T
HE FIRST MORNING of the
Paris Air Show in recent
years has offered little in the
way of significant military
aviation news. However, as the
traditional Monday morning
chaos evolved it was clear that this
year’s event in June was going to be an
altogether different affair. Companies
were talking about military aviation
matters, and significant ones at that.A brace of shrouded full-scale mock-
ups in the center of the exhibition area
quickly drew attention — and it soon
became clear that not one, but two new
fighter aircraft programs were to be
revealed in close succession — literally
as the show got under way on June 17.
Monday is traditionally the day the
French President visits the Le Bourget
show, and having watched an early-
morning flight demonstration byThe 2019 Paris Air Salon marked a welcome resurgence in military
aviation activity for a trade show that — in recent times — has
included little of note away from the commercial scene.REPORT Jamie Hunter
some of the home team participants,
President Emmanuel Macron and his
vast entourage arrived at the Dassault
exhibit to reveal the first of the two full-
scale models.
In front of a huge crowd of expectant
dignitaries and reporters, the covers
came off the second future European
fighter concept to be unveiled in
the past year — following the UK’s
Tempest that was revealed last summer
at Farnborough. The Paris event
included the signing of an industrial
agreement for a partnership between
Dassault and Airbus to move forward
with a demonstrator program for the
Future Combat Air System (FCAS) — a
combination of a New-Generation
Fighter (NGF), so-called Remote CarriersCrowds gathered
to witness the
unveiling of the
new Système de
Combat Aérien
Futur (SCAF)
New-Generation
Fighter at Le
Bourget on June- Paris Air Show
52 August 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
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