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GLOBAL p ersp ec t iv e s | 20 10 far nb oroug h air sh ow GLOBAL p ersp ec t i v e s | 20 1 0 fa rnbo roug h a ir sh ow

Farnborough International Airshow 2010 in review

787 lands at Farnborough photo credit Boeing

Eurofighter Typhoon BAE Systems Taranis UCV EADS A-400M Military Transport

By J e ffr ey Bradford P h. D.
July 2010 saw the world’s civil and
military aerospace industry descend
on a small private airfield on the
outskirts of London to meet, discuss,
deal and show off their latest and
greatest innovations.
The aerospace industry has had a rough ride.
The economic crash has affected passenger
airline traffic and the airlines. The recession
also impacted on Government spending in
the military sector which results less in can-
cellations and more in delays to pro-
grammes, creating greater inefficiencies in
production and procurement.
Legal controversies have also dogged the
past year – in the military sphere the fight
between Airbus (EADS) and Boeing spilled
out into the future aerial fueling tanker pro-
gramme for the US Air Force (a requirement
for near 180 aircraft and a price tag of some
$35 billion over a twenty year period). In the
epic struggle for supremacy between Airbus
and Boeing, the former was cited by the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) for receiv-
ing subsidies, next the latter was also. Stale-
mate for this round perhaps.
In the civil airline world the Airbus A-380
suffered its first in-service challenge follow-
ing an engine failure aboard a Qantas air-
craft. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, present at
Farnborough, though still in testing, also had
a scare following a fire requiring a control
panel replacement.
For the defence world the largest production
program remains the Joint Strike Fighter
(JSF) or F-35 Lightning II which is to replace
current aircraft including the F-18 Hornet,
A-10 Thunderbolt, F-16 Falcon and the AV-8B
Harrier Jump Jet (used also by the Royal
Navy and Royal Air Force until the recent
decision to scrap them as part of the SDSR
Review). The program led by US contractor
Lockheed Martin was estimated this past
June as costing $380 billion and having a
production run of some 2,400 aircraft over a
twenty-five year period. JSF has been priori-
tized as part of a procurement review which
has highlighted cost-overruns and the proj-
ect officer was replaced.
Farnborough saw the first visit of the Boeing
Dreamliner 787 whilst still in development.
The aircraft is very impressive although not
especially distinctive to the casual observer.
Interviewing the flight crew one of the big
improvements from their perspective was
the most intangible – air quality – on long
trips in this superb aircraft the negative ef-
fects of the flight time on travelers should
be reduced. The flight deck is high-tech with
a Heads-up-display and a real Twenty-First
Century look and feel.
In terms of the Airbus versus Boeing battle
for order numbers the first day could be
seen as a victory for Boeing who won orders
worth some $13bn, with orders from Emir-
ates airline for 30 Boeing 777-300ERs worth
$9.1bn, an order for 15 737-800s value around
$1.15bn from Norwegian Air Shuttle, and fi-
nally leasing company GECAS, which or-
dered $3bn worth of 737-800s.
Airbus, too, benefited from GECAS’s patron-
age – with a $4.9bn order for 60 A320 family
airliners. Steven Udvar-Hazy’ Air Lease Corp
also ordered A320s, with a $4.4bn order for
51 of the type. Finally Aeroflot ordered 11
A330-300 from Airbus at a list price of
$2.3bn.
Challenger to the Vietnam-era C-130 Hercu-
les transport aircraft, the Airbus A-400M
flew at the show. The program has suffered
numerable delays, an earlier Farnborough
Airshow twenty years earlier in 1990 saw a
full-scale mock-up made of wood present.
Clearly this program is moving closer to frui-
tion, though struggling national defence
budgets in Europe may introduce further de-
lays yet.
A sign of the rapid maturity of the Un-
manned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sector was re-
flected in these aircraft being fully integrat-
ed into the pavilions and pitches of the
major industrial players. British company
BAE Systems briefed extensively on their
‘Taranis’ program named after a Celtic god.
The program to created an unmanned com-
bat vehicle offers the company a niche ad-
vantage and opportunity to retain the high-
tech skill base to design and manufacture
entire combat aircraft systems.
Italian defence combine Finmeccanica was
present in a major way at Farnborough 2010
with an impressive pavilion, array of capa-
bilities and engagement of senior manage-
ment figures such as Executive Chairman of
Selex Systems Integration and former Depu-
ty Chief Executive of the Defence Procure-
ment Agency David Gould. Finmeccanica
emphasizes a blend of military, para-military
and law enforcement related technologies
which will have increasing appeal to the
changing defence environment and greater
definition of the role of ‘homeland security’.
Looking back and comparing 2010 with older
Farnborough events the industry would
probably feel in good shape. The 1990 air-
show saw many aircraft missing with name
plates indicating that they were deployed in
the Middle East ahead of the 1991 Gulf con-
flict with Iraq over the Iraqi annexation of
Kuwait. The post Cold-War defence cuts
were yet to bite and yet, despite substantial
engagement in international conflicts 2010
saw no such similar cancellations.
All-in-all the Farnborough Airshow demon-
strated its continued place in the interna-
tional aerospace industry with significant
industry and political representation. The
airshow still remains the number one indus-
try venue for unveiling new aircraft outside
of the United States such as the Boeing 787
Dreamliner. During the show some US$47
billion worth of orders were announced. The
event featured 152 aircraft in static and fly-
ing displays and the public weekend attract-
ed over 100,000 visitors.

The next Farnbor-
ough International Airshow will take place
9-15 July 2012.
For more information see
www.farnborough.com

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