AIR International – June 2018

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SCENE

BLADE and Clean Sky
Airbus also showcased its BLADE
(Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft
Demonstrator in Europe) Flight
Lab for the fi rst time at a major air
show. The BLADE project is part of
the fi rst phase of Clean Sky, a €1.
billion European research initiative
that has been running since 2008.
The project is tasked with assessing
the feasibility of introducing
laminar-fl ow wing technology on
a large airliner, improving aviation’s
ecological footprint by reducing
aerodynamic drag by 10% and CO 2
emissions by 5%. The BLADE Airbus’
A340 laminar-fl ow Flight Lab test
demonstrator aircraft A340-
300 F-WWAI (msn 001), made
its successful maiden fl ight on
September 26, 2017 and since then
has been engaged in successful
testing to explore the wing’s
characteristics in fl ight. The test

aircraft is the fi rst in the world to

combine a transonic laminar wing

profi le with a true internal primary

structure. The aircraft is fi tted on

the outside with two representative

transonic laminar outer wings,

while inside the cabin there is a

highly complex specialist fl ight-test

instrumentation station.

Future Combat Air System

Airbus and Dassault Aviation

announced their cooperation on

the development and production of

Europe’s Future Combat Air System

(FCAS), intended to complement

and eventually replace their

own products, Eurofi ghter and

Rafale, between 2035 and 2040.

FCAS began because of bilateral

agreements made in November

2010 under the Lancaster House

Treaty between British Prime

Minister David Cameron and French

President Nicolas Sarkozy. Britain’s

decision to leave the EU may have

been a contributing factor to the

UK apparently now being excluded

from the programme. Speaking

at ILA, Dirk Hoke, head of Airbus’s

defence business, said hard choices

had to be made, “whether to

include or exclude the UK in certain

projects depending on how Brexit

will progress. If it’s a hard Brexit,

it will be a very di cult decision.”

The FCAS announcement made

at Berlin described the agreement

as “strengthening political and

military ties between Europe’s core

nations”. There was some hope for

BAE Systems, the world’s third-

largest defence conglomerate,

when Holke suggested there was

still room for the British company,

mentioning the “importance of

e cient industrial governance in

military programmes”, and adding:

“[This] includes the involvement

of other key European defence

industrial players and nations based

on government funding and on the

principle of best contribution.”

Eurofi ghter Typhoon

As mentioned, Germany is in

the market for a new fi ghter to

replace Tornado, 80 of which

are scheduled to remain in

service until 2035. According to

Luftwa e personnel who spoke

to AIR International at ILA with

a guarantee of anonymity, the

aspiration will be hard to achieve

when the source of spares from

Britain goes away when the UK

retires the type next year. On April

24 on the eve of the show, Airbus

and Eurofi ghter submitted six

binders of information proposing

Eurofi ghter to the German Ministry

of Defence as a cost-e ective

One of the Kawasaki P-1s provided cover from the rain in the static park. Two
deployed to ILA from Atsugi Naval Air Station near Tokyo. Jerry Gunner

Not every aircraft was spectacular. This Mikado micro UAV is an example of many

of the types used by the Bundeswehr. Jerry Gunner