards.

Previous AM research focused largely on evolving processes required to enter full-scale production, but Dunn said that to make a significant breakthrough, the “quality, repeatability and cost of mate-rial will be critical.” The program also will explore effective re-use and recycling of titanium material and study potential applications for recycled material.

The TiPOW research will run alongside Horizon (AM), another GKN Aerospace-led, ATI-supported, program to “take promising AM techniques through to viable production processes,” said the com-pany. GKN has set up five development centers in North America and Europe to focus on AM processes and technology. –I.G.

GKN Aerospace has ordered two Arcam Q20 EBM machines for its Bristol additive manufacturing center in the UK, where it produces space, military and commercial aircraft components.

GKN Aerospace is moving into additive manufacture production this year with the electron-beam melting powder-bed process,

of strategic technologies to offer unique products. “The whole indus-try is innovating at a greater level than seen before,” he said.

He says that real opportuni-ties arise “when you combine tech-nologies to [introduce] your own expertise that is not available to competitors.” Dunn cites a wide range of GKN Aerospace technol-ogies, each with several elements: » Chemistry and materials–ero-

sion, anti-ice and damage-detection coatings, and Haynes 282 high-temperature material development;

» Processes–near net-shape joining, additive manufacture, forming and welding, composites automation and automated polishing;

» Major components–co-cured wing covers (skin panels), cockpit can-opies, composite fan cases, and laser-welded and space-propul-sion structures; and

» Major assemblies–composite fuse-lages, trailing-edge assemblies and engine certification.GKN sees “real value” in five

strategic technologies that are being developed, each aimed var-iously at reducing cost, drag, fuel burn, noise or weight, while increasing efficiency. Dunn listed the following:

» Integrated composites structures– GKN’s microwave curing technol-ogy is claimed to offer 90-percent reduction in build power con-sumption, enabling it to offer 15 percent cost reduction on “some-thing as simple as a panel”;

» Advanced metallic structures–the company’s advanced welding, analy-sis and material capability, including “a lot of work in how to integrate different metals, such as welding to obtain complicated structures,” is said to have enabled a 10-per-cent weight reduction on Pratt & Whitney GTF engine cases and per-mitted the program to deliver a step-change in specific fuel consumption;

» Transparencies and coatings–GKN’s CrystalVue II coating “doubles the life” of aircraft cabin windows, offer-ing “three to seven years” of extra operation;

» Ice protection and detection–a pat-ented closed-loop system offers “up to 50-percent reduction” in de-icing power consumption provid-ing “[up to] $50,000” savings per single-aisle aircraft per year; and

» Additive manufacture–the com-pany is moving into production this year with an electron-beam melt-ing (EBM) powder-bed process, enabling “a 25-percent” cost reduc-tion on titanium components. o


Innovative technology products from GKN can be found on six major aircraft/equipment programs on show here at Le Bourget. They include the Airbus A350 (spars, automated trailing-edge assemblies, passenger windows), below; Bombardier C Series (windows, composite ailerons and winglets), above; Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine case structures; Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000 geared turbofan engine and turbine-exit cases; the cockpit canopy, various composites and metallic assemblies for the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter (left), and the F135 engine case and ice protection; and the composite airframe and cockpit windows for the HondaJet.

Gulfstream sees rising interest in G650by Kerry Lynch

While deliveries dipped slightly in the first quarter, Gulfstream Aerospace executives maintain they are still seeing solid interest in its flagship G650 and newest mid-cabin G280. “Some deals are tak-ing a little longer to get done,” said Mark Burns, who is set to succeed Larry Flynn as president of the air-craft manufacturer on July 1, “but it was still a very good quarter.”

Scott Neal, senior v-p of sales and marketing, added that the G650/650ER is now benefiting from shorter wait times. Once stretching back seven years, the backlog for the model has shrunk to about three years. Last year’s addition of the “ER” option, which extends the range to 7,500 nm, also has sparked interest in the model.

The G280, meanwhile, has pro-vided a bounce in Gulfstream’s mid-cabin lineup, which previ-ously struggled to recover from the prolonged downturn in that market segment. With the G280, Gulfstream mid-cabin deliver-ies were up by about 10 units last year. Gulfstream, which returned to the Paris Air Show two years ago, has brought both the G280 and the 650ER this year, with an eye on business and special mis-sion markets.

While the 650 marked one of its most successful commercial prod-uct launches, Gulfstream sees a potential special missions demand for the long-range capabilities of the 650ER. Burns noted that during the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a customer (believed to be movie director Peter Jackson) loaned his G650 to the effort. Burns added that the 650 was able to remain aloft longer than other search aircraft involved in the mission.

Gulfstream (Chalet 500, Static C1) is no stranger to the special missions market. It has success-fully placed its GV/550 long-range aircraft in multiple roles, including personal transport, open patrol search, ISR, airborne early warn-ing and high-atmospheric research for the U.S., German, Israel and Singapore services.

In addition, Gulfstream for years has collaborated with U.S. govern-ment agencies, including NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, on supersonic research. Burns acknowledged that Gulfstream has a “consistent invest-ment” in that research, but believes a commercially viable product is still some way off.

New ModelsGulfstream’s parent General

Dynamics, meanwhile, has made the decision to invest heavily in research and development for new products, Neal said, leading to significant expansion of the company’s test capabilities and development of the new G500 and 600 aircraft that will continue to broaden the company’s product line. The 500 and 600 fit below the 650 with rival speed capabilities of Mach 0.925 and new technologies. The 500, which will have a 5,000-nm range at Mach 0.85, first flew last month and is targeted for cer-tification in 2017. The 600, mean-while, with a 6,200-nm range at Mach 0.85, is expected to follow between 12 and 18 months later.

Gulfstream has already logged more than 34,000 hours of lab tests and already has a full-flight simulator in place; it is a first for the manufacturer to bring a sim-ulator online so early in the pro-gram, Burns said. The company plans to incorporate the simulator

into the test program, in the hope that it will keep down the nec-essary certification flight trials, added Burns.

While the Savannah, Geor-gia-based manufacturer remains busy with a number of research programs ongoing, it is in transi-tion with the retirement of Larry Flynn in the next few weeks. Like Flynn, Burns has served as pres-ident of product support before stepping into the role of president of the company. His appointment underscores the emphasis that the company places on product sup-port. “We have long believed that service sells airplanes,” said Burns, a 32-year company veteran. “Of our 16,000 workers, almost 5,000 are involved in product support. It is part of our core business.” o

Gulfstream sees “solid interest” in its flagship G650/650ER models, and shorter backlogs are helping stimulate sales.

With his tenure in Gulfstream’s wheelhouse reaching its final few days, president Larry Flynn, above, prepares to step down. His successor at the helm will be Mark Burns,

We started withrocket science...

and built a legacyof innovation.For over 50 years, Astronautics Corporation of America has been a trusted supplier of tailored avionics solutions which provide comprehensive capabilities and enhanced situational awareness – no matter what the mission. From orbiting the Moon to a remote platform in the Gulf, we deliver innovative and reliable technology to customers around the world.

Stop by PAS Hall 3, Booth E-20 and discover how an Astronautics avionics solution can be tailored to achieve your mission.

AFD 6800Tough and Reliable TSO’d Mil-spec displays for helicopter retrofit solutions

NEXIS™Best-in-classCertified servers for airborne storage and mission applications

www.astronautics.com

Tailored Solutions to Achieve Your Mission

www.aleniaaermacchi.it

Always Flying Higher

follow us on:

High Efficiency Trainer

M-345 HET The new M-345 HET (High Efficiency Trainer) represents the most recent solution proposed by Alenia Aermacchi for the basic-advanced phase of training syllabus for military pilots. M-345 HET provides Air Forces with an economically affordable and effective solution, thanks to a significant reduction in acquisition and life-cycle costs, compared to those of powerful turboprop trainer aircrafts, which offer lower performance and lower training effectiveness, despite being in the same weight class and in some case equipped with similar top of the line on-board systems. M-345 provides, in fact, a value for money solution that benefits from the jet performance and from the expanded flight envelope, both in terms of speed and altitude, which ensure more training per flight hour and higher training download capability from the subsequent Advanced/LIFT phase, providing important cost saving in producing a fast jet pilot.

03_M345 su cielo_High Efficiency Trainer_Ing__25.4X32,8_AIN_21_5_2015.indd 1 22/05/15 10.46

EGNOS still struggling to bring users on boardby Thierry Dubois

In an effort to raise the profile of EGNOS, Europe’s satellite-based GPS augmentation sys-tem, the European Commission and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) held an event at Toulouse Blagnac Airport last month to demonstrate the benefits of a service that has been available for four years but has seen little acceptance in the industry.

The counterpart of the U.S. WAAS is enabling 142 airports in the region, so far, to have localizer performance with verti-cal guidance (LPV) approaches.

These are precision approaches that are equivalent to ILS Cat 1 but without the need for ground equipment at the airport. But the number of aircraft actually using EGNOS is just a few dozen, according to Carlo des Dorides, executive director of GSA.

In the long term, it is sensi-ble to use EGNOS, said Simon McNamara, director general of the European Regions Airlines Association (ERA). However, selling the idea to regional air-lines is difficult. “Why would you equip [for EGNOS] when

you have ILS on most airports?” he asked.

A solution to this chicken-and-egg situation may come from air navigation service pro-viders, like France’s DSNA, which is withdrawing ILS sup-port at 50 airports in the coun-try, leaving it to the airports themselves to decide whether they want to pay for their ILSs or to decommission them.

No Charge for LPV DesignAccording to DSNA’s direc-

tor of satellite-based navigation, Benoît Roturier, DSNA is offer-ing to pay for the design of LPV procedures. The annual main-tenance cost of an ILS is es-timated at €50,000 to €70,000 ($56,000 to $78,000), which is also the one-time-only amount needed to establish an equiva-lent LPV approach.

To accelerate adoption, the GSA has recently started offer-ing grants for operators to equip their aircraft with receiv-ers and airports to establish LPV approaches. An annual amount of €6 million ($6.7 million), for three years, has been allocated to the project. For example Air France’s regional airline subsid-iary HOP! is fitting 13 of its ATR 42-500s with EGNOS receivers.

Airbus is offering optional EGNOS equipment (which is

also compatible with WAAS) on the A350 XWB. The manufac-turer has seen 90 percent of cus-tomers choosing it, according to test pilot Jean-Christophe Lair. Some 15 percent of the runways that A350 operators may want to use currently have only non-precision approaches, explained Raphaël Sheffield, aircraft ATM system strategy director for Airbus. “It is small but sig-nificant. A diversion costs over $40,000, and even if you use your EGNOS/WAAS receiver only once a year, it makes sense to have it on board,” Sheffield told AIN.

Airbus claims the A350 is the first widebody aircraft with EGNOS (and WAAS) capabil-ity. Cockpit guidance is via an ILS lookalike display, so it is seamless for pilots.

In fact, the first EGNOS LPV approach was published at Pau Pyrénées Airport, in south-west France, to serve Airbus Training International’s (ATI) training purposes. It was first flown in 2011 by a Dassault Falcon 900LX business jet but is destined to be used regularly by Airbus A300-600ST Belugas. “We operate to airports with light infrastructure,” Stéphane Gosselin, head of ATI, said by way of explanation and in sup-port of wider EGNOS use.

Since 2011, France has been at the forefront of the expansion of LPV use in Europe. “As of early May, there were 90 [GNSS approaches] and we publish about 30 per year, targeting [a total of] 200 in 2017–virtually all of France’s IFR approaches [are now LPV],” DSNA’s Rotu-rier said.

Expansion beyond Europe is on the horizon, as Asecna–a joint ATM organization with 17 member states in Africa–is negotiating with the European Commission. An agreement is expected to be reached next year.

EGNOS promoters say accuracy is in the 1- to 3-meter range (3 to 10 feet), far better than the usual 5 to 10 meters (16 to 32 feet) with GPS alone. Availability is calculated at more than 99.9 percent across the European Union region.

EGNOS alerts pilots within six seconds if something goes wrong. This is where integrity comes into play. It is a key qual-ity and safety parameter, mea-suring the confidence the user may put into the received sig-nal. The integrity risk is the probability of providing a sig-nal that is out of tolerance with-out warning the user within the six seconds. The EGNOS integ-rity risk is estimated at one in 10 million. o


Second GPS Frequency, Galileo Supports an EGNOS Future

Beginning in 2023, a second civil frequency should be available from the GPS satellite constellation such that a dual-frequency receiver will be able to make on board ionospheric corrections, said Jean-Marc Pieplu, GSA’s head of EGNOS development. Therefore, the network of ground stations will be main-tained for legacy single-frequency users but will progressively be phased out in the long term.

However, starting in 2025, EGNOS will augment Europe’s future GPS counterpart, Galileo, which will be available with two frequencies. A dual-fre-quency receiver equipped for GPS and Galileo will ensure more robust guid-ance (thanks to a greater number of usable satellites) and will improve the performance of LPV approaches, Pieplu said. –T.D.

EGNOS ranging and integrity monitoring stations (Berlin’s station shown at right) have made Europe’s GPS augmentation system available to aviation since 2011, but few operators have equipped their aircraft to take advantage of the advanced technology.

Rocket ShipperThe Airbus A300-600ST (Super Transporter), or Beluga, is a version of the standard A300-600 widebody airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and oversized cargo–even an entire Ariane 5 rocket first stage. At Paris ’95, one show-goer remarked, “It looks as though they fill it with hydrogen and that’s how it flies.” The voluminous hold measures 49,440 cu ft and can hoist a maximum of 45.5 tons of payload at speeds up to 400 kt. It also is capable of carrying entire sections of fuselages of Airbus aircraft–with the exception of the A380.


T. S

HIA

ASKAMERICAFIRST.

You can also find U.S. exhibitors online at www.parisairshow.com

VISIT US IN HALL 3AT THE PARIS AIR SHOW

THE U.S. INTERNATIONAL PAVILION IS ORGANIZED BY

www.kallman.com

The U.S. International Pavilion is open for business, with more than 230 exhibitors representing the industry’s most innovative partners, products and services — including our “HOT 100” listed companies. Visit us now in Hall 3 at Le Bourget, and learn how American suppliers can help you gain a competitive advantage in any market sector, anywhere in the world.

Looking for commercial, military or space solutions?

One Nation.Infinite Possibilities.

Ask America 11x14 v 4.indd 1 5/21/15 8:51 AM


Rolls is future-proofing new engine technology by Ian Goold

Having signaled last year that its strategic foresight involved looking well beyond the next hedge, Rolls-Royce (Chalet 93) sees an exciting future with plans to confirm technological exper-tise through a range of hardware and systems demonstrations in the next 15 or more years.

During this decade, the UK engine manufacturer aims to advance its current capability portfolio to U.S. Department of Defense technology readiness level 6 (TRL6–system model or prototype demonstration stage) and to its own internally defined manufacturing capability readi-ness level 4 (MCRL4–technol-ogy conception and assessment), according to aerospace future programs and technology chief engineer Alan Newby.

The company is “well along with the task of delivering technology” as it navigates a roadmap taking it through the previously announced Advance and UltraFan service readiness periods up to 2020 and 2025, respectively, into a perceived era of new concepts stretching beyond 2030. Newby sees Rolls-Royce as well established on a journey toward greater integra-tion between powerplant and airframe technologies.

Evolution having taken de-velopments from basic engines through engine/nacelle combi-nations and on toward integrat-ed aircraft/engine systems, New-by predicts continued progress into embedded propulsion. This latter technology could “perhaps take air from the aircraft bound-ary layer” and enable designers to “put the engines where you want to,” with hybrid sources of power.

ALM EnginesWhat will this future chal-

lenge look like? The Rolls-Royce executive foresees air vehicles having a single advanced gas turbine engine to provide thrust and to drive electrically powered fans, with excess power being stored as energy for use when a boost is required.

This vision of the future is revealed as the company pre-pares later this year to fly “the largest additive layer manu-facturing (ALM) aero-engine structure produced to date.” Newby reports successful ground testing of ALM engine

front-bearing housings on mul-tiple 97,000-pound-thrust Trent XWB engines.

The five-foot-diameter, 20- inch-ong “significant load-bear-ing engine structure” involves 48 titanium airfoils produced on what Rolls-Royce claims are the world’s largest electron-beam melting (EBM) print-ing machines. Newby says the EBM-produced parts have dem-onstrated a 30-percent like-for- like reduction in manufacturing lead time.

Among other continuing technological milestone devel-opments, Rolls-Royce has be - gun rig and engine testing of its advanced lightweight low-pressure system (ALPS) car-bon titanium (CTi) fan, with plans to “deliver readiness” by year-end, followed by “techni-cal readiness” during the first six months of 2016. Indoor and outdoor functional and noise testing have been completed in the UK and U.S. and the man-ufacturer plans more bird-strike tests in addition to the nearly 100 already completed, accord-ing to Newby.

The major research and testing program is being run to support Advance and UltraFan architecture devel-opment and is now using new

fourth-generation fan blades and fan case. Newby said Rolls-Royce is continuing to refine blade geometry, adding that this year will see signif-icant blade-off tests. A cam-paign of “about eight” flight tests of the CTi fan system, which began with the com-pany’s 747 flying testbed air-craft in Tucson, Arizona, last October, is now complete.

Advance3 Core DemonstratorDevelopment of the Rolls-

Royce Advance3 core demon-strator continues, with Newby reporting “really good progress” as long lead-time components are delivered and machining

has begun. Parts for the all-new core, which represents a “big change” from the architecture used on earlier Trent and RB211 engines, are due to arrive by the end of this year, he said.

The engine is expected to “pass to test” by mid-2016, about six months later than that predicted almost 12 months ago when Rolls-Royce expected functional testing to begin in 2015, ahead of endurance run-ning in 2016. Newby said the new core will be equipped with sufficient test instrumentation to enable the manufacturer to “really understand [what’s hap-pening] as we run it.”

The Advance3 demonstrator will use a “slave” 84,000-pound-thrust Trent XWB engine as part of the new core architecture development. The high- and intermediate-pressure compres-sor spools have been replaced by a new composite design.

Rolls-Royce also is continu-ing testing and validation of an advanced, low-emissions com-bustion system (ALECSYS) using a Trent 1000 donor engine for full-system level verification, according to Newby. The design has been finalized, with com-ponents being manufactured in preparation for testing that is expected to start in Derby by year-end. Flight-testing is slated to begin aboard the 747 testbed in Arizona next year.

EFE and E3E Core ProgressNewby said that ALECSYS

combustor subsystem verifi-cation has been completed on the company’s environmen-tally friendly engine (EFE) and E3E core demonstrators, the latter aiming to incorporate “major advances with regard to

environmental friendliness, effi-ciency and economy.”

Rolls-Royce has launched a follow-on high-temperature tur-bine technology (HT3) demon-strator, based on a 97,000-pound-thrust Trent XWB and expected to yield an advanced turbine for the Advance and Ultra-Fan programs. This will contin-ue development of both ceram-ic matrix composites (CMC) and advanced material and man-ufacturing technologies for high-temperature metallic blades.

Another program (appar-ently running later than sched-uled 12 months ago) is testing the power gearbox destined for the UltraFan engine. Testing had been predicted to start this year, but Newby said that first test of the gearbox test facility and rig is now planned to take place in 2016.

The UltraFan demonstrator includes power gearbox, high-speed turbine, low-speed fan, and integrated nacelle technol-ogy. Related flight testing will use a donor engine from the Advance program.

Major advances in data and analytics technology have enabled the “significant” activ-ity now under way on a virtual engine, according to Newby. The technology permits Rolls-Royce to build “quite complex mod-els” with greater engine, subsys-tem and component accuracy with claimed attendant reduced risk, cost and development lead times, said the R-R official.

Earlier availability of such engines permits the manufac-turer to discover problems ear-lier. The virtual technology also is expected to be used by Rolls-Royce to build its future engine factories, concluded Newby. o

One example of Rolls-Royce’s advanced manufacturing technology is the use of electron-beam melting (EBM) printers to improve the efficiency of manufacturing components such as the front bearing housing of the Trent XWB-97, above.

Rolls-Royce’s Advance engine-development program is making “really good progress,” according to the company. Its composite high- and intermediate-pressure compressor spools represent a big step forward in efficiency.

THE CENTRE OF THEAEROSPACE INDUSTRY

08-12 NOVEMBER 2015DUBAI WORLD CENTRAL, UAE

W W W . D U B A I A I R S H O W . A E R O

BOOK YOUR SPACE NOWMEET US

AT THE

PARISAIR SHOWCHALET D54

DAS_Advert_2015_AIN_254x328.indd 1 11/05/2015 15:56


Airbus details A380 ‘Max-Abreast’ optionby Chris Kjelgaard

The A380 main deck economy seat row recently unveiled by Airbus (Hall Concorde 17) is one of four new cabin interior options it is offering, all aimed at reducing unit costs or enhancing revenue. Chris Emerson, Airbus senior v-p market-ing, said the 11-abreast “Max Abreast” row is for A380 customers wanting to reduce economy-seating unit costs to lev-els like those of competing low-cost carri-ers while offering better comfort. He said the 11-abreast main deck economy row would use a “unique advantage” of the A380–its main-deck sidewalls curve out-wards from floor level at and above every seat–to position window seats outward to a half-inch distance from the walls.

This positioning would retain existing personal space levels at all heights and “in some cases” would even offer increased head and shoulder space, Emerson said. “We just got rid of wasted space,” he added. Together with reducing average armrest width from 2 to 1.5 inches, the outward positioning would create a 3-5-3 configuration in which all economy seats remain 18 inches wide, wider than those of any LCC operating non-Airbus aircraft, according to Emerson. He said the center seats in the between-aisle, five-abreast rows would be filled only if the A380 was at least 90-percent booked, and would often be booked by families traveling together.

Airbus sees its new A380 config-urations as best suited to short-haul markets, regional Asian sectors and lon-ger-haul leisure markets in which LCCs or charter carriers also compete. “We have customers who are asking for this,

in certain marketplaces with predomi-nantly low-yield traffic,” said Emerson. “We have demonstrated that with the A380 we can do this and still have an 18-inch level of comfort.”

More Rows, More RevenueOne A380 revenue-enhancement

option is a nine-abreast main-deck pre-mium economy cabin with 19-inch-wide seats and 2-to-3-inch-wide armrests. Another is a new upper-deck business-class configuration with under-window sidewall storage bins removed and half-contour window seats (with 3-inch arm-rests) installed with a foot bench and angled more perpendicularly to the win-dows. This would allow the seats to be reclined into fully flat beds but would reduce seat pitch, allowing another seat row to be added.

A third revenue-enhancement option is an integrated flight-crew and cabin-crew rest area under the main deck, with a partition separating pilots from flight attendants. This would create extra pas-senger-cabin space for revenue seats.

A senior cabin-interiors expert for an A380 operator said Airbus’ new optional configurations wouldn’t suit all carri-ers flying A380s. Airbus is offering the 11-abreast economy row with a new side-wall shell designed to add two inches to the cabin width, said the expert. This would be “very, very costly” to retrofit: the expert suggested that it is “really available only for line-fit customers” for new A380s.

Accessing overhead stowage from the center of the five-abreast center row

would be difficult and probably would require passengers stepping on a seat to reach the bin, the expert thought. The cabin-interiors executive also noted arm-rests serve not only as places for passen-gers to rest their arms but also as their primary means of preserving personal space, by physically separating the shoul-ders of passengers in adjacent seats.

Seat and armrest width is “no prob-lem on two-hour flights. But at for three to three-and-a-half-hours, people start

feeling the pain of narrow [seats and armrests],” the expert said. “If they’re too narrow, at some point–eight, 10, 12 hours–it’s not acceptable anymore.”

Today most A380 operators offer eight-abreast premium economy seat-ing and this offers “very good comfort to passengers,” said the expert. “If you’re offering a no-frills tariff, who would want [reduced space] in Business or Premium Economy when you’re paying the extra for comfort?”

Additionally, business-class passen-gers in window seats might not be able to see out their windows easily when their seats are steeply angled toward the aisle. o

DONCASTERS NAMED LEAP ENGINE SUPPLIER

UK-based component and assembly manufacturer Doncasters Group has been named as the 100th supplier in Snecma’s Leap Supplier Rate Readiness (LS2R) Program. The engine maker is beginning to gear up for the rapid acceleration in production rates for the CFM International Leap engine, which it is producing in a joint venture with GE Aviation. Doncaster’s Chard facility in the southwest of England–one of the company’s more than 30 operating facilities–will be providing critical-use investment castings for the Leap engine. It will continue to supply castings for other engine programs, along-side its LS2R commitment.

CFM already has a four-year production backlog on the powerplant, which will replace the widely used CFM56 turbobfan, with production rates pegged at more than 1,700 Leap engines a year by 2019. As part of the LS2R program, Snecma will work alongside its key suppliers in an effort to ensure a smooth ramp-up in production.

“In its LS2R program, Snecma is essentially creating a truly balanced partnership with us as well as other integral suppliers that will yield the high levels of performance and inno-vation that their Leap program demands,” said Jeremy Halford, president of Doncasters’ aerospace division. “We will work together to increase our production capabilities and support the future success of both businesses.”

In addition, the company (Hall 4 Stand E178) announced that its Blaenavon Precision Castings facility has received Nadcap accreditation for heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing processes, along with AS9100 certification for the provision of heat treatment, hot isostatic pressing and digital X-ray services, providing its aerospace clients with ther-mal processing capabilities. –C.E.

An 11-abreast main economy seating configuration recently revealed by Airbus is designed to add revenue in A380 operations. The shallow arc of the mammoth fuselage enables placing window seats as close as a half inch from the side walls.


New build process for P&W expected to bolster efficiencyby Gregory Polek

A rejuvenated Pratt & Whitney expects to see a 30- to 40-percent improvement in the time it takes to assemble a PW1100G geared turbo-fan for the Airbus A320neo compared with its “legacy” engines, thanks to a new so-called horizontal build pro-cess. Instituted in March at its plant in Middletown, Connecticut, it uses a sys-tem designed and installed by Germany’s Durr Group, and Pratt thinks it could see a 50-percent efficiency gain as the process matures. The system has been in place at the Pratt & Whitney Canada facility in Mirabel, Canada, for some five years and at the “big” Pratt’s plant in West Palm Beach, Florida, since last summer. Pratt’s moving production line process is the centerpiece of the compa-ny’s plan to accelerate rates from zero to 500 PW1100Gs per year–and at least 800 GTFs overall–within two and half to three years.

Now building 500 V2500 turbofans for the A320ceo (current engine option) as the lead manufacturer in the IAE consortium, Pratt & Whitney expects A320neo production to accelerate at roughly the same pace as the ceo declines,

meaning the Middletown facility will need to execute virtually a full transi-tion to PW1100Gs by some time in 2018. The job won’t come without its chal-lenges, but, according to Pratt & Whitney senior vice president for engineering and operations Danny Di Perna, a concen-trated commitment to supply chain man-agement will give the company its best chance for a smooth transition.

“We’ve secured $18 billion in long-term contracts over the last couple of years for the next 10 to 12 years,” Di Perna told AIN during the compa-ny’s recent “Media Day” event in the Hartford area. “So we’ve primed the

pump. We have told all the suppliers you must invest, you must hire your people early, you must build buffer inventory at your expense, [and] put it on the shelf. You know I would love for a supplier to just give me what they have on the shelf every day...then they can replenish. If it all works, that’s the concept.”

Out of some 340 suppliers on the GTF program, only about 30 are new, said Di Perna. Most, therefore, know Pratt well, and vice-versa. Many might also recognize a shift in approach

and attitude from the OEM, which, explained Di Perna, had gained a repu-tation for negotiating three-year agree-ments and a penchant for severing ties if the supplier in question fell short of expectations.

“My brand is, we put the ‘L’ back in LTA [long-term agreement],” said Di Perna. “And the reason is, for years, we were a bit criticized that we’ll threaten to take our parts elsewhere as soon as we can.

“So we have a different approach,” he added. “We said [to suppliers] ‘lis-ten; there’s our target cost...if you can get me there in two years and you sign up to

that target cost, I’ll go along with you.’ And I can tell you this has worked for us. Suppliers more and more are getting closer and closer to our targets because we need, financially, to get to our targets, even though it’s challenging and difficult. And in those cases we go long.”

Pratt also practices what Di Perna termed “no-single-point-of-failure, dual sourcing.” Instituted in 2011, the pro-gram endeavors to ensure suppliers maintain at least two sources of parts supply. For example, a supplier might make the same parts in two different factories with two sets of duplicate tool-ing, explained Di Perna. The approach mitigates risk associated with natural disasters or tool breakage on one of the production lines. In return, Pratt might offer to enter into an exclusive supply deal for the life of the program.

“Now, it doesn’t [apply] everywhere,” said Di Perna. “But at least what we’re doing is identifying and paying atten-tion to where it’s not possible. Some of our things are specialized coatings we do internally...and if, unfortunately, some-thing were to go wrong we’d have an issue. But we’ve been in the business for 90 years, we know what we’re doing, we know how to protect ourselves, and there’s nothing we couldn’t re-create, there’s nothing we can’t do. It’s just [a matter of] a little bit of time and a little bit of money.”

Of course, dual sourcing can pres-ent challenges of its own for suppli-ers, which rely on economies of scale to maximize margin and offer competitive pricing. As Di Perna explained, when a company maintains two sources, it must split the volume, meaning the economies of scale get split. If Pratt requires dual sourcing from all its sup-pliers, it might find itself paying more for the product.

“So then what you do is by exception. We say ok, we’re going to have a single point of failure here...what’s the risk mit-igation? What if ? OK, I feel confident, I sign, we go...that’s the way we’ve been playing it.”

Di Perna works closely on improv-ing production processes with Pratt

& Whitney commercial engines pres-ident Greg Gernhardt, who spoke with AIN about how the company’s approach to deploying engineering resources has helped ensure maximum parts “produceability.”

Historically, Pratt engineers involved in design and certification of an engine would move on to the next engine proj-ect once their work with a certified engine begins to wind down. Gernhardt said that Di Perna’s decision to instead move a large portion of the certification engi-neers to operations and manufacturing has worked “brilliantly.”

“If the producer is having issues with a part [one must ask] ‘What features are they having problems with?’” explained Gernhardt. “So now you have an engi-neer who’s just designed the part, who’s done all the structural analysis, under-stands all the critical features, is now on the site of manufacturing to make sure that the part can get made. Velocity of decisions is our friend, right? We’ve got to make quick decisions.

“So I’m really excited about the fact that Danny moved those engineers over because there’s pure continuity,” he added. “What I like about it is the engineers are excited to do it, because they feel owner-ship for that part, so they just go along with that part, so it’s nice to see.” o

A Pratt & Whitney PW1100G hangs on the new horizontal assembly line in Middletown, Connecticut (left). PW1100Gs are the engines of choice to power the first two Airbus A320neos (above).

PR

ATT

& W

HIT

NE

Y

AIR

BU

S

Pratt & Whitney senior vice president for engineering and operations Danny Di Perna

Playing to its strengths, IAI adapts its approachby Charles Alcock

Despite continued uncer-tainty over levels of mili-tary spending by governments worldwide, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is betting big on achieving further growth in the defense sector. In an inter-view ahead of this week’s Paris Air Show, the group’s president and CEO Joseph Weiss told AIN that IAI has a technolog-ical edge in an era of changing defense technology needs, and it intends to exploit that edge.

“There is almost no conven-tional war these days and the dif-ferent nature of confrontations around the world requires a new approach. We see opportunities from this changing environment, especially in areas such as cyber warfare and homeland security,” said Weiss. “Today there is grow-ing demand for low-cost national level defense programs and that means new opportunities for technology such as more sophis-ticated radars and other cutting-edge technology that could allow us to strengthen our market share at a time of shrinking budgets. So we are investing heavily in defense research and development.”

Much of the defense R&D investment at IAI (Chalet 210 Static A9) is going into further developments of conformal air-borne early warning and control (CAEW), air-to-ground surveil-lance and signals intelligence platforms. Other areas of focus include air defense systems, the Barak missile and robotics.

In the cyber warfare domain, IAI is developing new early warning sensors that will alert armed forces about intrusion threats. This work is being done in technology centers in both Israel and Singapore. “We’re competing for requirements both inside Israel and outside,

so doing this work purely as IAI would be a limitation,” said Weiss. Lockheed Martin is also a key partner in this sector.

Over and above IAI’s tradi-tionally strong export markets in southeast Asia, the group is seeing growing potential in South America and Africa. In Brazil, it is providing, for the first time in that country, over-the-horizon radars that can give detection up to around 200 km.

Reinvigorating Civil BusinessAt the same time, IAI is

determined to reinvigorate its civil aircraft business by consol-idating all these activities into one group that it hopes will be more flexible and profitable. The new division includes IAI’s Bedek Aviation freighter con-version specialist, which Weiss acknowledged has been strug-gling, as well as the commercial aviation group that is partnered with Gulfstream in building the G150 and G280 business jets, and a large part of its aeronau-tical engineering group.

Still to be absorbed into the new civil group is IAI’s Taxibot aircraft tractor, which has now started commercial operations with Lufthansa at Frankfurt Airport following approval ear-lier this year by the European Aviation Safety Agency. The hybrid electric vehicle, which moves aircraft to and from air-port gates without using a towbar, was developed by IAI in partner-ship with Lufthansa LEOS.

Weiss also confirmed that IAI is looking to be involved in the development of a new busi-ness jet. “We’re still looking at business jets to see whether there are niches we could penetrate to get us back to the Tier 1 supplier position,” he told AIN. o


Barak-8 able to provide point and area defense by David Donald

Following successful trials late last year, IAI’s Barak-8 medium-range surface-to-air missile is being delivered to customers, and is also now fielded with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). The company does not discuss its cus-tomers, but acknowledges that the missile has been procured by Israel and India, plus others. Non-Israeli sources state that the Barak-8 has been adopted by the Indian Navy, which already employs the Barak-1, for service aboard its latest frigates, destroy-ers and aircraft carriers.

Following on from the Barak-1 naval point defense missile, Barak-8 is an all-new weapon. “We started from scratch,” Eili Behar, IAI’s director of ground-based air and missile defense, told AIN. “We needed the most advanced missile to tackle the lat-est challenges.” As a result, the Barak-8 incorporates a range of advanced features. The missile is guided by an active RF seeker that is equally capable at short and long ranges, and also allows very low-level engagements. It is intended to provide both point and area defense capabilities, and to perform simultaneous multi-target engagements in a saturated threat environment.

The Barak-8 has a two-way datalink that uplinks target infor-mation and also downlinks mis-sile status. This allows operators to know if it is functioning prop-erly and if it has received uplinked commands. In an air defense sce-nario this is vital information because if a missile is not behav-ing correctly it allows a second interceptor to be launched imme-diately, rather than after the ini-tial launch has been observed to fail. The downlink function also aids post-mission debriefing.

Instead of working through the guidance radar, the data-link is separate. As well as re-leasing resources from the ra-dar, the separate link allows the Barak-8 to be used with many different types of radar. IAI’s Elta division produces a num-ber of radars that could be used for Barak-8 guidance, from fast-spinning ground-based radars to larger ship-based systems.

IAI has developed Barak-8 to fulfill both land- and ship-based functions with the same mis-sile and launcher hardware, and the same command and con-trol functions and data links. In

a land-based scenario the sys-tem can be used to defend a large footprint with low man-power requirements by deploy-ing several launchers that can be networked either by wired or wireless connections.

The eight-round launcher can be deployed on a truck or trailer, elevating to the vertical for mis-sile launch. These same launch-ers can also be accommodated on a wide range of naval vessels.

The missile itself comes in two versions. The medium-range weapon is the baseline missile, offering a range capability from less than two miles to at least

43 miles. Engagement upper ceil-ing has not been disclosed, but the missile has been proven against very low-flying targets such as sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.

IAI has also developed an extended-range version that employs the same hardware, but adds a booster rocket to xextend maximum range to around 93 miles.

A number of successful fir-ing trials were conducted in No-vember 2014, resulting in some body-to-body kills to illustrate the engagement accuracy of the missile. The Barak-8 is fit-ted with a 44-pound warhead to ensure damage or destruction in near-miss engagements.

IAI has not commented on whether the Barak-8 has yet been tested at sea, although oth-er sources have reported that it was due for trials from an Indi-an Navy vessel. o

Israel Aircraft Industries president and CEO Joseph Weiss spoke with AIN just before the Paris Air Show.

Barak-8 eight-round launchers can be rapidly deployed on land to provide point defense for critical locations, and in networked groups for area defense.

The Barak-8 has undergone a series of tests and is now deployed by Israel.


DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

Safran’s new-hire CEO faces production challengeby Caroline Bruneau

Innovation will be the key-word for French giant Safran this week at the Paris Air show. Its new CEO, Philippe Petitcolin, appointed in May, announced some of the lat-est steps taken by the company during a press conference on the Thursday before the show.

As of late last week, the Leap-1A engine, one of two powerplant options for the Airbus A320neo, had already flown 19 times in three weeks, on average of five hours each time. Safran indicated that it’s engine is benefitting from the prob-lems of the competing A320neo engine from Pratt & Whitney, the PurePower PW1100G-JM, which has not been able to fly in two weeks due to undisclosed issues. As a result, “Airbus has more time to give to our aircraft that sometimes can fly twice a day,” Petitcolin said at Safran’s headquarters here in Paris.

Safran has carefully prepared the ramp-up of Leap produc-tion, with all the specific parts doubled-sourced to avoid a break in the supply chain. Half of the production will take place in France and, with 9,000 en-gines already ordered, the com-pany is very confident. “But we are at the maximum capacity of our engagement right now,” Pe-titcolin said. “It is a true produc-tion challenge; some very emo-tional years are ahead of us.”

Jean-Luc Bérard, execu-tive vice president in charge of human resources, confirmed that Safran will be expanding its

workforce to cope with the chal-lenges posed by the exception-ally high demand for the Leap engines. “We are looking for some specific profiles, people who can work on production, and there is tension in these jobs,” he said. The Leap pro-gram could create up to 10,000 jobs in France, estimates Safran.

In 2014, the Safran-GE CFM joint venture delivered 1,560 of the existing CFM56 engines, and about 4,100 are still expected to be produced. These power the existing A320 and Boeing 737 narrowbodies.

Meanwhile, the M88 turbo-fan produced for the Dassault Rafale fighter by Safran subsid-iary Snecma has benefitted from two export deals, with Egypt and Qatar. Petitcolon indicated that the company would con-sider increasing production rates to support three aircraft per month when a third deal with India is eventually finalized, and if what he described as “possible contracts that are about 50-per-cent sure” are achieved.

Safran is investing 12 percent of its revenues in innovation, and continue to hire en masse. About 30,000 people arrived in the company over the last five years, mostly young profession-als, who can now be trained in the new Safran campus of Vilgenis, near Paris. o

THUNDER COMES TO PARIS WITH EXPORT ORDER

Making its Le Bourget debut, the PAC/Chengdu JF-17 Thunder has come to Paris looking for more business, hav-ing already secured its first export order. However, the identity of the customer is not being disclosed just yet. Developed jointly by Chengdu of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, the JF-17 is being promoted as a light combat fighter offering considerable capability at an affordable price. The two companies are now working on the two-seat JF-17B version, which is due to fly in December next year. A more detailed review of the JF-17 will appear in tomorrow’s edition of Paris Airshow News. –D.D.

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS H160 MAKES FIRST FLIGHT

The Airbus Helicopters H160 made its first flight on Saturday at Marignane Airport, France, where the man-ufacturer has its headquarters. The maiden sortie took place around 9:30 a.m. and lasted almost 20 min-utes. Airbus Helicopters is exhibiting here at Le Bourget a full-scale mockup of the medium twin (Static C4), a long-awaited successor for the Dauphin family designed to lock horns with the AgustaWestland AW139 in the 12-passenger market. –T.D.

CAE to provide Predator trainer for Italy’s air forceby Bill Carey

Italy’s Directorate for Air Armaments and Airworthiness has contracted Canadian train-ing system provider CAE to develop a Predator unmanned aircraft system (UAS) mission trainer for the Italian Air Force.

CAE (Chalet 56) and UAS manufacturer General Atom-ics Aeronautical Systems (Hall 3, B132) are develop-ing the high-fidelity mission

trainer specifically for Ital-ian Air Force Predator As and MQ-9 Predator Bs. CAE will conduct flight-test data gather-ing on actual Predators to de-velop flight system and sensor payload simulations.

CAE plans to deliver the UAS mission trainer to Amendola Air Base in southeast Italy in 2017. The zero-flight-time train-ing capability is expected to

improve operational readiness and flight safety compared to conventional approaches to live training, the company said. The Italian Air Force also plans to develop an unmanned systems center of excellence for training.

“We are pleased to be sup-porting the Italian Air Force with its Predator training re-quirements, as well as leverag-ing our growing internation-al partnership with General Atomics to provide comprehen-sive training solutions for the Predator family of remotely pi-loted aircraft,” said Gene Cola-batistto, CAE group president for defense and security. o

ALE

XA

ND

RE

DU

BAT

H

www.ainonline.com • June 15, 2015 • Paris Airshow News 00www.ainonline.com • June 15, 2015 • Paris Airshow News 83

When production cannot keep up with sales, that’s a good problem to have. ATR has seen a rebound from a little over a decade ago, when a scant half-dozen airframes rolled out of the factory in Toulouse, France. A new Smart galley will further boost sales.

MA

RK

WA

GN

ER

FOKKER APPEARS IN RAFALE DISGUISEHosted by France’s ministry of defense, this Fokker 100 serves as a multi-system flying testbed. Among other embellishments, it wears the nose-cone radar assembly of a Dassault Rafale.

ATR tops 1,500 ordered, unveils a combi versionby Charles Alcock

ATR is set to announce new customers this week that would take the order tally for its fam-ily of twin turboprop regional airliners past the 1,500 mark. Here at the Paris Air Show, the Toulouse-based airframer will unveil new options, including a passenger/freight combi version of the ATR72-600 and a new Smart galley as part of its latest Armonia cabin design.

By year-end, Papua New Guinea-based Airlines PNG is due to take delivery of the first of the new ATR72-600 Combi models, featuring four freight containers towards the front of the aircraft and 44 passenger seats in the rear. The design also will be offered for retrofit on existing aircraft.

“It has been developed to compete with other new turbo-props’ combined configurations,” explained ATR vice president Thierry Casale at a press brief-ing in Toulouse last week. In his view, the new option is ideal for intra-island operations since “it doubles the available cargo space with the need to modify the air-craft’s baseline configuration.”

The new Smart galley will be offered as standard on ATRs, and deliveries of aircraft equipped with it should start in 2016, fol-lowing certification. According to Casale, the new unit will be more flexible for operators.

With rising orders, ATR’s main challenge continues to be ramping up production rates. This is positive problem to have a decade on from 2004, when the joint venture between Airbus and Finmeccanica produced a meager six aircraft. It believes that rising fuel costs over this period significantly changed the appeal of turboprop aircraft, although this trend has been

markedly reversed this year due to falling crude oil prices.

The manufacturer, which makes the 50-seat ATR42-600 and 70-seat ATR72-600, now has a backlog of 300 aircraft and is preparing to deliver 90 this year and 100 in 2016. In 2014, it achieved revenues of around $1.8 billion, having delivered 83 aircraft.

Increased demand prompt-ed ATR to make changes to in-crease the size of its final assem-bly line in Toulouse to 30,000 square meters, compared with just 8,000 square meters eight years ago. In Toulouse, ATR wings made in Bordeaux are at-tached to the fuselages made in Pomigliano d’Arco, Italy by Alenia Aermacchi, before the cabin interiors and cockpit avi-onics are fitted.

The ATR turboprops are then painted by a local Airbus contractor or, in some cases, are flown to another paint shop at Châteauroux in central France. In total, each ATR takes 10 months to make, with the last 10 weeks or so being spent in Toulouse. The company has also improved its delivery facilities.

Conservative ForecastsAccording to Tom Anderson,

ATR’s new vice president for commercial and support, the next decade will bring continued success. “I think we have been conservative with the forecast as there is a large replacement mar-ket in the U.S. and a new mar-ket for us in China and India,” he told reporters on June 5.

ATR’s more recent forecast sees 2,500 new regional airliner sales over the next 20 years. The manufacturer wants to ramp up production to a rate of 120 aircraft per year and has

the option to expand its facil-ities on space currently con-trolled by Airbus.

Meanwhile, ATR is prepar-ing for the first flight of a new ATR72-600 demonstrator fea-turing a weight-saving carbon fiber roof developed by Alenia Aermacchi. This work is being done under the auspices of the European Commission’s Clean-Sky program to reduce the environmental impact of air transport. Structural testing is expected to take three to four weeks, with the new roof being monitored inflight through fiber optic sensors.

Later this year, ATR will conduct a second series of tests to evaluate a new electrically powered air conditioning sys-tem that it hopes will be 10 per-cent more fuel-efficient.

ATR has invested around $12 million in CleanSky development work since 2008. The program also has European Commission funding and its overall goal is to halve carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft by 2020. o�

Raytheon Block IIA starts testsby David Donald

Last week Raytheon under-took the first flight test of the lat-est version of the Standard Mis-sile-3 ballistic missile defense weapon. Developed in conjunc-tion with Japan, the Block IIA will introduce significant new ca-pability when it is fielded in 2018.

It features an improved kinetic energy (“body to body”) kill vehicle and larger rocket motors, enabling ballistic mis-sile threats to be engaged sooner than is capable with the current versions of the weapon sys-tem, in addition to providing expanded area coverage.

The June 7 test involved Control Test Vehicle 01, which was fired from a standard Mk 41 vertical launch system located on San Nicolas Island within the Point Mugu Sea Range off the Californian coast. The trial tested the performance of the missile’s nose cone, functions of the steering control section and separation of the booster. It also tested the separation of the second and third rocket stages. For this initial test, the system followed a pre-programmed tra-jectory, with no target involved.

As well as being slated for naval deployment, the SM-3 Block IIA is due to be land-based in Poland as part of the European missile defense initia-tive. Later this year the current Block IB interceptor is due for deployment in Romania as the first land-based element in the European shield, augmenting Block IBs already deployed on U.S. Navy vessels. o

GERMANY SELECTS MEADS AIR DEFENSE

Last week the German Federal Ministry of Defense announced that it had selected the medium extended air defense system (MEADS) to form the basis of its Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem (TLVS) tactical air defense system that will replace the current Patriot-based defenses by 2025.

MEADS is being devel-oped by Lockheed Martin and MBDA, the latter’s German division being the lead sys-tem developer for the TLVS requirement. MBDA Italia is also involved in the MEADS program, which in 2013 dem-onstrated its 360-degree abil-ity by simultaneously engaging two targets approaching from opposite directions. –D.D.

Raytheon’s Block IIA ballistic missile is expected to enter service in 2018.

MA

RK

WA

GN

ER

Honeywell and Boeing land via Cat III GPSby Charles Alcock

Honeywell Aerospace and Boeing last week reported that they have successfully demon-strated GPS-based Category III precision landing on a 787 air-liner. Flights were conducted back in December 2014, using Honeywell’s SmartPath ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) and upgraded reference receivers at the airframer’s Moses Lake Airport in Washington state. The tests established that aircraft can safely land in weather conditions that allow for no deci-sion height and a minimum visual range as low as 150 feet.

According to Jared Louwagi, Honeywell’s senior manager for navigation and sensors, GBAS is set to be a key enabling technol-ogy for the U.S. NextGen and European Sesar modernization of air traffic management. The digital system is set to replace instrument landing systems and promises to be more flexible and less expensive for airports to main-tain. It will increase airport capac-ity by giving the option for aircraft to land further down the runway and so exit to the taxiway sooner.

Airports need to be equipped with GPS reference receivers (usually four) that receive signals from satellites. These are con-nected to a central ground sta-tion that calculates any necessary correction to ensure the integ-rity of data that is then relayed to aircraft via VHF. In addition

to Moses Lake, seven public air-ports are GBAS equipped: Hous-ton, Newark, Malaga, Frankfurt, Bremen, Zurich and Sydney.

According to Louwagi, the majority of current Boeing pro-duction aircraft, and all Airbus models, already have GBAS capability. Older aircraft can be upgraded by adding multi-mode receivers and making changes to the flight manage-ment system and displays.

“Honeywell has the first and, so far, only FAA-certified GBAS and we have broken bar-riers in terms of advancing the technology,” Louwagi told AIN. “One of the ways we are differ-entiated is that we provide both ground and air systems, and so we are well placed to understand how everything works.”

GPS Cat III BenefitsDuring the 787 tests, the

Boeing/Honeywell team flew 12 Category III approaches and demonstrated the use of steeper, 3.2-degree glideslopes and displaced thresholds 1,000 feet down the runway. “We also showed how GBAS can result in noise and emission reductions [around airports] and shorter track miles to get on short final approach,” said Louwagi.

The test aircraft was fitted with Honeywell’s Integrated Navigation Receiver, which is its Category III prototype

multi-mode receiver. It installed its SmartPath GBAS ground station at the Moses Lake.

Next month, Honeywell ex-pects to complete certifica-tion of the Block 2 software for SmartPath. This will bring several benefits, including im-proved availability and being adaptable to low latitude en-vironments. It also means that operators can exercise option-al upgrades such as incorporat-ing a satellite-based augmenta-tion system that covers a wider area rather than just a specific airport so that users don’t have to overcompensate for possible poor weather conditions. o


DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

High-level dignitaries underscore U.S. presenceby Gregory Polek

U.S. Pavilion organizer Kall-man Worldwide is urging Par-is Air Show visitors to “Ask America First” in its new mar-keting campaign launched here at Le Bourget this week.

Show visitors will certain-ly have ample opportunity to view the full array of U.S. aero-space and defense capabilities at the Pavilion in Hall 3, since more than two-thirds of Amer-ican companies at this year’s show–230 out of the 320 total–are represented there.

This morning at 10 a.m., a veritable A-list of top U.S. gov-ernment officials is expected to participate in the official open-ing of the Pavilion, including transportation secretary An-thony Foxx and air force secre-tary Deborah Lee James. The roster will also include as ma-ny as 20 elected officials, includ-ing the governors of seven states and development agencies from 19 states. On Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., James will discuss U.S. Air Force requirements.

Kallman Worldwide presi-dent Tom Kallman told AIN that 2015 participation in the U.S. Pavilion is the strongest since 2001. “We were able to obtain eight percent more space from the Paris organizers and we’ve sold all of this,” he said. “I’d say the profile of exhibitors this year is tipped somewhat towards

commercial aviation, reflecting supply chain demand.”

Hot 100 FeaturesThe Pavilion’s website, www.

parisairshow.com, allows show visitors to quickly search for U.S. companies, and they can do this readily on mobile devices. It also has developed a so-called “Hot 100” list to highlight leading events and profiled exhibitors.

“Small companies can cast a disproportionately large shadow here,” said Kallman. “But exhib-iting can be daunting and we can help them to show off their best. We like to say to them that we’re their insurance policy against a bad experience.”

The Paris show’s public days, June 20 and 21, will feature a spe-cial Aerogare USA event at the U.S. Pavilion, which will feature presentations by former Apollo 15 astronaut Al Warden.

This will have a strong em-phasis on attracting families and young people to get a fla-vor for America’s aerospace community. o

TEXAN TANGO

Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft Defense division recently delivered four T-6D Texan II turboprop trainers to the U.S. Army. Accepting are Col. Steve Clark, left, Army fixed-wing project manager and Col. Patrick Mason, right, Commander of the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. Representing Beechcraft Defense is Dan Grace, center, v-p of business development. The T-6D is part of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training Program (JPATS).

A NEW FACET FOR DIAMOND

Diamond Aircraft is here with its turboprop DA-50-JP7. Powered by an Ivchenko-designed 465-shp engine, the composite single flew for the first time in January. Based on the DA-40 airframe, it is expected to be offered with oversize tires for utility missions.


Superjet financing plans aim to bolster new sales by Vladimir Karnozov

Visitors to Sukhoi’s Superjet SSJ100 regional airliner on display here at the Paris Air Show can get an expert guided tour using a new application that uses beacons to transmit information to their smart phones or tablets. As they move around the aircraft, the app presents them with descriptions of what they are seeing.

This innovative approach vividly illustrates the lengths to which Sukhoi and its Superjet International joint venture with Alenia are going to in their efforts to reinvigorate sales of the narrowbody. At the same time, the Superjet team is stepping up efforts to provide new sources of financing for customers.

Superjet International has put together a finance pack-age through a multilateral export credit guaranteed by the COFACE (France), SACE (Italy) and EXIAR (Russia). This just won the Export Credit Deal of the Year Award from Air Finance Journal.

Earlier this year, Sukhoi par-ent company United Aircraft Corp. agreed to set up a new leas-ing group to encourage Superjet sales in China. The Russian group is partnering with China’s New Century International Leasing and Xixian New Area Administrative Committee.

Another marketing initia-tive aimed mainly at the domes-tic Russian market involves an injection of around $60 mil-lion in government funds to the Russian State Transport Leasing Co., which will arrange operat-ing leases for local airlines serv-ing “socially important routes,” such as Crimea and Kaliningrad.

It is hoped that this will help firm up customers for around

25 to 30 “white tail” aircraft that have already been produced at UAC’s factory at Komsomolsk-upon-Amur, but which don’t yet have customers. Annual produc-tion rates were recently reduced to 36 from 45, and the plant is now working on its 100th airframe.

The 55 Superjets delivered to date have gone to the following operators: Aeroflot (19), Interjet (15), GazpromAvia (8), Center-South (3), PT Sky Aviation (3), Red Wings (3), Yakutia (2), LAO Central (1) and the Russian inte-rior ministry (1). LAO and PT Sky are currently not flying their aircraft and Superjet is looking into options for leasing these air-frames to other carriers.

Interjet Leads the WayMexico’s Interjet, which is

Superjet’s Western launch cus-tomer, was set to get its 16th air-craft on the eve of this week’s Paris show, and the aircraft on display here at Le Bourget is its 17th. According to Superjet International CEO Nazario Caucegli, the manufacturer expects to have delivered all 20 of Interjet’s firm orders by the end of this year, as well as the first of 10 options that it holds. The remaining nine aircraft are set to follow next year.

Some SSJ100 operators have complained that the air-craft is still not matching prom-ised operating costs. One airline spokesman, speaking to AIN on condition of anonymity, said that its actual costs are more than three times as expensive per hour. The SSJ100 typically seats 83 to 87 passengers in a two-class configuration, with a maximum cabin configuration of 103 seats.

Caucegli told AIN that the SSJ100’s fuel consumption is around 10-percent lower than that of its competitors, but he acknowledged that prices for spare parts have not yet stabi-lized. “More than 60 percent of the aircraft has been supplied by Western companies, so eventu-ally there is no reason to think that parts will cost more than those on Western aircraft,” he said. “Some of the airline con-cerns come from the fact that they don’t know us very well yet.”

Another problem is a small number of maintenance, repair and overhaul centers, with the Sukhoi’s base at Zhukovsky, near Moscow, being the only one

available in the whole of Russia. Compared to the network of routes flown by the SSJ100, which now comprises more than 130 destinations in 30 countries, this is somewhat lacking.

SuperCare Does the JobInterjet’s airplanes are main -

tained under an exclusive Super-Care technical support scheme from Superjet International, which has proved helpful as it en-sures a high degree of fleet read-iness. Figures available for 2014 indicate that SuperCare helped the Mexican airline surpass Aero-flot on daily utilization of oper-able airframes, with 5.77 flight hours against 4.25, and on-time performance of 98.9 percent against 95.4 percent. At the de-sign stage, Sukhoi promised air-lines that its airplane would be able to log 3,000 to 3,300 hours annually with dispatch reliability exceeding 99.2 percent.

Red Wings complained about what it views as high costs for training flight crew, which it says have been as high as $134,000 per pilot. Caucegli said that training costs will be

reduced as the SSJ100 fleet and the number of available training providers increases. Currently, training is available in Moscow and in Venice, Italy, where Superjet International is based.

“We are conscious that it will not be easy to penetrate a chal-lenging market where compe-tition is fair but fierce,” said Caucegli. “But we are convinced

that we have many unique fea-tures and advantages, such as a huge cross-section that is com-parable to a narrowbody air-liner. We have a very competitive offer not only for the quality of the product, but also a very com-petitive price and also attractive financing conditions.”

Meanwhile, UAC and Alenia’s parent company, Finmeccanica, have acknowledged that they are holding talks to discuss a possi-ble restructuring of the Superjet International joint venture. UAC continues to enjoy strong sup-port from the Russian govern-ment for a program whose slow sales last year contributed to another year of financial losses–around $72.5 million on reve-nues of $567.8 million. o

For the 15th anniversary of project launch, Sukhoi announced its Superjet 100, above, has topped 100,000 flight hours. And engine-maker NPO Saturn, manufacturer of the Superjet’s SaM.146 turbofan, left, jumped in to crow about its milestone 200,000 flight hours and dispatch-reliability record.

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H55 Superjets

Currently FlyingAeroflot 19

Interjet 15

GazpromAvia 8

Center-South 3*

PT Sky Aviation 3

Red Wings 3

Yakutia 2

LAO Central 1

Russian interior ministry 1SCAC lists a smaller number, 51, because LAO Central and PT Sky Aviation have taken delivery, but do not currently fly their aircraft.*one with VIP interior, operated on behalf of its owner, Rostec Corp.

EUROSTARS PROGRAM FUNDS ELBIT, NICARNICA ASH DETECTOR

Elbit Systems of Israel (Chalet 200) and Norway’s Nicarnica Aviation have won approval under the Eurostar program to fund their collabora-tive volcanic ash-detection technology. The sensing solution combines Elbit’s ClearVision enhanced vision system (EVS) with Nicarnica’s volca-nic imaging detector.

The Eurostars program provides funding for innovative research projects that have partners from two or more participating countries. It has a budget of €1.14 billion ($1.28 billion), and is supported by the European Union and the 34 member nations of the Eureka organization for pan-European research and development.

Elbit Systems and Nicarnica Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding in July 2014 to cooperate on incorporating Nicarnica’s Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector (Avoid) with Elbit’s ClearVision EVS. The Avoid detector senses volcanic ash in the atmo-sphere up to 100 km ahead of an aircraft, providing pilots sufficient time to take evasive action. –B.C.

NEWS CLIPS z EDAC Technologies Inks Deal with Snecma

Cheshire, Connecticut-bIased EDAC Technologies has entered into two long-term manufacturing contracts with Snecma, the U.S. company announced earlier this month. The companies structured the long-term agreements to support the development and production of outer guide vanes and bleed valve ducts for CFM International’s Leap 1-A and Leap 1-B turbofans. EDAC places the value of the deals at $150 million.

One of two engine choices for customers of the Airbus A320neo, the Leap 1-A flew aboard the first flight test vehicle on May 19. The Leap 1-B, the sole-source powerplant for the Boeing 737 Max, began flight testing aboard CFM partner GE’s Boeing 747 testbed on April 29.

z Airbus Picks Zodiac’s High-bandwidth BFEZodiac Aerospace (Hall 2a A253) has been selected

by Airbus for the supply of high-bandwidth connectivity as buyer-furnished equipment. Zodiac will provide the antenna and other terminal equipment and will “facilitate the Inmarsat Global Xpress service.” The program covers the Ka-band system for the A320, A330 and A380. “The system provides high-speed internet to passengers and many opportunities for airline ancillary revenue, and airlines will be able to improve their operations via real-time aircraft monitoring,” said Matt Smith, CEO of Zodiac Inflight Innovations.

z L-3 Link to Supply 787 Training for VirginL-3 Link Simulation & Training has landed the contract

to provide the UK’s Virgin Atlantic Airways with Boeing 787 training. The company’s Crawley, UK-based division is providing a range of training tools and services under a 12-year deal.

This will support a 787 conversion syllabus, in addition to instructor and command-training courses. The equipment will also be used for continuation and refresher training to maintain aircrew proficiency. Under the deal, L-3 Link is installing a full-motion simulator in the British Airways Flight Training Centre at London Heathrow, while a flat-panel trainer is being installed at Virgin Atlantic’s flight training center in Crawley, close to London Gatwick Airport. Both tools are based on L-3 Link’s RealitySeven simulation technology.

z Kuwait Selects Avant IFE for Airbus A330sKuwait Airways has chosen Thales’s Avant in-flight

entertainment system for five recently ordered Airbus A330-200s. The Android-based Avant system delivers a wide variety of on-board entertainment and applications such as the Thales 3-D Maps. Kuwait has chosen the 15.4-inch video monitor and Touch PMU handsets for premium class, while economy class passengers get 10.6-inch video monitors.

Nineteen airlines have now ordered the Avant system, accounting for more than 500 airplanes. More than 130 airplanes now fly with the system. Thales offers the system on all new-generation Boeing and Airbus platforms.

z CMC’s Cockpit 9000 LPV Option ApprovedEsterline CMC Electronics (Hall 5 D250) has received

certification from Saudi Arabia’s general authority of civil aviation (GACA) for augmented-GPS approaches on the Lockheed Martin L-100, the civil version of the C-130 transport. The GACA delivered a supplemental type certificate approval for activation of the Cat 1-equivalent localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) capability on CMC’s Cockpit 9000 “glass cockpit upgrade.” LPV capability, which uses a satellite-based GPS augmentation system, has thus been deployed on two L-100s and 18 C-130s, Esterline said.

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

HD

AVID

McI

NTO

SH

‘WARTHOG’ COMES BACK TO EUROPE

With retirement hanging over it, the Fairchild A-10 still has a part to play in today’s U.S. Air Force operations, as evidenced by the deployment of “Warthogs” back to Europe earlier this year in response to increased tensions over Ukraine. The six-month detachment is operating from an air base in Spangdahlem, Germany.


Pivotal change at the top for Daherby Caroline Bruneau

Since surprising the indus-try by dropping the Socata name, Daher has embarked on a restructuring aimed at expanding the French group’s aviation business. For the first time in Daher’s history, the company will not be led by a member of the Daher family, which will continue to control 80 percent of its equity.

Current executive vice presi-dent David Kayat is in the pro-cess of taking over from CEO Patrick Daher during the next two years.

Daher’s aerospace growth goals are very specific. From revenues of €970 million ($1.1 billion) in 2014, it expects to grow by ramping up its main programs to reach €1.3 billion ($1.42 billion) in 2017 and €2 bil-lion ($2.2 billion) beyond that. In addition to making TBM tur-boprop singles, including the lat-est TBM 900 on display here at the Paris Air Show, Daher is one

of the main aerostructures sup-pliers for aircraft such as the Airbus A350XWB and Dassault Falcon 5X.

It also provides wing-to-body fairings and landing gear doors for the new Gulfstream G500 and G600.

But now the group craves a more international profile, par-ticularly in North America.

“We are looking to the U.S., which is a very important mar-ket for us,” Daher marketing director Vincent Chanron told AIN. “We have signed new con-tracts with Gulfstream to pro-duce carbon-fiber parts for the G500 and G600, but we would love to work more for Boeing, and to do so we need to be present in the U.S.”

Daher, which is already pres-ent in neighboring Mexico, is now studying the possibility of build-ing or buying its own U.S. fac-tory. The U.S. alone accounted for about three-quarters of the

98 orders Daher now holds for the TBM 900.

In addition to the TBM 900, Daher’s exhibit here at Le Bourget also includes exam-ples of its aerostructures work, including a tailboom produced for the new Airbus Helicopters H160. The company is also demonstrating a virtual real-ity tool that will let visi-tors experience the TBM 900 production line at Tarbes in southern France.

Daher also is involved in the Airbus-led E-Fan project to develop an electrically powered training aircraft. It is expected to be responsible for taking the air-craft into production. “We have expertise in lightweight aircraft that is a huge advantage,” said Chanron. “But we won’t aban-don the production of aircraft–it is a guarantee of credibility for our big customers.” o

Daher brings its TBM 900 turboprop single to Paris for its show debut. It replaced the TBM 850 last year.


UTC to provide 12 systems for new Boeing 777X airliner by Gregory Polek & Charles Alcock

UTC Aerospace Systems (Chalet 338 Static C2) has won contracts covering 12 systems on the Boeing 777X, including the big twin’s electric power generating sys-tem. Designed to provide 25-percent more power than the UTC system now on the current generation 777, the system consists of two 150-kVA integrated drive genera-tors, an auxiliary generator, three generator control units and a bus power control unit.

The U.S.-based group also announced that it will supply the new Boeing twin-jet’s cabin air conditioning and tem-perature control system, airfoil and cowl ice protection system and the

entire ventilation system’s suite of fans. According to UTC, the three systems increase performance, enhance reliability and improve passenger comfort.

Other UTC Systems on the 777X include the fire/overheat protection sys-tem, power door opening system actu-ation and a new, lighter-weight cargo loading system with enhanced power drive units and controls.

UTC also won the contracts for cabin attendant seating, brakes, main wheels and nose wheels. The 777X brakes use UTC’s Duracarb carbon material, which it claims provides 35-percent more brake

life than competing models. Finally, UTC will supply a suite of sensors for various 777X functions, including spe-cialty heating, waste and water manage-ment and various air data systems.

Here in Paris, UTC is highlighting its proficiency in integrating so-called “more electric” technologies across a variety of platforms, including the Boeing 787’s electric system, electrically driven envi-ronmental controls, high-power motor controls and auxiliary power and elec-tric braking system. Aircraft that use UTC electric system aircraft on dis-play here include those from Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream and Mitsubishi.

According to Dave Carter, UTC’s senior vice president for engineering and quality, reducing weight, heat and cost in electric motors and their controllers has been a major focus of research and devel-opment effort, as has been the pushed

for more integrated aircraft systems. At its newly opened electrical systems devel-opment center in the UK, engineers are working on new high power motor con-trollers with around twice the power den-sity of today’s units. “We’re looking at architecture with which we can run multi-ple devices off ganged motor controllers at the same time,” he explained.

The company is also exploring possibil-ities for high-voltage DC and AC systems to power peripheral devices around the air-craft, while reducing weight, cost and the amount of wiring and bracketing required. Its sensors group is working on wireless and self-powered sensors that could collect the data needed for more effective health monitoring of aircraft systems.

UTC is also highlighting its use of data from systems onboard aircraft to moni-tor operating conditions and track aircraft position while en route. The company’s aircraft data management (ADM) system uses “big data” that new aircraft gener-ate for crew awareness in flight and allows ground-based teams maintained by the operator to share it. Combining aircraft health information with positioning infor-mation allows operators to maintain a clear view of the entire fleet that’s in flight at any given time, according to UTC. o

UTC To Establish Regional Distribution Centers

UTC Aerospace Systems has announced plans to establish regional material distribu-tion sites around the world this year. Plans call for the sites to provide operators with critical aircraft on ground (AOG) and reliability hardware for programs including the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and A320neo. The regional distribution centers will serve customers in Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East with material to supplement inventories of operators that have fully provisioned their fleets. UTC plans to open the first site this summer in the Netherlands. –G.P.

Leap production-rate potential faces increased OEM demand by Gregory Polek

Now preparing to build more than 1,800 engines a year by 2020, CFM will place no “theoretical limits” on the number of Leap engines it could ultimately build to meet the demands of Airbus and Boeing, CFM executive vice president François Bastin told a gathering of reporters at his compa-ny’s airshow chalet on Saturday.

Boeing and Airbus have each talked of the possibility of increasing rates on their respective narrowbodies to as many as 60 airplanes a month by the turn of the decade, but a successful transition will largely depend on the ability of its suppliers to keep pace.

“Everything is possible with the right amount of time,” said Bastin. “So it’s a matter of getting the timing and the number...it’s not necessarily the number

that is important, it is the slope [at which production accelerates.]”

Appearing alongside Bastin and CFM chief executive Jean-Paul Ebanga, execu-tive vice president Allen Paxson stressed the need for stability in a high-volume production line. “I don’t know if we’ve made an assessment of how high it could ultimately go,” said Paxson. “There are restrictions on how fast we can ramp up. We can’t go from zero to 1,800 engines in a day, or in a year. There has to be some stability in the process.”

Paxson added that CFM has already stretched itself to reach its current rate of production. Last year it delivered a record 1,560 engines, after another record 2013 campaign, during which it shipped 1,502. Ebanga noted that CFM56 production

has increased every year for the past 10 years, and that the transition to produc-tion of the Leap family marks the first time in industry history that a manufac-turer will have introduced a new product while peak production rates of its exist-ing product persist.

“Our constraint is going to be how fast we can bring the new-build materials up a

rate curve,” explained Paxson, who con-ceded that CFM has held discussion with Boeing and Airbus over rate increases. “They have had conversations with us about higher rates. We’re still working on that...but we don’t feel we should com-ment on that now because I think we still have some work to do to understand what they really need from us.” o

100 UP FOR THE FRENCH TEST UNIT

The French military test establishment celebrates 100 years of operation this year and has marked the occasion with a special scheme on one of its Mirage 2000D testbeds on display in the French MoD’s corral in static area A3. Now known as DGA-EV (Direction Générale d’Armements-Essais en Vol), the unit operates a mixed fleet of aircraft, includ-ing the new Fokker 100 ABE-NG. Mirage 2000s are the backbone of the fighter tri-als fleet, with four Mirage 2000Ds, two 2000Cs and two 2000Ns on strength, plus a 2000B two-seater equipped with Rafale radar and other systems. The Mirage 2000 test fleet has been instrumental in the development of systems such as the SCALP cruise missile, Areos reconnais-sance pod, Damoclès targeting pod and MdCN naval cruise missile. –D.D.

DAV

ID M

cIN

TOS

H

According to officials, the sky is the only limit on production rates for CFM’s Leap engine. The company churned out a record 1,560 turbofans last year, topping the record number of 1,502 set the year before.

Q Series

Thanks to the wonders of modern aviation, we’ve conquered distance – more or less. Our Q400 – the world’s most technologically advanced turboprop – is doing more to connect bustling metropolises and far-flung communities than any other aircraft in the skies. Able to handle both urban approaches and rugged landscapes, and to shuttle varied passenger loadswith greater frequency, it’s bridging the gap between town and country, toughness and comfort, with more speed and less cost.

Ingenuityin Flight.

Bombardier, Q Series, and the Evolution of Mobility, are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. ©2015 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

ASN_Front_Inside_Back_Cover_Left.indd 1 22/05/2015 19:30

paris airshow news 06-15-15

Documents