Air&Cosmos International magazine - issue 2

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AIR&COSMOS

aircosmosinternational.com N° 2 - 20th April 2018

FRANCE-GERMANY

TAKING COOPERATION

NEXT LEVEL TO

THE

US $19 - 1300 INR - 15 EUR - 120 CNY - 70 AED

l France and

Germany move closer on future combat aircraft l Aircraft Interiors Expo: reshuffling the cards in Hamburg l Falcon 6X, Dassault’s new long-ranger l Production revolution at Airbus Helicopters l Columbus module: 10 years in orbit

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editorial Duncan Macrae

SPECIAL PREVIEW

AIR&COSMOS

A new European alliance Europe is at a crossroads. Barring some unforeseen turn of events, the UK – one of Europe's industrial, economic and military heavyweights — will soon be leaving the European Union. And this is happening at a time when Europe, more than ever, needs to assert itself on the world stage.

With Brexit negotiations still far from complete, we can only speculate on the full extent of the economic and political fallout from this event. However, as the process unfolds, alliances are already being reshaped within the European bloc, most notably between Paris and Berlin — the focus of a Special Report in this second issue of Air&Cosmos International.

There are already strong industrial ties across the Rhine, through Airbus, ArianeGroup and others. France and Germany have long been Europe's leaders in the space sector — a partnership that is more vital than ever as SpaceX and Co. seek to rewrite the rules on the launch market.

In the defence sector, we look at a recent report by a Paris think tank suggesting that more could be done to reinforce Franco-German cooperation, in order to move beyond historical foreign, security and defence policy differences and build a nucleus for further European defence integration.

One emblematic programme that could really cement the Franco-German partnership is the proposed future combat air system (see page 8). Among other things, this could produce a common successor for French Rafales and German Typhoons around 2040.We publish an exclusive interview with Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, who believes the time is ripe to push ahead with this programme (page 10).

With our focus on continental Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, Air&Cosmos International will be following closely the players and the programmes that will define the contours of tomorrow's Europe and consolidate its position on the global market.

FLY Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services with a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a global leader in providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe’s number one space enterprise and the world’s second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most effi cient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Together. We make it fly.

airbus.com

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CONTENTS

AIR&COSMOS

SPECIAL PREVIEW

SPECIAL REPORT: FRANCO-GERMAN COOPERATION ........................................................8 Aircraft Interiors Expo 2018: reshuffling the cards......................................................18 Interview: François Caudron, Airbus Senior Vice President, on new trends in the cabin interiors market......................................................................20 EU-ASEAN Open Skies pact on the horizon ..........................................................................26 Interview: General Eric Charpentier (French Air Force Fighter Brigade) on Rafale pilot training ...................................................................................................28 Saab GlobalEye takes to the air .....................................................................................................32 European defence funding plans come into focus .......................................................34 India: New Delhi outlines fighter, RPA requirements...................................................36 Production revolution for the Airbus Helicopters H160 ............................................38 Columbus module: 10 years in orbit ..........................................................................................42 Articles translated from French by Duncan Macrae

EUROFIGHTER - GEOFFREY LEE

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Art and design: Mourad Cherfi Production: Frédéric Bergerat Coordination : Duncan Macrae Editors: Yann Cochennec, Justine Boquet, Jean-Baptiste Heguy, Emmanuel Huberdeau Copy editor: Duncan Macrae Advertising: Cyril Mikaïloff Business development: Henry de Freycinet Publishing director: Hubert de Caslou

Cover photo: Typhoon / EUROFIGHTER - GEOFFREY LEE SOCIÉTÉ DES ÉDITIONS AIR & COSMOS (SAS)

S.A.S. au capital de 1.000.000 € Siret 632 008 702 000 37.

Siège social : 157, boulevard Macdonald 75019 Paris (France) Principaux actionnaires : Discom S.A.S. et Hubert de Caslou

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© AIR COSMOS ISSN 1240-3113 - Dépôt légal à la date de parution Numéro de commission paritaire : 0215 T 86120 Distribué par Presstalis - Impression : Imprimerie Léonce-Deprez Toute reproduction des textes et documents est interdite, ainsi que leur utilisation à des fins publicitaires. Les textes de publicité sont rédigés sous la responsabilité des annonceurs. Ils n’engagent pas « Air & Cosmos ». Pour garantir son indépendance, « Air & Cosmos » se réserve le droit de refuser (même en cours de programme) toute insertion publicitaire sans avoir à justifier sa décision. Copyright 2015.

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AIR&COSMOS

SPECIAL PREVIEW

SPECIAL REPORT

FRANCO-GERMAN

COOPERATION IN THIS REPORT: France, Germany team up for future combat aircraft programme ...................................................................................8 Interview: Dirk Hoke, CEO Airbus Defence and Space .........10 Taking Franco-German defence cooperation to the next level .........................................................................................12 CNES, DLR pursue Merlin climate change mission ................14 ArianeGroup, Airbus Defence and Space: spanning the Rhine .................................................................................16

Ariane 6 mockup being prepared for the ILA Berlin Air Show

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SPECIAL REPORT

COMBAT AIRCRAFT

FRANCE, GERMANY

TEAM UP FOR FUTURE

PROGRAMME IN 2017, PARIS AND BERLIN DECLARED THEIR INTENTION TO WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP A FUTURE COMBAT AIR SYSTEM. OFFICIALS FROM BOTH SIDES ARE SEEKING TO DEFINE A COMMON CORE OF HIGH-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS. WHAT COULD THE FUTURE SYSTEM LOOK LIKE?

fter looking West, France is now turning to the East. In 2014, Paris and London launched the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme, which was intended to lead to the development of two unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrators, along with technologies that could be applied to a future combat aircraft. Today, however, France has chosen to partner with Germany in preparing its future combat air system, known in France by its French acronym, SCAF.

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Airbus Defence and Space conceptual illustration of Fu

Last summer, the two countries announced that they had agreed to lead the development of a European air combat system to replace existing combat aircraft fleets in the longer term. There are a number of reasons for this change of direction.

UK HESITATIONS.

First, the UK has been increasingly hesitant about the FCAS programme. On the one hand, another round of defence cutbacks is expected soon to accommodate the cost of the F-35 acquisition.

On the other hand, the arrival of the U.S. fighter is expected to push the renewal of the RAF combat aircraft fleet further into the future. This is seen reducing the scope of the FCAS programme, with a new roadmap focusing on technology building blocks rather than the development of new platforms.

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FRANCO-GERMAN COOPERATION

DEFINING THE THREATS.

tion of Future Air Power network.

Germany, on the other hand, has a schedule that is more closely aligned with that of France.

Initially, Berlin wants a Tornado replacement, which it will probably buy off the shelf. Reports have suggested a possible F-35 purchase, but an additional batch of Eurofighter Typhoons seems more logical.Typhoons currently in service will need to be replaced in the same timeframe as French Rafales, i.e. around 2035/2040.

Thus, Germany and France have announced their intention to define a common roadmap by mid-2018 with greater ambitions than the FCAS programme since the goal is the complete renewal of the air combat system and not just the development of a number of platforms and technologies.

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Consequently, studies have begun on both sides of the Rhine and in collaboration to establish a core set of common specifications and prepare the ground for the signature of initial contracts with companies in each country before the end of 2018.

First, the two partners will need to find common ground on the nature of the threat and the context in which the future combat air system will operate.

The various Western forces, including those of France and Germany, are already in agreement on this point and in particular on the growing importance of anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) systems. For decades, Western air forces have been able to operate without any real threat.Today, the development of high-performance air defence systems, the possibility for medium-sized powers to acquire modern fighters and the development of new threats (e.g. cyber) could mark the end of this impunity. The battlefields of tomorrow are likely to be highly contested, and Western air forces will face an increased number of threats. It is therefore critical to find solutions to maintain an Initial Entry capability in any theatre of operations.

SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS.

For these reasons, Western air forces are looking not just to develop new platforms but to conceive a system of systems.

Military experts believe that information control will be a key factor in future conflicts. Thus, the SCAF programme will require a solid communication and datalink network guaranteeing high transmission rates and resistance to cyber attacks.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will have a vital role to play in many applications, allowing operators to manage the vast amounts of data at their disposal.

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On 16th March 2018, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces launched the MMP study to develop AI applications for combat aviation.The results of this study and the programmes that follow should feed directly into the SCAF programme.

Information control on its own, however, will not be enough.To be effective, the future combat air system will require high-performance platforms that are network-connected. One of these platforms is likely to be a manned successor to the Rafale and Typhoon. There seems to be general agreement between France and Germany on the broad outlines of such an aircraft.

It will have to be capable of surviving in a contested environment and thus will probably feature a reduced radar signature, including an internal weapons bay. It could be a twin-engine design, for increased reliability, power and survivability.

One question concerns the need for a two-seat version.The Rafale has demonstrated the utility of a two-seater, for both nuclear and conventional missions.Also, Germany's initial requirement is to replace the Tornado, which is a two-seater.

On the French side, there are two major considerations. First, the future fighter could carry nuclear weapons. Studies have already been launched to replace the current ASMPA missile.The draft multi-year defence spending bill (LPM) calls for continued studies of this future missile, called ASN 4G. Thus, the main characteristics of this weapon, which should be known around 2021, are likely to have a major impact on the design of the future fighter.

In addition, if the aircraft is intended to replace the navalised variant, Rafale Marine, it will have to be designed from the outset for carrier-borne operations, with reinforced landing

gear and a arrester hook. The design will also have to integrate the constraints specific to naval air operations.

REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT.

The future fighter aircraft will operate alongside other platforms, including remotely piloted systems.

France has been working on development of an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) for several years.The Neuron demonstrator was a first step.Work has continued under the FCAS programme. On several occasions, the French defence procurement agency, DGA, and the French Air Force have shown future concepts featuring a Rafale and a UCAV flying together. It is, therefore, probable that France will be keen to integrate a UCAV into the SCAF programme. Such a vehicle could be used, for example, to clear access for manned platforms.

Germany seems to be studying the use of swarms of smaller remotely piloted aircraft, as illustrated by an infographic presented by Airbus a few months ago (see p.8). These would be less expensive, expendable platforms that could be used e.g. to saturate enemy air defences.The SCAF programme will also have to include remotely piloted surveillance platforms like Europe's medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) programme involving France, Germany, Italy and Spain, which is due to be launched in 2019 for initial deliveries in 2025.

Airbus is also exploring the use of its Zephyr high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS), which is designed to fly in the upper atmosphere and could be used for surveillance and for voice and data communications.The future network will also need to include command and control platforms and transport aircraft, such as the A400M airlifter and the A330 MRTT inflight refuelling aircraft. â– Emmanuel Huberdeau

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SPECIAL REPORT FRANCO-GERMAN FUTURE COMBAT AIR SYSTEM DIRK HOKE, CEO, AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE, TALKED TO AIR&COSMOS INTERNATIONAL ABOUT THE ISSUES SURROUNDING PLANS BY FRANCE AND GERMANY TO JOINTLY DEVELOP A FUTURE COMBAT AIR SYSTEM TO REPLACE RAFALE AND EUROFIGHTER BY 2040.

dented opportunity for the future of the aerospace sector in Europe. Our competitors are making rapid progress and some European countries are buying American equipment such as the F35, so we must react and react now. What is at stake is the ability of European nations to retain their sovereignty and their knowhow in this very high-tech sector that is combat aviation.

In addition, the rapid progress in technologies, but also in the threat, means that we must come up with a completely different view of air power of the future.

At Airbus, we have developed the Future Air Power concept, which will take both our countries’ air forces as well as industry onto the next level in the realm of military aircraft. It is not only about a next-generation manned fighter aircraft, but is a more wide-ranging system networking piloted platforms and connected drones via protected satellite links. Combat aircraft, tankers, persistent drones and combat drones, satellites in geostationary orbit or in LEO constellations providing connectivity and real time imaging, all the areas in which Airbus Defence and Space is AIRBUS / H. GOUSSÉ

Do you think the time is ripe for France and Germany to launch the joint development of a future combat air system programme?

Absolutely! If not now, when would be the right time to do it?

First of all, last July, both France and Germany clearly expressed their desire to develop a future combat air system to replace the Rafale and Eurofighter jets by 2040.

Secondly, after years of drought in European defence spending and industrial collaboration, this project is an unprece-

“AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY FOR THE AEROSPACE SECTOR IN EUROPE” 10

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FRANCO-GERMAN COOPERATION

How could Germany's choice of a Tornado replacement affect Franco-German cooperation?

The decision in Berlin for the Tornado replacement is closely linked to the Franco-German project for a next generation combat aircraft.The Eurofighter is a proven weapon system which will be further developed and modernised and which will remain in service beyond 2040, ensuring the transition with the future generation. For the Luftwaffe it is a logical and natural successor for the missions today performed by the Tornado, such as surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as missions for NATO. What does Airbus see as the main features of the future combat air system programme?

It is up to the users, the air forces, to specify their precise needs, but the broad outlines are taking shape for the evolution of air combat systems. First of all, a precise and permanent picture of the air situation must be obtained and this is the primary role of the satellites and drones.

In the future, any air platform must be capable of collecting data. These data must then be transformed into information, which will be stored in a protected cloud and transmitted to all players on the ground and in the air. The changing threats mean that it will be far harder than at present to achieve air superiority prior to any opera-

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tion.This is why the future combat aircraft will have enhanced survivability and stealth capabilities and will also be able to remote-operate drone swarms and combat drones.

What can Airbus bring to the table for development of this future system?

The concept of Future Air Power will not be based on a single platform, but will involve several systems including satellites, combat aircraft and drones – all of which lie at the heart of the Airbus portfolio and which make our company one of the world’s leading aerospace and defence

in 2003,Airbus was enthusiastic about launching the world’s most modern military transport aircraft.

Today, after more than 50 deliveries of this aircraft, I can tell you that this enthusiasm still holds strong.The A400M truly is a leap ahead for Europe’s air forces. It gives them unparalleled capabilities in the military transport field. And the Declaration of Intent, which we recently signed with the Launch Customers, provides us with a roadmap on how to limit future risks on this programme.

Maybe because of the enthusiasm at the time, we made some mistakes when we signed the contract in 2003. That goes for

of the A400M’s core systems, were taken on the basis of criteria that were more political than industrial or technical.When carrying out projects of such a magnitude, industry must be given the mandate to select its partners based on best value and competence. The list of lessons could go on but rest assured, we have learned them and are determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

AIRBUS

active will be involved in this major, ambitious project.

So, yes, the time is ripe to launch this European project around the Franco-German nucleus, from an operational, political and industrial point of view. The key industry players in these two countries – Airbus and Dassault Aviation – should be leading this important project to define a next generation combat aircraft system for Europe.

“It is the right time now to launch a study phase to explore and agree on required capabilities” players. In addition, our experience in leading, and participating in, multinational projects will definitely be a valuable asset to bring to the table.

What lessons have you learned from the A400M programme that could be applied to the future combat air system?

At its inception, the A400M was an equally fascinating European defence collaboration project as is Future Air Power today. Back

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governments and industry alike.

Airbus has paid dearly for these mistakes, but has learned its lessons.

Clearly, the delivery schedule we accepted back then was simply unfeasible. Furthermore, each of our seven launch customers had different specifications, many of which were – and still are – technologically extremely complex.

Here, greater harmonisation of the specifications would clearly be a major advantage when embarking on comparable high-tech projects. Key decisions such as the selection of the engine, one

What do you think would be the best way of sharing responsibilities between the French and German partners?

It is too early to say. After the high level declaration by President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel last year, it is important that industry defines a common understanding on how to approach such as project. I am in constructive discussions with Dassault’s Eric Trappier on that matter. We are also looking forward to deepening discussions with political decisionmakers both in Paris and Berlin now that Germany has a new government in place. I am optimistic that in 2018 we will be able to define important next steps for this project of strategic importance.

What would be the timeline for such a programme?

We understand that France and Germany are currently planning for an entry-into-service of the first aircraft between 2035 and 2040 which gives a general idea of the programme timeline. By taking into account that it takes at least 8 years for the development of such a complex weapon system, it is the right time now to launch a study phase to explore and agree on required capabilities. It would then be necessary to be in a position to sign a development contract by 2022, in order to maintain the currently envisaged entry-intoservice date.

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SPECIAL REPORT

TAKING FRANCO-GERMAN

COOPERATION TO THE

NEXT LEVEL

A NEW REPORT FROM A PARIS-BASED THINK TANK, IFRI, EXPLORES WAYS IN WHICH FRANCE AND GERMANY COULD REINFORCE COOPERATION IN DEFENCE. PUBLISHED IN DECEMBER 2017, IT RECOMMENDS MOVES TO CONSOLIDATE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO ALLIES AND OPEN THE DOOR TO GREATER EUROPEAN INTEGRATION IN DEFENCE.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

In recent months, the two countries have been moving closer together, developing synergies to consolidate cooperation. In July 2017, they presented an ambitious bilateral cooperation agenda, including joint development of a future fighter aircraft (see p. 8), as well as development of a joint indirect fire artillery system and cooperation around a new major ground combat system.The two countries also pledged to push ahead with the Eurodrone Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) remotely piloted aircraft programme, which could produce Europe's first fleet of military drones by 2020, and agreed on cooperation in the field of cyber security.

SETTING THE PACE.

n an international context marked by multiple tensions and by Britain's decision to launch Brexit proceedings, the European Union stands at a crossroads. Its future credibility depends on its strategic autonomy. According to a recent report by the Paris-based think tank, Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri), progress towards increased cooperation between France and Germany will be a key step in this process.

In the light of a more demanding security environment, but also a rare momentum for further European integration, the reports calls on Berlin and Paris to take their security and defence cooperation to the next level, bilaterally as well as in the EU. The authors are “convinced that the Franco-German relationship has to be the nucleus of any European defence integration.”

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Thus, the two countries have a driving role to play in building European structures.They can set the pace and provide an example for broader European cooperation. Once these bilateral projects are sufficiently developed, the report notes, they will be opened up to other European countries willing and able to further integrate in this policy field and to contribute to an ever more autonomous EU.

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PRÉSIDENCE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE

DEFENCE

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footing, but to work towards a situation where each country contributes its know-how and competences in a complementary manner.

WHITE PAPER.

The preferred way forward to establishing the priorities of this bilateral cooperation, according to Ifri, is through a Franco-German White Paper on Security and Defence, to be updated on an annual basis.This document should contain a shared analysis of the current security environment and the risks and threats it presents.

second-largest military power.

The report notes Europe's failure to take advantage of economies of scale and other benefits of cooperation — “84% of all equipment procurement took place at national levels in 2013.”

It warns that Berlin and Paris have to move beyond the current debate focused exclusively on meeting NATO's “2% of GDP” target for defence spending by initiating a discussion about the apportionment of defence budgets based on qualitative criteria. How an increased budget is allocated is more im-

The Franco-German relationship has to be the nucleus of any European defence integration.

In order to establish a permanent Franco-German dialogue on security and defence, the report recommends that the Franco-German Defence and Security Council should meet twice a year. It also suggests that, once a year, security affairs should be discussed at a summit meeting attended by the French President, the German Chancellor and the ministers of defence and foreign affairs. This would facilitate coordination among parliamentarians and between high-ranking military and diplomatic representatives.

Defining collaborative objectives, however, is not enough to achieve them — operational autonomy is directly contingent on defence spending. And at a European level, that spending must be optimised. Although collectively the world's secondlargest military spender, Europe is far from being the world's

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AIRBUS HELICOPTERS

Franco-German dynamism has already largely contributed to recent progress on the European defence and security cooperation network known as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the European Defence Fund (EDF) and the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) to identify capability gaps.

The Ifri report underlines the three dimensions of strategic autonomy: political, operational and industrial. It notes that political autonomy has so far been neglected in Franco-German defence and security cooperation, due to differences in foreign, security and defence policy traditions between the two countries.

Paris and Berlin have different views of their positions on the international stage and of the role of the military and the use of force, not to mention public perception of the armed forces.

To develop credible cooperation, the two countries will have to engage in a far-reaching political dialogue to bring together their national security and defence reflexions and analysis.The report acknowledges that this will be “no easy task”.

In order to move ahead with industrial and operational collaboration, the two countries will have to define the shared threats that they currently face.

“The type of capabilities needed must be derived from a political analysis of the strategic environment and the threats posed,” the report explains.

It will then be possible to establish complementarities on an operational level, as can be seen in Operation Barkhane, the French-led operation to combat terrorist groups in the Sahel-Saharan region of Africa.

The report notes:“Even though their current roles in the Sahel differ significantly, both French and German forces are central in addressing the many security challenges in the region.” Accordingly, Ifri's vision is not to establish a relationship where both partners are on an equal

portant than its sheer volume.

The multiplication of national programmes also has a negative impact on interoperability between the forces. To overcome this trend, the report calls on Europe to imagine and develop joint programmes and establish European consortiums. Ifri cites the example of the Tiger combat helicopter (France, Germany, Spain) and the European Air Transport Command. To improve interoperability, the report suggests that France and Germany could take advantage of their participation in reassurance measures on the eastern flank to plan yearly brigade-level military exercises to improve military coordination.

INDUSTRIAL AUTONOMY.

Ifri also points out that defence equipment procurement and R&D investment has dropped from above the 20% benchmark

in 2006 to 17.9% of total defence expenditure in 2014.

It is clear today that industrial autonomy is a precondition for undertaking military operations.

It ensures freedom of action and reduces any external dependence that could interfere with the decision-making process.

The authors of the report declare: “Strategic autonomy also builds on access to defence technology and materiel – in other words, industrial autonomy. It is for this reason the defence industry plays a key role when it comes to achieving strategic autonomy, especially at the operational level.” Paradoxically, the lack of cooperation between European states has led to increased competition between national industries at a time when industrial cooperation should be the watchword.

For political reasons, several European countries have a preference for U.S. systems, leaving the door wide open for products like the F-35.

In order to develop synergies, the European Union is encouraging joint programmes between member states.To support this initiative, the EU is providing R&D funding, e.g. through the European Defence Fund (see p. 34). Creation of the new European defence and security cooperation network known as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is another step in the same direction.

Nonetheless, Ifri acknowledges the existence of certain hurdles on the road to closer cooperation, including export policies.The report states:“Defining a joint approach to arms exports is described as a condition sine qua non for successful cooperation. In so doing, both sides’ concerns must be taken seriously. One possibility would be a governmental agreement on export control criteria or a country list of admissible customers and the setting up of a common authority that would decide on export applications.”

■ Justine Boquet

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D. DUCROS/CNES

SPECIAL REPORT

CLIMATE CHANGE

CNES, DLR PURSUE MERLIN

MISSION InItIated In February 2010 and re-launched at the cOP 21 cOnFerence In ParIs In december 2015, the FrancOGerman merlIn satellIte PrOGramme Is aImInG FOr lIFt-OFF In 2020/2021 tO measure methane cOncentratIOns In the amOsPhere.

he Methane Remote Sensing Lidar Mission (Merlin) is a joint project between France's CNES Space Agency and its German equivalent, DLR. Starting in late 2020 or early 2021, for a period of at least three years the satellite will provide precise measurements of methane concentrations in the atmosphere, along with spatial and temporal variations, in order to establish emission sources and sinks for all seasons at all latitudes.

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Concentrations of methane (CH4), the second most powerful greenhouse gas after CO2, have fluctuated for unknown reasons over recent decades. Merlin will seek to identify emission sources — whether natural (wetlands, oceans, geological sources, termites...) or anthropogenic (fossil fuels, livestock farming, rice paddies, waste...) — and natural sinks (atmosphere, oceans, soil).

The global warming impact of one tonne of CH4 is 28 times greater than

the same amount of CO2 on a timescale of 100 years.

Merlin will rely on its Methane Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) lidar, which will fire laser beams towards the Earth’s surface or cloud tops and then analyse the signal bounced back to deduce the amount of methane in the sounded atmospheric column.

DLR is supplying the IPDA lidar, while CNES will supply a new version of its Myriade-Evolutions spacecraft bus and will be in charge of the satellite control centre and data distribution during the operational phase of the mission.

The lidar will be the first instrument of its kind to emit on two wavelengths more or less simultaneously — one close to the methane absorption band, the other far removed, to act as a reference. The reflected beams are collected by a 690mm telescope and focused on a detector.

MYRIADE EVOLUTIONS.

The lidar is being developed in Germany by Airbus Defence and Space with support from the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and contributions from other companies and research institutes under the direction of the DLR. It will be integrated onto a generic Myriade Evolutions platform (260kg) developed for CNES by Airbus DS in Toulouse.

Total satellite weight at lift-off will be around 430kg, with total on-board power of about 400W, including 150W allocated power for the payload.

The satellite will be placed in a quasicircular near-polar sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 500km — in theory using a European launcher.

It will be stabilised in three axes (using star trackers and reaction wheels), with hydrazine thrusters for station-keeping.

Satellite flight control will be performed by the Toulouse Space Centre, and during the operational phase the CNES will be responsible for generating and distributing scientific data to the international community of scientists involved in greenhouse gas studies.

CNES project leader Bruno Millet underlines the numerous breakthroughs in the Merlin project: major payload innovations, significant increase in performance for a platform of this size, signal processing to extract useful data.

Not to mention the human adventure

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FRANCO-GERMAN COOPERATION VIEWPOINT Jean-Yves Le Gall ,President of CNES and Chair of the Council of the European Space Agency

“Franco-German relations are exceptionally good“ How would you describe Franco-German relations in the space sector?

Germany is our main partner, within esa, the european commission and on a broader basis.

We work with the dlr on a daily basis, witness our continuous exchanges with Pascale ehrenfreund, chair of the dlr executive board.

Franco-German relations are exceptionally good, probably unprecedented. this is most likely due to the fact that Pascale ehrenfreund is a friend of France and a French speaker. It is also because, as chair of the esa council, we are working hand in hand with esa director general Jan Wörner — “a european with a German passport”. all in all, it is clear that the Franco-German partnership is operating perfectly, for the benefit of the entire european space sector.

What is the latest news on the FrancoGerman Merlin project?

What other collaborative projects are you looking at with Germany? today we are working together with the dlr on innovations and breakthrough technologies, which France and Germany both view as extremely important. We cannot just sit back and watch the real or supposed exploits of the new space sector in the u.s. a joint Franco-German effort is the only way we can respond: that is what we will be announcing in berlin.

Interview by Jean-François Mouriaux

CNES

merlin is a joint satellite programme to measure atmospheric methane. alongside microcarb for cO2, it is one of the two climate monitoring plat-

forms launched at the cOP21 conference in Paris in december 2015. the programme is moving forward nicely. the lidar is being developed by dlr, and we are confident of meeting upcoming milestones and being ready for launch in around four years. It is an emblematic project for our bilateral cooperation with Germany and the continuity of our partnership: merlin was initiated when Jan Wörner was at the head of the dlr, and it is being pursued with Pascale ehrenfreund. a full-scale mockup will be on display at the Ila show.

Key role for CADMOS in manned spaceflight n 6th June, German astronaut alexander Gerst (41) will start a second, six-month mission to the International space station, including a period as Iss commander, on the occasion of esa's horizons mission. he will launch from baikonur, Kazakhstan, on soyuz ms-09 alongside russia's sergei Prokopiev (43) and u.s. astronaut serena aunonchancello (42). the cadmos centre for the development of microgravity applications and space operations, located in the toulouse space centre of cnes, will once again be involved in monitoring various experiments and technology demonstrations performed by Gerst during the mission. these include Grip-Grasp (perception, ESA

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orientation and adaptation of the nervous system), matiss-2 (anti-microbial surfaces), metaspace (gas exchange), myotones (study of muscle tone at rest), time (perception of time) and spacetex (innovative fabrics for physical exercise). cadmos has been a support centre for european Iss users since 1998.

In other news, cnes, the dlr and esa are organising a new parabolic flight campaign on the novespace a310 Zero-G from 28th may to 8th June. the campaign will be dedicated to life sciences and will include the Franco-German Palme-ditengou experiment, dedicated to cellular adaptation in the roots of arabidopsis thaliana — a model organism widely used for research in plant sciences, evolution, genetics and basic research.

involving space agencies, scientists and contractors from France, Germany and other countries.

For CNES — positioned more than ever as a climate agency — the Merlin mission is a flagship project which also serves to symbolise the importance of Franco-German cooperation (see interview with Jean-Yves Le Gall). DLR executive board chair Pascale Ehrenfreund agrees. In a recent issue of the French agency's CNES MAG publication, she described Merlin as the two countries' most emblematic cooperative projects. Merlin, she declares, “is the result of our common desire to develop an innovative, pre-operational satellite for monitoring climate and greenhouse gases … It's a highly sophisticated mission, designed to give us the big picture.” ” ■ Pierre-François Mouriaux

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SPANNING THE RHINE The Two pillars of The european space indusTry, arianeGroup and airbus defence and space, have a major presence on boTh sides of The rhine. we Take a Tour of Their differenT faciliTies and acTiviTies in Germany.

rianeGroup is a joint venture between Airbus Group and Safran created in December 2014, in the wake of the European Space Agency's ministerial council meeting in Luxembourg and the launch of the Ariane 6 programme. It was known as Airbus Safran Launchers until July 2017. The company is prime contractor on behalf of France's DGA defence procurement agency for the M51 ballistic missile for the French Navy's Strategic Oceanic Force, and industrial prime contractor on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 launch vehicles.The 9,000-strong workforce includes over 1,140 employees at four German facilities: Bremen, Lampoldshausen, Ottobrunn and Trauen.

The Bremen site in northern Germany employs 530 highly qualified people. For 20 years it has been the assembly centre

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for the ESC A cryogenic upper stage for Ariane 5 — soon to be replaced by that of Ariane 6 — as well as the launcher's equipment bay, which comprises components from Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and Sweden. The Ariane 6 upper stage integration hall is currently under construction, but the facility has already received that first hydrogen tank for the new launcher, featuring elements produced

by MT Aerospace in Augsburg and assembled in Bremen, close to the ArianeGroup factory.

The Lampoldshausen site in BadenWürttemberg, which employs 280 people, is a test centre operated with the DLR's Institute of Space Propulsion.The DLR has so far performed 120 Vinci engine ignition tests for ArianeGroup (out of a scheduled total of 129 in Germany) on the P4.1 test bench — all with nominal results.The Vulcain 2.1 engine has been

Orion ESM integration work in Bremen. tested five times this year. Lampoldshausen also produces propulsion systems for satellites and space vehicles, such as the Rosetta probe or the European Service Module (ESM) for America's future Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which is due to make its first flight in 2020.

The Ottobrun site in Bavaria — which includes the company's head office in Germany — is the design and production centre for the Aestus restartable engine for the second stage of Ariane 5 ES and the combustion chambers for Ariane 5's Vulcain engine and theVinci upper stage engine for Ariane 6. It has a workforce of 290 people.

The Trauen site in Lower Saxony, which employs 40 people, performs hydrazine purification and engine tests.

It is equipped with a laboratory and four test benches.

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE.

ArianeGroup CEO Alain Charmeau says Franco-German cooperation is key for launch vehicles: “This is particularly true in preparing for the future — organising the transition from Ariane 5 to Ariane 6, developing the Prometheus low-cost engine (a European programme with a strong Franco-German participation) and preparing the next ESA ministerial council meeting in 2019.The meeting will take decisions

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ARIANEGROUP, AIRBUS DEFENCE

D. DUCROS/CNES

SPECIAL REPORT

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FRANCO-GERMAN COOPERATION on future Ariane 6 upgrades, which we are currently working on and which retain a strong Franco-German focus, though other countries, particularly Italy, will also participate. It is absolutely essential for France and Germany — two European technological, economic and political heavyweights — work together to head off attempts to gain control of the market by the U.S. or other countries.

In addition to the obvious need for strategic and military independence, Europe needs to retain autonomy to control the vast amounts of data from space for observation, management of the environment and the climate, communications and space surveillance. Freedom of access to space guarantees freedom of action in space. Europe's specificity is to have found an intelligent way to combine sovereign activities to launch Galileo, Sentinel, Helios and SAR-Lupe using our own resources, combined with a strong commercial presence which allows us to

achieve economies of scale at an industrial level and to retain the capacity to reinvest to prepare for the future.”

SPACE SYSTEMS.

The German activities of the Space Systems division of Airbus Defence and Space (34,000 employees, 100 industrial sites, including nine in Germany) are also mainly focused on Bremen and Ottobrunn, as well as on Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance.

Bremen (around 100 Space System employees) is the Airbus competence centre for manned spaceflight, launcher upper stages and space robotics. Europe's Spacelab laboratory module, which flew on the U.S. space shuttle between 1981 and 2000, was developed here, as was Columbus (see page 40) and the five Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV) which flew resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) between 2008 and 2014.

The main programme today is the ESM module, which will be

assembled by ArianeGroup, in order to exploit synergies with its Ariane 5 upper stage activities.

Bremen also trains astronauts to use European equipment on the ISS. Activities also include space robotics, orbital rendezvous and docking manoeuvres, space vehicle automatic landing, microgravity research, storage tank technology and mission planning.

In addition to the Airbus Defence and Space head office, the Ottobrunn site (around 1,500 employees) focuses on solar panels, e.g. for the ATV cargo vehicles and the ESM module for Orion, as well as electronic equipment for space vehicles, measurement instruments (e.g. for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope) and telecommunications antenna.

The Friedrichshafen centre (1,300 employees for space activities) specialises in satellites and instruments for Earth observation (Sentinel programme), meteorology (MetOp satellites) and science missions (BepiColombo, Gaia, Grace-FO and

Bremen gets ready for Ariane 6 onstruction work on the extension to the ariane 6 upper stage integration hall at arianeGroup's bremen site started on 26th february. work on the new 6,000m2 building, measuring 21m in height, is due to be completed by the end of the year. production is scheduled to reach 12 upper stages per year for europe's future heavy launcher. multiple innovations will be introduced, including laser-based surface treatment systems (replacing chemical

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processes) and augmented reality. automated production processes are expected to simplify procedures, reduce production cycles (from days to minutes in some cases) and cut costs. arianeGroup says the bremen site will place its space activities at the leading edge of the hightechnology sector. The company has invested €40m in the new hall — one-third for the building itself, two-thirds for infrastructure. around 100 employees will work in the new facility.

ARIANEGROUP HOLDING / HILL MEDIA

First Ariane 6 hydrogen tank arrives in Bremen.

Swarm).The centre also produces SAR radars for the Sentinel 1 and Paz satellites. It also contains the Space Systems microgravity research centre: experiments, equipment/racks and infrastructure for the ISS (ACLS, Cimon, Flumias, HSC-OS ...).

Other space activities are spread across the groups other facilities or across the supply chain.The company's Tesat Spacecom subsidiary in Backnang (Baden-Württemberg) develops communication and data transfer systems for communications and Earth observation satellites (including the laser system for satellites in the Copernicus programme). Jena Optronik (Thuringia) produces optronics and sensors for navigation, attitude control and orbital docking manoeuvres (particularly for the ISS and Orion). The Potsdam facility near Berlin specialises in cartography, radar and data management.

DRIVER FOR THE EUROPEAN SPACE SECTOR.

Altogether, more than 4,000 people are involved in Airbus Space Systems activities in Germany, which corresponds to around half of the country's total 8,500-strong workforce in the space sector. The latter represents total sales of around €3bn per year. The Ariane 5 supply chain, for example, involves around 200 subcontractors and suppliers.

On the subject of Franco-German cooperation, Nicolas Chamussy, Executive Vice President Space Systems of Airbus Defence and Space, comments:“Germany has been a crucial factor in Airbus' success over the years, particularly for Space Systems: it is thanks to the efforts of our German colleagues, our German suppliers, our German institutional partners and customers that Airbus has become a world-class champion in the space sector and that Europe has become a proud, fullfledged player in the concert of space powers.”

■ Pierre-François Mouriaux

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CIVIL AVIATION AIRCRAFT INTERIORS EXPO 2018 can select streaming content and consider associated revenue opportunities. Available on ATR aircraft from June 2018, the system will be offered as an option on new ATRs as well as being retrofittable on existing aircraft.

This type of equipment has a much shorter service life than the aircraft on which it is installed.

Products must be maintained and also renewed at intervals that sometime coincide with the periods chosen by the airlines to renew their cabin fittings and passenger services in order to differentiate themselves from the competition and attract new customers. It is noticeable that this renewal cycle has accelerated in recent years and is now approaching the frequency at which the major hotel chains update their facilities.

RESHUFFLING

THE CARDS Thousands of visiTors Thronged The aisles of aircrafT inTerior expo 2018 in hamburg (10Th-12Th april) To discover The laTesT innovaTions, Technologies and producTs for cabin inTeriors, inflighT enTerTainmenT and passenger comforT. from iTs modesT beginnings, The secTor has ballooned inTo a mulTi-billion-dollar markeT in which The major airframers and equipmenT suppliers are fighTing for a share of The spoils alongside a mulTiTude of specialisT niche players.

J. B. HEGUY

$26BN BY 2020.

Airbus Interior Services presented a mockup of its “Night and Day” concept for the A350. n the surface, the 2018 edition of Aircraft Interiors Expo looked much like it did in previous years.

Thousand of visitors mingled with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing their knowhow in a vast range of products: cabin floor coverings, galley equipment, passenger seats, lighting, air conditioning, wall panels, along with inflight connectivity and wireless inflight entertainment

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solutions.To name but a few.

Initially developed for the comfort of passengers on longhaul flights in widebody aircraft, the products and technologies have gradually been extended to include the medium-haul sector and are now making their appearance on regional aircraft, thanks to the opportunities offered by WiFi solutions.

Regional turboprop specialist ATR, for example, took advantage of the show to announce a

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launch customer for the Cabinstream system deing developed in partnership with Amphenol Phitek. This system allows passengers to access multimedia content on their personal electronic devices.

The Phitek onboard streaming solution is delivered by a simple, flexible IFE box requiring no electrical or mechanical connections. The box can be installed or removed as required, on every type of aircraft model. Airlines

Alongside these factors, the market is also expanding in line with the growth in the world airline fleet, which more or less doubles every 20 years. It is is hardly surprising, then, that the global market for cabin interiors and inflight entertainment systems is estimated to be worth nearly $26bn by 2020, including almost $15bn just for seats and associated accessories and equipment. The latter figure is based on the fact that each Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 long-haul aircraft represents a potential market of $18-24m per aircraft, including $4-6.5m for seating alone.

A market of this magnitude was bound to attract the attention of the airframers andTier One equipment suppliers.This has translated into major restructuring moves, with U.S. seat manufacturer B/E Aerospace being acquired by Rockwell Collins, only for the combined entity to be swallowed up by United Technologies.

Meanwhile, Zodiac Aerospace of France has passed under the control of Safran.These horizontal consolidation operations have been accompanied by vertical integration moves from Airbus and Boeing.

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rations in 16 countries across Asia and Africa. The alliance, which has been joined by in-flight connectivity specialist Gogo, will allow member mobile operators to extend their services into airline cabins, providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity from ground to air and back again at signficantly reduced costs.

The alliance, which is actively seeking additional industry operators beyond the five initial members, aims to eliminate the costs and hurdles commonly as-

STELIA AEROSPACE.

Airbus is already well established on the aircraft seating segment through its Stelia Aerospace subsidiary, formed in 2015 by combining the former Aerolia with the aircraft seating business of Sogerma. Stelia offers a range of First Class, Premium Business Class and Business Class seating products, currently flying on aircraft operated by 40 airlines worldwide.

Airbus is also focused on the connectivity segment, after announcing the formation of the Seamless Air Alliance in partnership with Delta Air Lines, OneWeb, Sprint, and India's Bharti Airtel — the third-largest mobile operator in the world with ope-

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sociated with acquisition, installation and operation of data access infrastructure by streamlining system integration and certification, providing open specifications for interoperability, increasing accessibility for passengers, and enabling simple and integrated billing.

The alliance will compete with players like Thales — already a major player in this segment, which it estimates at $10bn by 2024 — and Safran on the cabin interiors and IFE markets.Thales

CEO Patrice Caine recently commented that the crowded in-flight connectivity market will require major investments in the longer term.

MEETING EXPECTATIONS.

Meanwhile, Safran CEO Philippe Petitcolin says it will be up to Zodiac Aerospace Safran to prove itself by delivering on time, offering innovations and meeting quality standards:“In the end, the best players will win.”

■ Yann Cochennec

Thales expands IFE portfolio hales announced new additions to its inflight entertainment (ife) portfolio at aircraft interiors expo. The new offerings are called core and presTige.

Thales has announced new additions to its inflight entertainment (ife) portfolio to complement the avanT system currently flying on more than 30 airlines. The new offerings are called core and presTige. The announcement was made at aircraft interiors expo in hamburg. core is designed for airlines looking for a solution with a streamlined configuration and accelerated delivery process. it uses an intuitive passenger interface, selecT, offering a simple and uncompromised user experience. selecT provides opportunities to Thales CORE IFE. reach passengers with mixed content and seamless advertising integration including promotions, targeted offers and destination content. core is delivered connectivity-ready with a set of key applications and digital services to meet airline and passenger expectations. Thales notes that core is built on a proven solution, configured on existing architecture; and is already line-

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fit-offerable on all boeing and airbus platforms and cyber-secured by Thales. presTige, featuring ultra hd (4k) displays, is designed for airlines looking for an exclusive experience and unique services extending far beyond the ife system. it is designed to enable passengers to connect, engage and enjoy their flight with the latest consumer electronic devices and unique connected apps. The system is developed through a “co-inno-

THALES

Boeing has moved back into the seating market under a partnership with Adient, the global leader in automotive seating. In January, the two companies announced the formation of Adient Aerospace, a joint venture that will develop, manufacture and sell seating products to airlines and aircraft leasing companies. The seats will be available for installation on new airplanes and as retrofit configurations for aircraft produced

by Boeing and other commercial airplane manufacturers.

The JV aims to address the industry's need for more capacity in the seating category, superior quality and reliable on-time performance. It hopes to benefit from the engineering expertise and innovative cultures at both companies, as well as shared expertise in managing complex, global supply chains.

Adient Aerospace's operational headquarters, technology center and initial production plant will be located in Kaiserslautern, Germany, near Frankfurt. The joint venture's initial customer service center will be based in Seattle,Washington.Aftermarket spare parts distribution will be performed exclusively through Aviall, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing.

vation” process with each airline customer, resulting in a unique signaTure user interface (ui) developed by a dedicated Thales ux center of excellence. all Thales ife solutions are powered by the inflyt360 digital platform, incorporating the latest big data technologies such as machine learning and matching algorithms.

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“A

CLEAR TREND

has been achieved since then?

Since its creation, AIS has developed several innovative cabin products, which have been well received by the airlines, which are looking for flexible, upgradable solutions in terms of comfort, communications and economic optimisation. For example, AIS played a vital role in Qantas' decision to integrate a lounge area into its new A380 cabins. Complementarity between AIS and Airbus products is key to our strategy in a fast-growing market.

TOWARDS INCREASED COMFORT AND PRIVACY”

AIRBUS

AIR & COSMOS INTERNATIONAL TALKED TO FRANÇOIS CAUDRON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HEAD OF MARKETING AT AIRBUS, ABOUT NEW TRENDS ON THE AIRCRAFT INTERIORS MARKET.

Earlier this year, Boeing created a joint venture with Adient to design and build aircraft seats. Airbus is already present in this segment with its Airspace concept. What is behind these moves by the major airframers?

I cannot comment on the reasons behind Boeing's decision to invest specifically in the air-

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craft seating business. Airbus has adopted a more holistic approach to the cabin in order to offer an ideal space for operators and passengers in all our aircraft.

That is why an Airspace cabin that you see today on the A350 and A330neo, and soon on the A320, guarantees increased wellbeing, thanks to a roomy, relaxing design; more fresh air, with less recycling; more silence; bigger overhead storage bins; IFE systems with large HD

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screens and no relay box under the seat; and connectivity to onboard WiFi with speeds comparable to what you are used to on the ground.

Last year at the show you launched Airbus Interiors Services, specialising in cabin interiors and offering a better response to customisation requests. What progress

In the commercial transport sector, how far do you think one can go in terms of service segmentation to create revenue opportunities for the airlines? There has been talk of eliminating aircraft cabin windows to make passengers pay more...

The future of the cabin window is linked to aircraft weight optimisation. Windows could be replaced with large screens offering high-quality panoramic views along with interactivity to obtain all kinds of information on the countries, regions and cities that the aircraft is flying over.

Segmentation is indeed the best way for airlines to offer their customers the opportunity to select and purchase the desired level of comfort and associated services. We are seeing a clear trend in this direction, both in terms of the product itself (segmentation in types of seat, increasing number of cabin classes) and services (meals, luggage, other privileges).We believe that it is important for airlines to be able to offer choices and we are ready to support them in their efforts to propose low-cost products and pursue upselling opportunities.

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DUBAĂ? AIRSHOW 2015 How do you see future cabin interior trends?

Could business class suites evolve still further?

Suites and apartments are highly exclusive, eye-catching products, but one must not forget that all the other business class products available today offer a huge increase in comfort compared with what was available 10 years ago.

The latest trends concern configuration flexibility, i.e. the ability to create a meeting area or a dining area, and a clear trend towards increased comfort and privacy (real beds, sliding doors, central partitions), while retaining maximum efficiency (number of seats in the cabin), such as the Airbus concept of a suite containing a bed and a seat, rather than a lie-flat seat, which offers the passenger the advantage of two separate life spaces.

We are also seeing major emerging trends in adapting the passenger's immediate environ-

ment to specific needs (lighting and temperature control, or individual sound levels) and in technologies to enhance communication between passengers, cabin crew and the aircraft in order to improve service and enhance the in-flight experience.

Is there scope for further use of new materials: anti-bacterial fabrics, composites, ultra-light metals?

Could we see seats produced partly or wholly by additive manufacturing (AM)?

Could AM reduce the cost of increasingly sophisticated seats?

Optimisation of weight and comfort is a constant concern for seat manufacturers, who invest heavily in innovations every year.

The use of new materials is one solution, but their widespread use appears to be limited by development and production costs.

AM, on the other hand, offers economical and rapid solutions for the production of certain seat parts and for spares. I also believe that we will soon see the arrival of connected fabrics, currently being developed for the car industry in particular, for which there is a whole range of potential applications.

What potential do you see in connected seats that can be controlled by smartphone, like the concept Lufthansa is preparing?

The latest seat developments include functions offering increased passenger comfort and enhanced efficiency for the airlines. Connected seats use sensors to gather information about the passenger (e.g. age recognition, male/female differentiation in order to propose different types of onboard service), but advantages are not limited to passenger

services. Sensors also help to anticipate failures and programme preventive maintenance.

They can also be used to monitor the cabin during takeoff and landing.

Last year you presented new cabin layouts to gain space and add extra seats on the A380. Can this concept be taken still further?

It is always possible to add extra seats. If you think about it, so far we have only explored the problem in two dimensions.

However, I am convinced that we will soon see innovations based on three-dimensional seating solutions! Airbus, as always, is monitoring market requirements and new developments in airline operations in order to offer cabin layout solutions that best fit their needs, but always in an Airspace cabin, of course! â– Interview by Jean-Baptiste Heguy

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BUSINESS AVIATION

FALCON 6X DASSAULT’S NEW LONG-RANGER Putting the cancellation of the SilvercreStPowered falcon 5X firmly behind it, daSSault haS officially launched the Slightly larger falcon 6X, Powered by Pratt & whitney canada Pw812 engineS.

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n the words of Dassault CEO Eric Trappier, the company's latest offering — unveiled on 28th February — will feature a combination of range, comfort and capability that is unmatched among large-cabin business jets, coupled with fully mature systems and a proven poerplant. .

The launch of the Falcon 6X officially closes the door on the sorry saga of the Falcon 5X, abandoned in the face of Safran's inability to deliver the Silvercrest engine with the promised performance levels on schedule. Nonetheless, the Falcon 6X is not all-new; it borrows substantially from its ill-fated predecessor.

Dassault, however, decided that it would be in its best interests — from a strategic and marketing viewpoint — to underline the aspects that differentiate the two concepts by dropping the 5X designation and proposing a different aircraft.

The first major difference concerns the engine, for which Dassault has selected Pratt & Whitney Canada and its PW812D (see box, p. 25).There are also differences in performance — the 6X offers an extra 300nm (or 555km), giving it a range of 5,500nm (10,186km) at

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exactly 3cm more headroom than the G650 and is 5cm wider than the U.S. standard bearer in terms of comfort.

With its 12.3cm in length, the cabin can accommodate 16 passengers and a variety of configurations, including a crew rest area, already available on the Falcon 8X. Its 28 windows – 29, including a skylight in the galley — offer significantly more natural light.The galley skylight – the first in a business aircraft – is designed to provide additional brightness in an area usually devoid of natural light.

Cabin altitude is equivalent to 3,900ft (1,188m) at FL410 (41,000ft, or 12,497m).Average noise levels are 2dB less than on the Falcon 7X and 8X. TECHNOLOGY.

The Falcon 6X also sets the highest standards in terms of technology. The new twin incorporates a number of features derived from Dassault’s military programmes, such as Neuron, Rafale and Mirage. Other features are derived from engineering and development work

Mach 0.8, or 9,445km at Mach 0.85. Maximum operating mach (MMO) is Mach 0.9, which places it in direct competition with the Gulfstream G500 and Bombardier Global 5000.

Some of the Falcon 5X dimensions have been retained — cabin height at 1.98m, the highest in the market, and cabin width (2.58m). Cabin length has been extended by 51cm, to 12.3m, thanks to a longer fuselage, allowing for an extra belly tank which accounts for the 300nm increase in range. The cabin interior, while clearly inspired by that of the 5X and bearing the hallmark of a Dassault Aviation bizjet, nonetheless retains its own identity. Nothing has been set in stone yet, says Agnès Gervais, Industrial Design Manager / New program and Innovation at Dassault.“We've kept the distinctive Dassault style of the 5X, while slightly modifying the seats, and we're still working on a variety of styles,” she adds.

Falcon 6X by the numbers

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DASSAULT AVIATION

THE COMFORT FACTOR.

What is the thinking behind these cabin dimensions and the extra 51cm in length.The company explains the extra length in terms of the fact that customers do not necessarily choose an ultra-long-range bizjet because they really need one, but rather for the absolute comfort they offer in comparison with less luxurious models.

With 1.98m in cabin height, compatible with all but the very tallest passengers, people can move around the cabin without having to lower their heads. The Falcon 6X offers

on the 5X and from the results of preliminary flight testing.

The first such feature is the wing, which is equipped with a flaperon inspired by the one used on the Neuron, alongside the traditional air brakes, which were already part of the design.

The 6X is the first Falcon bizjet — and probably the first bizjet of any kind — to feature this device.The flaperon is a control surface combining the functions of a flap and an aileron.As well as providing roll and bank angle control like ailerons, flaperons can be actuated together to operate like flaps.

This gives finer control of lift and drag than on an aircraft equipped with air brakes, thanks also to the new-generation Digital Flight Control System (DFCS). The flaperons will be particularly useful in the case of specific or steep approaches, as at London City Airport, and at low speeds.According to Dassault, the use of these devices can reduce takeoff speed by 15 knots (or 27.7km/hr) versus the competition, leading to increased comfort and improved visibility, e.g. during steep approaches.

Wingspan Overall length Height Cabin length Cabin height Cabin width Baggage volume Max takeoff weight Max landing weight Fuel Range Max operating Mach number Operational ceiling Takeoff distance Landing distance

25.94m 25.68m 7.47m 12.30m 1.98m 2.58m 4.4 m3 35.135t 30.025t 15.325t 5,500 NM (10,186 km) Mach 0,90 51,000ft (15,545m) 5,480ft (1,670m) 2,480ft (760m)

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The adoption of DFCS-type fly-by-wire controls thus improves handling. The system controls primary and secondary flight control surfaces, and the nose gear strut. Flaps, flaperons, ailerons, airbrakes, elevators, as well as the tail fin and leading edge slats are all activated via the DCFS. The system offers several additional advantages.

First and foremost is the closed loop design — the pilot or flight director indicates the desired flight path using the side stick controller, and the control laws in the flight control computers calculate the required control surface movement.

Dassault compares this closed loop design to the cruise control system on a car. In open loop conditions, the driver must estimate the pressure to be applied to the accelerator pedal to maintain the desired speed. In a closed loop setup, the computer uses data from different sensors to maintain the desired speed, while the driver simply monitors the situation.With the DFCS, the pilot no longer needs to take corrective action to avoid over-banking. Once the flight path has been determined by moving the side stick controller, the DFCS takes over, including any necessary “corrections”.

Dassault has produced a video comparing its system with the open loop design used on the Boeing 787, where the captain is seen making continuous movements with the side stick to correct or restore the flight path.With a closed loop configuration, only minimal adjustments are required for a similar flight path; the pilot's hand barely moves.

DASSAULT AVIATION

FLY BY WIRE.

Cabin definition has still to be finalised.

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A skylight window provides additional light in the galley.

DASSAULT AVIATION

The cockpit features 30%-larger windows than previous Falcons and new seats that can recline up to 130°. The new cockpit also features a higher ceiling and easier seat access, without the need to step over the centre pedestal.

Besides the new cockpit layout, the major change is the presence of the FalconEye combined vision system as a standard feature on the Falcon 6X. Most Falcon 8X customers have selected this system, which had only been offered as an option until now.

Dassault says that FalconEye — developed in partnership with Elbit Systems — is the first HUD to combine synthetic, database-driven terrain mapping and actual thermal and lowlight camera images into a single view. The system's multi-sensor camera generates very high definition images. In synthetic vision system (SVS) mode, the camera displays a 40° horizontal by 30° vertical field of view with a 1280x1024 resolution, ensuring full coverage

DASSAULT AVIATION

BIG WINDOWS.

The cabin measures 12.3m in length.

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CIVIL AVIATION

Pratt & Whitney Canada climbs on board assault ceo eric trappier says he still remembers the moment, during the nbaa convention in las vegas in october, when the company learned of the latest problems with the Silvercrest's high-pressure compressor, coming on top of three years of delays and adding still further uncertainty to the future of the falcon 5X programme. hence the decision in december to abandon development of the falcon 5X and seek the best possible replacement engine. the company selected the Pw812d as the best choice that would be compatible with the 6X NEY WHIT programme schedule, while offering the increased power required by the TT & PRA 6X. while the Silvercrest offered a maximum power rating of around 12,000lb (53.4kn), the Pw812d is in the 13,000-14,000lb class. it is closely derived from the “small core” Pw1200 which powers the mitsubishi regional Jet and the embraer e175-e2, minus the gearbox. the core engine is similar to that of the turbofan from which it is derived, without the 44in., 24-blade single-piece fan. the advantage of the Pratt & whitney engine is that the core technology has already accumulated substantial operating experience, unlike the Silvercrest — 3,400 hours of ground testing and 1,300 hours of flight testing to date. the engine features a two-spool, high-bypass-ratio design with a two-stage low-pressure compressor and an eight-stage high-pressure compressor. the hot section features a two-stage high-pressure turbine and a five-stage low pressure turbine. the Pw800 family has already been selected by gulfstream. the g500 is powered by the Pw814ga, an engine in the 15,000lb (68kn) thrust class.

of the viewing area with no tunnel vision effects.

Six different sensors present the best images from both the near-visible and infrared spectrums.

Four sensors are dedicated to light detection during daytime operations. One is dedicated to night conditions and one thermal sensor is used for terrain imaging.

FalconEye’s synthetic video image uses three dedicated worldwide databases uploaded to the HUD computer.Terrain, obstacle and navigation databases provide full view of obstacles, airport and runway data.These are then seamlessly combined to images in the visible spectrum.

EASY III AVIONICS.

Falcon 6X avionics are based on the EASy III system, derived from Honeywell's Primus Epic platform.

New features include an RDR 4000 IntuVue weather radar offering predictive detection of hail or lightning. It can also detect turbulence at a range of 60nm (111km), while uncertain weather conditions can be seen at distances up to 320nm (592km).

Other new features on the Falcon 6X include the fuel tanks and the electronic, hydraulic and pneu-

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D

FalconEye will be a standard feature on the Falcon 6X. matic systems. Here again, the aircraft benefits from technology inherited from the company's military programmes, particularly in the case of the fuel tanks.

Until now, fuel tanks on Falcon aircraft were pressurized to reduce the risk of fire. The Falcon 6X will be the first Falcon — and the first business aircraft of any kind — to feature fuel tanks pressurized with nitrogen.As the level in the tank descends, the space left above the fuel is pressurized with nitrogen, further reducing the probability of combustion.

AIR&COSMOS

The system is supplied by Zodiac.

Refuelling takes 20 minutes.

Dassault likes to point out that the Falcon 6X is equipped with smart systems.This is certainly the case for the aircraft's electrical systems which have a fully automated configuration, whatever the available energy source. All buses are powered on once the auxiliary power unit (APU), ground power unit (GPU) or the aircraft's engines have been switched on. Starting the aircraft requires a maximum of five actions.

In the event of a malfunction, such as the loss of an energy source, the electrical system is automatically reconfigured without any intervention by the pilot. The same applies to deployment of the ram air turbine (RAT). However, Dassault decided to keep the pilot in the loop, since he makes the final decision by pressing a button.

The aircraft's hydraulic system is supplied by Eaton and operates at a pressure of 3,000psi. The system is constantly monitored and can be reconfigured in the event of an incident, e.g. hydraulic fluid leakage. The air conditioning system is supplied

by Liebherr and allows creation of four separate zones in the cabin. Air is continuously renewed, and cabin air is said to be 10 times cleaner than in the average office building.

The Falcon 6X price tag is said to be equivalent to the Falcon 5X, which was on offer at $45m (at 2015 economic conditions). That would be around $47m at today's prices. First flight tests are scheduled for early 2021, followed by entry into service in 2022.

■ Antony Angrand

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CIVIL AVIATION TRAFFIC RIGHTS

EU-ASEAN

OPEN SKIES PACT ON THE

HORIZON THE MANDATE GIVEN TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN JUNE 2016 TO CONCLUDE AVIATION AGREEMENTS WITH ASEAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES SET A THEORETICAL TARGET OF 2020. THE AGREEMENT WITH ASEAN COULD BE FINALISED WELL IN ADVANCE OF THAT DEADLINE, POSSIBLY EVEN THIS YEAR.

joined in 2011 and, as members of the European Economic Area (EEA), were given the same rights as EU carriers, even though the two countries are not members of the EU. Over the intervening period, the EU has established aviation agreements with numerous countries and regions (see table), and it was only logical for negotiators to eventually focus on the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In June 2016, the 28 EUTransport Ministers authorised the European Commission to start negotiations for EU-level aviation agreements with ASEAN, as well as with Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.The target date to conclude the agreement is 2020, but some reports point to a possible agreement this year.

In November 2015, the association launched the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), including the creation of a single aviation market, as in Europe, but building from a much more fragmented base. ASEAN countries are much less integrated than EU member states, and — in the absence of an equivalent body to the European Commission — the association relies primarily on intergovernmental collaboration. In these circumstances, it is clear that individual countries will have a tendency to defend their own interests (and those of their national airlines) rather than the collective interests of the AEC. In economic terms, airline heavyweights like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways orVietnam Airlines are not in the same category as a carrier like Garuda Indonesia, which was blacklisted by the EU in 2007, along with three other Indonesian airlines (Airfast, Mandala Airlines and Premiair). Garuda has expended considerable efforts to regain acceptance among the world's top-ranked airlines. It joined the Skyteam alliance in 2014 and, in December of the same year, was classified as a Five Star Airline by Skytrax, alongside the likes of Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.

BOEING

TIGHT-LIPPED. The main advantage of an EU/ASEAN agreement for carriers from both regions would be the ability to open a larger number of direct routes to new markets.

he first Open Skies agreement between the EU and the U.S. came into force on 30th March 2008, replacing the previous set of bilateral agreements between Washington and individual countries.The new multi-party agreement cracked the North Atlantic market wide open. European airlines were allowed to operate routes to the U.S. from any European airport, while U.S. carriers enjoyed the same rights in the other direction.

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The agreement included the right to operate international routes between the EU and the U.S. (Third and Fourth Freedoms, see table), as well as onward routes beyond the EU and U.S. (Fifth Freedom).The agreement also included freedom to set fares and allowed unlimited codesharing. It was accompanied by agreements to cooperate in safety, security, competition, state subsidies, consumer protection and the environment.

The agreement was updated in 2010. Norway and Iceland

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The latest round of talks with ASEAN was due to take place in Djakarta at the end of February.

The ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,Thailand andVietnam) boasted a total population of 632 million in 2015, a figure that is projected to reach 695 million by 2025 with an average age of just 32.

According to the Commission, traffic on direct flights between the two regions amounts to 11 million passengers.

European negotiators have been tight-lipped about specific matters under discussion.The Commission declares that EU-level aviation agreements create new economic opportunities and ensure fair and transparent market conditions based on a clear regulatory framework for all actors. They ensure market access, promote investment opportunities, facilitate air travel and provide a wider choice to consumers.They also aim to ensure high standards of safety, security, air traffic management and infrastructure, as well as in consumer, social, and environmental protection.

Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to assume that, in view of the

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specific nature of the negotiations, involving two blocs of nations for the first time, liberalisation will be less far-reaching than it was in the case of the EU/U.S. Open Skies agreement. Some observers believe that the agreement will not go beyond Third and Fourth Freedoms.

The European Commission notes that the combined population of the two regions is 1.1 billion. Potential economic benefits are estimated at €7.9bn in the first seven years of an EU/ASEAN agreement, with the creation of 5,700 jobs.

Beyond these headline impacts, however, what do Europe's carriers expect from such an agreement? Lufthansa expects the agreement to pave the way for reinforced cooperation with other Star Alliance carriers, i.e. Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways. Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have launched a joint venture covering flights between Singapore,Australia, Germany, Switzerland,Austria and Belgium.

Since the JV was announced in November 2015, SIA has launched a new service between Singapore and Düsseldorf (July 2016). SWISS has deployed its new Boeing 777-300ERs on its daily Singapore-Zurich service, and Lufthansa has announced plans for a new SingaporeMunich service starting in March 2018. Flights by SIA, Lufthansa and SWISS between Singapore and Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich are operated as codeshares, covering a total of 130 city pairs between Europe, Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific.

Laurent Timsit, SVP corporate strategy and regulatory affairs at Air France-KLM, says that this type of liberalisation agreement can reinforce partnerships, noting that the EU/U.S. accord had a positive impact on the airline's partnership with Delta. Timsit hopes that an EU/ASEAN agreement would give a similar positive impetus to the carrier's joint ven-

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EU AVIATION AGREEMENTS In force - Canada, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Moldavia, Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovinia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia), Switzerland, United States.

Awaiting signature - Armenia, Tunisia, Ukraine Negotiations in progress - Azerbaijan, Brazil, Qatar, Turkey ture withVietnam Airlines, launched in November.

The JV has allowed the two carriers to adapt schedules and improve connectivity on routes from Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, offering a wider range of travel options.The two carriers are also working to continue improving customer service, whether on the individual airlines or on a shared service. The JV is the latest step in a long-standing part-

AIR&COSMOS

nership. The two carriers have been operating codeshares between Paris, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City since 2010, with connecting flights to destinations in Vietnam, as well as in France and Europe.

FLOOD GATES.

Some observers worry that an Open Skies deal could open the flood gates to Asian low-cost long-haul carriers.Timits remarks that the agreement should allow

FREEDOMS OF THE AIR First Freedom - the right granted by one State to another State or States to fly across its territory without landing.

Second Freedom - the right granted by one State to another State or States to land in its territory for non-traffic purposes.

Third Freedom - the right granted by one State to another State to put down, in the territory of the first State, traffic coming from the home State of the carrier.

Fourth Freedom - the right granted by one State to another State to take on, in the territory of the first State, traffic destined for the home State of the carrier.

Fifth Freedom - the right granted by one State to another State to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first State, traffic coming from or destined to a third State.

Sixth Freedom - the right of transporting, via the home State of the carrier, traffic moving between two other States.

Seventh Freedom - the right granted by one State to another State, of transporting traffic between the territory of the granting State and any third State with no requirement to include on such operation any point in the territory of the recipient State, i.e the service need not connect to or be an extension of any service to/from the home State of the carrier.

Eighth Freedom - the right of transporting cabotage traffic between two points in the territory of the granting State on a service which originates or terminates in the home country of the foreign carrier or outside the territory of the granting State (also known as "consecutive cabotage").

Ninth Freedom - the right of transporting cabotage traffic of the granting State on a service performed entirely within the territory of the granting State (also known as "stand alone" cabotage). *ONLY THE FIRST FIVE "FREEDOMS" HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED AS SUCH BY INTERNATIONAL TREATY

airlines to open routes to Europe from countries other than their home state. He says that today they prefer to create subsidiaries in neighbouring countries with minority stakes. He points to the example of AirAsia, which has created subsidiaries in different countries operating under the AirAsia franchise.

Lufthansa is more sanguine about the situation.A spokesman commented: “Actually most of the bilaterals between European member states and ASEAN countries are already quite liberal and do not exclude Low Cost Carrier operations at this stage.

For example,AirAsia announced last January the introduction of operations to Europe for Summer 2017 but has finally cancelled this plan. Possible reasons for the limited Low Cost Carriers’ longhaul operation could be the strong competition (e.g. of the Gulf carriers) or the higher costs and complexity of such operations rather than the limitation in traffic rights.”

Other experts have noted that Europe is not necessarily the prime target for low-cost longhaul operators, who are more likely initially to focus on local routes within the ASEAN region or towards China.

Timsit remarks that some ASEAN countries , such as Singapore or Thailand, are already quite open in terms of international air links, much more than countries such as Laos or Burma.

So the main advantage of an EU/ASEAN agreement for carriers from both regions would be the ability to open a larger number of direct routes to new markets.As the European Commission notes, while demand for air travel between the EU and ASEAN is growing fast, nearly all the growth is currently channeled through indirect routings.

This would give all airlines involved a weapon to compete more effectively against their common enemy — the Gulf carriers. ■ Jean-Baptiste Heguy

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DEFENCE

INTERVIEW

“RAFALE WITH METEOR WILL BEA GAME-CHANGER” GENERAL ERIC CHARPENTIER, COMMANDING OFFICER, FRENCH AIR FORCE FIGHTER BRIGADE, TALKED TO AIR&COSMOS INTERNATIONAL ABOUT THE AIR COMBAT SKILLS REQUIRED OF MULTIROLE COMBAT AIRCRAFT CREWS. THESE SKILLS ARE CONSTANTLY BEING HONED WITHIN THE FRENCH AIR FORCE, AS IT LOOKS AHEAD TO THE ARRIVAL OF THE METEOR MISSILE, WHICH PROMISES TO REVOLUTIONISE OPERATIONAL DOCTRINE.

Is air combat still a priority for the French Air Force in the current context of air operations focused primarily on air-to-ground missions?

It is true that, both in the Middle East and the Sahel region, pure air missions aimed at attrition of the enemy's potential, intelligencegathering or close air support for ground troops face no significant opposition.The liberty of action of our forces and the resulting reduction in the threat to combat crews — apart from the risk of ejection above enemy-held territory — stem from the permissive nature of both these theatres of operation. Air superiority remains an inevitable precondition for any military operation, whether on the ground or in the air. In these two theatres, it appears to have been sufficiently established.

On closer observation, however, one can see that this situation is by no means permanent. In the Syrian theatre, for example, confusion and lack of coordination between the two coalitions could lead to confrontations in the air. To my knowledge, on at least two occasions, U.S. and Russian aircraft have been on the brink of aerial confrontations that could have led to an exchange of fire.

The same applies to air policing missions in national airspace or in the airspace of a friendly country as part of a strategic framework or alliance. An air policing mission can quickly escalate into intimidation manoeuvres or air-to-air confrontation. In such a case, it is essential for the pilot to evaluate the situation with a cool head, to perform the appropriate manoeuvres to control the level of violence and, in an extreme case, to ensure legitimate self-defence.

Clearly, for the crew of a multi-role aircraft capable of air defence and ground attack, combat proficiency remains an essential skill.

Air combat is a basic discipline that should be part of the knowhow of any fighter pilot.

Furthermore, the spectrum of employment of air-launched weapons is not limited to the cases we have just mentioned.The establishment of air superiority is not a given and will indeed be less and less so, judging by the visible diversification of systems designed to contest

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air superiority and the deployment of associated capabilitiees (widespread presence of fourthgeneration fighters — equivalent to the Rafale — and the proliferation of robust, high-performance air defence systems which can be upgraded at low cost and whose performance can be enhanced through dual-use technology).

To challenge an enemy employing such anti-access strategies, depending on the geostrategic and political context, France must be able to take action on its own or within a coalition comprising partners capable of highintensity missions.

In particular, it is important to be able to undertake First Entry operations, involving penetration of enemy territory at a chosen time with accepted attrition in a highly contested environment.

However, first entry capability in a nonpermissive theatre cannot be imposed by decree.

If France wants to take part in a D-Day operation in such a high-intensity scenario, it must continue to cultivate these complex and rare competences.

The technology lead enjoyed by Western air forces will be gradually diminished with the dissemination of advanced technologies and the modernisation of military arsenals in highrisk regions of the globe. It is only by preserving first-rate competences and operational skills that we will be able to stay ahead of the game.

In this respect, our goals, quality standards and air combat training will be decisive for our armed forces.

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DEFENCE To conclude, I would say that it is not air combat that remains a priority for the French Air Force but the know-how behind it which we must possess in order to be able to respond to any situation in the air. Skill in air combat is not an end in itself but a competence that is essential to carry out the air campaign.

How does the French Air Force maintain crew air combat skills?

I have underlined the importance of possessing specific air combat-related know-how for fighter pilot training.

Whatever unit he is attached to and whatever the weapon system, the fighter pilot must have situational awareness and be in a position to decide whether it is preferable to break off the engagement, even at a distance, to ensure survival or to continue the mission or to seize the opportunity to prevail.

Consequently, the fundamentals relating to air combat and associated tactics are enshrined in the fighter pilot

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training programme, clearly to different degrees depending on the unit's operational mission (multi-role, air defence, attack).

Air-to-air skills are developed progressively on a daily basis by the fighter squadrons, which retain responsibility for the advancement of their crews through the different stages of operational qualification (from the crew member qualified for a combat mission to the flight leader able to lead a combat formation in a dense, contested environment).

Certain training requirements lie outside the scope of responsibility of the unit, in which case the major commands in charge of operational preparations take over, as set forth in fighter training master reference documents.

These documents define the technical and tactical skills to be acquired. These are constantly updated to take account of changing operational requirements, capability modifications and key data for the performance of training activities (allocated flight hours, available training systems, simulation possibilities...). Specific training requirements can be scheduled based on this framework for operational preparations.

Based on the characteristics of the missions required of the armed forces, the required operational capabilities need to be defined, from which we can calculate the skills to be retained or developed (e.g. Meteor). We then need to determine the volume of personnel to be trained and the recurrence of the individual preparation cycle for each pilot.

In order to constitute a training programme that is compatible with the full range of crew qualifications and to ensure that training is tailored to needs (quality, volume), three levels have been defined: basic, advanced and expert. Higher levels require more experience and, above all, involve activities of greater complexity and realism.

The basic level covers the operation of weapon systems in a

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DEFENCE simple environment with low levels of contestation. The advanced level covers training activities of moderate complexity.

It involves specific systems and techniques associated with joint force and/or coalition-based operations. Missions are more demanding and take place in a more “dangerous” environment that is less monolithic, more volatile.

The expert level includes complex exercises in a highly contested environment. This level of training requires a high degree of realism, as close as possible to actual combat conditions, to avoid any approximations or questionable assumptions in the lessons learned from the debriefing. Activities at this level are essentially related to First Entry operations.The high-profile participation of French Rafale crews in the top-level Atlantic Trident exercise in 2017, involving three air forces with First Entry capabilities yielded invaluable operational feedback, while showcasing the excellence of our skills.

Furthermore, as in other sectors, the French Air Force utilises innovative training concepts designed to extract maximum value from each mission. Professionalised arbitration systems are used to validate simulated firings and adjust the mission sequence in real time, to guarantee the quality of the debriefing and meet the objectives of combat preparation.

Augmented reality is used to densify the training scenarios and compensate for the nonavailability or absence of certain operational systems.

In future, this panoply will be complemented by distributed simulation between virtual systems or between ground-based and airborne systems. The CEAM military aviation test centre in Mont-de-Marsan, with its Air Warfare Centre, is leading this process which is moving forward every month.

To summarise, all of these activities are planned in detail, closely monitored — sometimes with the involvement of the major French Air Force command

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structures — in order to measure the performance of operational units and to guarantee that aircrews and support forces are combat-ready.

How is the French Air Force preparing for the arrival of the Meteor missile? Will this missile modify your combat capabilities?

The experts are not yet agreed on the size of the step change that will result from the entry into service of Meteor in the French forces. Personally, I am convinced that the arrival of this very long-range air-to-air missile will revolutionise the operational doctrine of the air forces using

Thanks to its extended standoff range and its manoeuvrability — which I will not elaborate on for understandable reasons — Meteor will be the weapon of choice for First Entry operations. The Rafale/Meteor combination will also offer completely new, or vastly expanded, opportunities, such as attacks on high-value, and highly protected, air targets (e.g. airborne command and control platforms or inflight refuelling aircraft.

The situation will also be different for forces using the weapon, including the French Navy and Air Force. Rafale pilots will have to integrate this new asset into a broader panoply of weapons, including Mica missiles

The French Air Force uses innovative training concepts to extract maxmum value from each mission.

this weapon, and French combat aviation in particular.

The performance offered by Rafale equipped with Meteor is such that the combination of the two will undoubtedly be a game changer, as the Mirage 2000-5 armed with Mica was in its time.

First of all, the situation will be completely different for the enemy, who will have to assume that any Rafale could potentially be equipped with the exceptional Meteor. For many years to come, the missile's extended range, lethality and enhanced connectivity will make it a real threat, while offering the well-trained pilot a decisive advantage within the battle zone.

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and air-to-air cannon. Depending on the scenario, it could be advantageous, necessary or even vital to switch between weapons. Restrictions could be imposed on the use of very longrange missiles. Depending on how permissive the theatre is, the rules of engagement could include positive identification of the target, while at the same time taking account of the growth in civil air traffic over the coming years.Also, it cannot be excluded that a fighter pilot might one day be confronted with electronic warfare countermeasures affecting over-thehorizon attacks.

The capacity to switch between combat modes and choose

the appropriate weapon from the available selection must be clearly thought out (as part of doctrine) and executed (as part of crew operational preparation).

Work on doctrinal aspects is already under way.The CEAM, which is charge of testing Rafale's F3R standard, will contribute all its competence and added value to the elaboration of doctrinal aspects and the determination of the initial outlines of combat tactics.

To get the most out of Meteor, each crew will have to regularly practice what has been learned, acquire competences and build familiarity. Simulation and augmented reality will play a key role here.

Daily training of combat units will serve to refine and disseminate tactics within the fighter community, whose squadrons are destined to benefit directly or indirectly from Meteor in their missions. Individual and joint tactics will be measured, as they are today, on the occasion of large-scale exercises organised by the major commands in charge of operational preparation of the armed forces.

The arrival of Meteor will probably necessitate modifications in our training programme, e.g. concerning the size of training ranges or the role of the intercept controller, whether on board an E-3F or on the ground.

Studies are also under way concerning this aspect.

Finally, we will need to reap the benefits of technical-operational know-how acquired

by Meteor-equipped units in other countries, by taking part in high-added-value international exercises, particularly those involving our potential partners in future military coalitions.The reputation of Meteor will be built progressively, and this will help to reinforce the credibility of French crews, such as that acquired through top-level trilateral exercises in the U.S.

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■ Interview by Emmanuel Huberdeau

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INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP IN AEROSPACE April 25–29, 2018 Berlin ExpoCenter Airport www.ila-berlin.com

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DEFENCE SPECIAL MISSION AIRCRAFT

SAAB G E LOBAL YE

TAKES TO THE

AIR

Saab haS reported the SucceSSful firSt flight of itS globaleye multi-miSSion aircraft on 14th march, three weekS after the aircraft — the firSt of three ordered by the united arab emirateS — waS officially unveiled in linköping

The new aircraft made its first flight on 14th March.

aab successfully completed the first flight of the GlobalEye Airborne EarlyWarning & Control aircraft on 14th March in Linköping, Sweden. The aircraft performed a 1 hour 46 minute test flight collecting extensive flighttest data using the on-board instrumentation suite.

The aircraft is the first of three ordered by the United Arab Emirates, where it is known as the Swing Role Surveillance System (SRSS).The original order was placed in November 2015, initially for two aircraft, with a third added in 2017.

Officially unveiled three weeks previously, GlobalEye combines air, maritime and ground surveillance in one swing-role so-

S

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lution. Current airborne early warning platforms like the Boeing E-3 AWACS or Hawkeye already offer this capability, but GlobalEye is the first platform equipped with additional dedicated sensors and a mission system designed for land and maritime operations.

For Saab, GlobalEye is the first programme not developed in response to a specific requirement of the Swedish armed forces but to meet the needs of an export customer. Negotiations with the UAE started in 2005. The customer was looking for a platform capable of performing the airborne early warning mission (including detection of ballistic missiles), while also carrying out surveillance of the country's extensive shoreline.

Saab had initially offered to supply two Saab 340-based AEW

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platforms as an intermediate solution pending development of a new platform tailored to the UAE requirement.

The key component of the GlobalEye system is the new extended range radar (Erieye ER).

Saab decided to upgrade the performance of the Erieye system, which has been operational since 1996 and is currently in service worldwide on several platforms (Saab 340, Saab 2000, Embraer 145).The range of the AESA Sband radar is claimed to be 70% greater than previous versions of Erieye — thanks to work performed across a network of local firms and universities.Work focused primarily on microwave technology, the use of gallium nitride and the performance of data-processing software.

The result, according to Saab, is a radar designed for today's

threats — stealth aircraft; small, slow platforms such as drones; and high-speed vehicles.According to Lars Tossman, Head of Airborne Surveillance Systems, Erieye ensures at least 20 minutes' warning on any type of radar track.The system is designed to detect at distance low-observable air targets in heavy clutter and jamming conditions and is able to detect and track maritime targets out to the elevated horizon and small jet-ski or RIB sized vessels “at very long distances”.

According to Saab, the package offers the highest performance of any AEW solution on the market at the present time.

The Global 6000 bizjet was chosen as the platform for the 1,000kg radar due to its ultralong-range capability — it can perform missions lasting up to 11 hours. Bombardier delivers

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SAAB

DEFENCE green aircraft, which are modified

by Saab, including airframe and wing reinforcements to accommodate additional equipment and to meet the requirements of military operations.

In addition to the Erieye radar, the aircraft features a belly-mounted Leonardo Seaspray synthetic aperture radar for the maritime surveillance role.A nose-mounted optronics system has been added for surveillance and identification of radar tracks, particularly landbased and maritime targets. For target classification, GlobalEye is fitted with the Thales BlueGate IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system, an electronic warfare suite (with wingtip-mounted antennas) and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) to identify ships. Protection systems include infrared sensors, radar warning receiver and chaff dispenser.

With multiple sensors on board, data fusion and information processing will have a key role to play. Saab explains that it has developed a multi-mission command and control system specifically for GlobalEye. The system includes five operator sta-

Saab also offering Swordfish MPA aab is offering the globaleye alongside another surveillance platform based on the bombardier global 6000 bizjet — the Swordfish maritime patrol aircraft. launched at the Singapore air Show in 2016, the Swordfish mpa is said to offer an effective anti-Submarine warfare capability, combined with the ability to carry out a wide selection of maritime iSr roles.

Swordfish’s four, nato-compatible hard points can carry up to six lightweight torpedoes for the aSw role. Swordfish can also be equipped with the Saab rbS 15ef anti-ship missile or a mix of missiles and torpedoes. the aircraft can also carry a load of four search-and-rescue pods. according to Saab, the aircraft’s aSw suite enables Swordfish to locate, track

S

and classify the most advanced, highthreat sub-surface targets for several hours, with a higher probability of detection.

Swordfish mpa on the global 6000 allows projection of maritime power from the air at significant distances from home base — the platform is able to loiter on station for more than eight hours at 1,000 nautical miles (1,852km) globaleye and Swordfish share around 70% commonality, including mission management system, electronic warfare and self-protection systems, aeSa radar, electro-optics, aiS and the majority of communications systems. the Swordfish solution, for which Saab has yet to find a customer, can also be integrated onto turboprop platforms.

tions, though onboard systems can also be operated from the ground.The UAE and Thailand already operate their existing Saab 340 AEW platforms with reduced crew on board; data processing is performed on the ground, thanks to the aircraft's communication systems, including satellite communications, datalink and a V/UHF system supplied by Thales.

Saab believes that, in future, artificial intelligence (AI), combined with advances in autonomous systems, will make it possible to further reduce crew numbers, while keeping a man in the loop.

The combination of all these features make GlobalEye a true force multiplier, according to Saab — the range of the radar and the aircraft's data fusion capabilities make it possible for an air force to optimise deployment of assets, e.g. by keeping fighters on alert on the ground rather than scrambling aircraft for costly air patrols, thanks to the system's early warning capability.

Saab has ambitious targets for the special-mission aircraft market.

Eight countries (Sweden, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan,Thailand, the UAE and one unnamed customer) already operate the company's AEW systems, mounted on Saab and Embraer platforms.

With GlobalEye, Saab is targeting Asia and Latin America, but also Europe, starting with Sweden.

The Swedish Air Force already operates eight Saab 340 AEW platforms, and Saab is hopeful of replacing this fleet with GlobalEye. NATO is also seen as a potential customer — the Alliance is currently looking at potential options to replace its AWACS fleet. Canada is another potential customer, along with E-3 operators worldwide looking for replacement aircraft.The latter include France and the UK, both of whom are expected to launch studies in the near future to evaluate AWACS replacement solutions.

■ Emmanuel Huberdeau

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DEFENCE

Air-to-air refuelling has been identified by the European Defence Agency as one of four Key Capability Programmes.

EUROPEAN DEFENCE

FUNDING

PLANS

COME INTO FOCUS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HAS OFFICIALLY APPROVED THE FIRST EU PROGRAMME DEDICATED TO THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY — THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME — A VITAL FIRST STEP TOWARDS THE CREATION OF THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE FUND.

lans to set up a formal mechanism to supply EU funding for European defence programmes took a further step forward on 21st February, when the European Parliament officially approved the first EU programme dedicated to the defence industry, with a view to bolstering the EU's strategic autonomy in defence.

The European Defence Industrial Development Programme, as it is known, will allow the EU to inject funding directly into industrial projects.The programme has a budget of €500m for 20192020 to support development of innovative defence products and

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technologies.This European funding complements the €2bn that member states are expected to provide.

The draft mandate for starting talks with EU Ministers on the final shape of the programme was due to be confirmed by Parliament as a whole in March. Once approved by the European Commission and the European Council, it is hoped that the programme could officially come into effect on 1st January 2019.

The hope is that these joint projects will contribute to boosting the credibility of European industry and reinforcing the strategic autonomy of member states by reducing dependence on external sources. If successful, this strategy could generate significant economic benefits for the euro zone while reducing imports of defence equipment from outside the EU. According to the text approved by MEPs, actions funded by the programme must be carried out by at least three public or private companies established in at least three different EU member states, and participating companies and their subcontractors must not be managed by non-EU bodies.

PROGRAMME FOCUS.

The programme focuses on funding for the development phase (between research and production) of new and upgraded defence products and technologies in the EU, from design to certification.

Excluded products include weapons of mass destruction, banned weapons and munitions, incendiary weapons and those which are fully autonomous and can strike without meaningful human control. Financial assistance would cover all costs for

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all projects, apart from prototypes, where a cap of 20% is set. Projects undertaken under the Permanent Structured Cooperation, the framework for EU cooperation in defence, can get a bonus of additional 10% co-funding.

In the longer term, starting in 2021, the European Commission hopes to set up the European Defence Fund, comprising two “windows”.The Research window is intended to fund collaborative research in innovative defence technologies. The Capability window is for the cooperative acquisition of defence capabilities.The Defence Fund could provide up to €500m per year for research, along with €1bn in funding related to acquisition of defence capabilities.

The Defence Fund is intended to complement a total of €4bn contributed by member states out of their own pockets.

The first steps towards the European Defence Fund were taken when the Preparatory Action on Defence Research was launched in April 2017, with a total expected budget of €90m over three years — €25m in 2017, €40m in 2018 and €25m in 2019.

Management of the Preparatory Action has been delegated to the European Defence Agency.

For the European Commission, the European Defence Fund will be “the engine powering the development of a European Security and Defence Union”.

PESCO.

The moves to firm up European defence funding mechanisms go hand in hand with recent decisions to push ahead with the creation of the new European defence and security cooperation network known as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). The purpose of PESCO, which was first set out in the Lisbon Treaty, is to develop synergies and promote cooperative programmes in preference to national ones, in order to avoid dispersal of funds and duplication of efforts and to im-

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DEFENCE

European Black Blade helicopter training exercise.

prove interoperability among European forces.

PESCO allows EU member states who wish to do so to jointly develop defence capabilities, invest in shared projects, or enhance the operational readiness and contribution of their armed forces.

The European Council adopted a roadmap for the implementation of PESCO on 6th March.

The roadmap provides strategic direction and guidance, including a calendar for the review and assessment process of the national implementation plans which detail how participating member states plan to fulfil the more binding commitments they have made to one another.

The Council also adopted a decision formally establishing the initial list of 17 collaborative projects, which were agreed politically in December 2017.The projects cover areas such as training, capability development and operational readiness in the field of defence.

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THEY INCLUDE. la

network of logistic Hubs in Europe and support to Operations with a view to improving strategic logistic support and force projection in EU Missions and Operations. It aims at establishing cross-border solutions for more efficient, seamless military transport/logistics and connection of existing European initiatives under one logistic umbrella. l a military transport project, to support Member States' commitment to simplify and standardise cross-border military transport procedures. It aims to enhance the speed of movement of military forces across Europe. l a project on Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance, which will integrate land-based surveillance systems, maritime and air platforms in order to distribute real-time information to Member States, so as to provide timely and effective response in international waters. The main objective of the pro-

gramme is to enhance the Maritime Surveillance, Situational Awareness and potential Response Effectiveness of the EU. l a project to improve the command and control systems of EU missions and operations at the strategic level.This project aims to enhance the military decision-making process, improve the planning and conduct of missions, and the coordination of EU forces. Integration of information systems would include intelligence, surveillance, command and control, and logistics systems On 7th December, Portugal and Ireland announced their decision to join PESCO, taking the total number of contributing members up to 25 — Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

■ Justine Boquet

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DEFENCE

INDIA

NEW DELHI OUTLINES FIGHTER, RPA REQUIREMENTS

India has ordered 36 Rafales to date.

DASSAULT AVIATION

THE INDIAN AIR FORCE HAS ISSUED A NEW RFI FOR 110 FIGHTER AIRCRAFT, WHILE THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE HAS UNVEILED A ROADMAP THAT INCLUDES PLANS FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT (RPA) FOR THE ARMY AND NAVY.

n the latest chapter in India's long-running saga to modernise its fighter fleet, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for 110 single- or twinengine combat aircraft. The new document clarifies the situation for the next phase of the fighter acquisition process, following the contract to acquire 36 Rafales from Dassault Aviation, signed in September 2016.

The IAF had made it clear in the wake of the Rafale decision, that it still needed at least 200 more fighters.The initial Medium MultiRole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) requirement was for 126 aircraft.

Dassault has long indicated that it is hopeful of signing follow-on orders for Rafale in India, both from the Air Force and the Navy.

Subsequent to the signature of the Rafale contract, India's priority was widely viewed to be the acquisition of a batch of around 200 single-engine fighters, with Saab's Gripen E and a Block 70 version

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of the Lockheed Martin F-16 seen as the main contenders.

Both companies had identified strategic partners — Adani Group and Tata, respectively — with a view to meeting requirements for technology transfer and local production (“Make in India”).

In spite of efforts by Saab and Lockeed Martin to vaunt the merits of their respective offerings, however, this programme was never officially launched and now appears to have been superseded by the new RFI.The IAF says its proposal covers approximately 110 aircraft, around 75% single-seat and the rest twin-seat.A maximum of 15% of these aircraft are to be supplied in flyaway state, with the remainder to be produced in India by a Strategic Partner / Indian Production Agency (SP/IPA).

LOCAL PRODUCTION.

The local production target is ambitious. It will be recalled that the MMRCA programme, as initially planned, called for the majority of the aircraft to be produced in India. In the case of the Rafale, this requirement was subsequently dropped in view of the qualifications and know-how of local industry. Rafale offsets and

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DEFENCE Franco-Indian joint ventures such as Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd. will go some way to addressing this situation in the near term.

The new RFI calls for day/night-capable all-weather multi-role combat aircraft. Primary missions are listed as air superiority, air defence, air-tosurface operations, reconnaissance, maritime, EW missions, buddy refuelling, etc.

Transfer of technology (ToT) issues will play a key role in the selection process. Companies are required to specify the scope, depth and range of ToT and key technologies which would be shared with the SP/IPA in India.

Manufacturers are also asked to indicate the level of indigenisation in content and design, as a percentage, for all components.

Respondents are also required to provide a strategy which describes how the transferred capabilities can be further developed and used for other existing and future aircraft programmes in India.

Information is also to include a performance-based logistics (PBL) package for an aircraft availability of 75% with an ave-

rage flying effort of 150 hours per aircraft per year for a period of 10 years.

The tentative programme schedule sees deliveries of the initial batch of flyaway aircraft starting 36 months or sooner after contract signature (T0 + 36 months) and completed within two years (T0 + 60 months). Aircraft produced by the SP/IPA are expected to begin within five years of contract signature and to be completed by T0 + 12 years.

REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT.

In a separate development, the Indian Ministry of Defence has published the 2018 edition of its Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap (TCPR 2018), giving an overview of plans to induce equipment into the Indian Armed Forces through the end of the next decade. Plans include acquisition of several hundred remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).

The document — which underlines the importance of the government's thrust towards “Make in India” — is intended to drive the technology development process and guide industry in planning or initiating development programmes, partnerships and production arrangements.

It is the first edition of Mission Quantity the TCPR since 2013. It Army/Navy takes account of wide-ranMALE 100-150 ging feedback from industry and other organisations.

Combat >30 Accordingly, details of quantities, life cycles, broad Army parameters and preferred technologies have been inStealth 55-70 cluded where possible.

Short-range 50 RPA plans include 100Hybrid 30 150 medium-altitude longendurance (MALE) vehicles for the Indian Army Navy and Navy. Missions comShip-borne 150 prise search and reconnaisVTOL 25-30 sance, artillery adjustment, HALE >20 urban security, combat SAR, coastal and maritime Submarine-launched 10 patrol, disaster control and

RPA projects in TPCR 18

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facilities protection.The altitude ceiling is given as around 30,000ft or more, with an endurance of more than 24 hours with SAR and EO/IR payloads.

Indicated maximum range is more than 250km in line of sight (LOS) mode and maximum possible with satcom link.The vehicle should be capable of carrying the following detachable payloads: maritime radar, electronic support measures (ESM), electronic intelligence (ELINT), electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), communications intelligence (COMINT), electro optic/infrared (EO/IR) system and satcom link.

There is also a joint Army/Navy requirement for more than 30 combat RPAs, described as MALE vehicles capable of flying at 30,000ft with extended range (satcom) and more than 24 hours' endurance.

This system should be designed to engage static and mobile targets on land and at sea (surface and underwater) from a minimum tand-off range of 20km.

The roadmap also calls for over 200 RPAs for the Indian Navy.These include more than 20 high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) vehicles, 25-30 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft and more than 50 shipborne systems (each system comprising three RPAs). Navy RPAs should be capable of carrying the following detachable payloads: maritime radar, ESM, COMINT, EO/IR and satcom link.

The roadmap also includes a requirement for 10 submarinelaunched RPAs. Lockheed Martin's canister-launched Outrider concept is an example of such a system.

Army programmes include 50 short-range RPAs with a range of 200km (LOS), 10 hours' endurance, an operating ceiling of 20,000ft and the ability to carry multiple payloads, including day/night EO, SAR, ESM and ELINT. The roadmap also includes a planned requirement for 30 hybrid RPAs, with the same range

and operating ceiling as the short-range RPAs, capable of fixed-wing and rotary-wing flight to ensure rapid transition to and from the target area, coupled with a hover capability in the target area.The system should offer multiple modes for vehicle launch and recovery.

TCPR 2018 also includes an Army need for 55-70 stealth RPAs, described as MALE/ HALE vehicles with a range up to 1,500km and an operating ceiling of 50,000-60,000ft. In addition to its stealth characteristics to avoid detection by enemy radar, this vehicle should have the capability to incorporate special payloads, including communication interception equipment, jamming weapons and NBC detection.

SPECIAL OPTICAL PAYLOADS.

The roadmap also features an Army requirement for more than 20 special optical payloads, comprising multiple optical cameras in a single payload with the capability to handle each camera independently and covering a swath of around 100km.

Finally, the roadmap also lays out requirements for an Anti RPA Defence System using an inhibitor to disrupt the radio signals controlling the target vehicle. More than 70 systems are required for the Army and Air Force.The TCPR indicates that the system should be designed to disrupt and neutralise RPAs engaged in hostile airborne surveillance or any other activities.

It should combine electronicscanning radar target detection, electro-optical (EO) tracking/ classification and directional RF inhibition capability.

The system, which should be able to remotely detect all RPAs from micro to MALE, will be required to operate in military as well other RF Bands. Other requirements include a detection range >40km, EOTS range >12km and RF inhibition range >7km.

■ Justine Boquet

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INDUSTRY

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS

PRODUCTION REVOLUTION

In parallel wIth flIght testIng of the h160, aIrbus helIcopters Is focusIng on settIng up new productIon facIlItIes In MarIgnance, france and donauwörth, gerMany wIth the goal of transforMIng the asseMbly process.

FOR THE H160

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS

O. CONSTANT

Socomore’s Elven facility.

The first pre-production H160 is already in position on the assembly line.

irbus Helicopters' H160 medium turbine twin is not just a collection of technological innovations.

The company is also taking advantage of the new model to rethink its production setup, with a new industrial architecture and widespread use of robots and digital solutions to produce the new machines as efficiently and rapidly as possible. Thanks to the new system, customers will be able to switch the version they wish to receive until 24

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weeks before delivery.The goal is to reduce build time to 44 working days, compared with 22 weeks for the H160's predecessor, the Dauphin.

The H160 is the first civil helicopter equipped with a full composite fuselage, the advantages of which include a lighter, fuel-saving airframe, performance optimisation and simplified maintenance.

To achieve this, the company has redefined the industrial architecture — the distribution of production work between its

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different sites. The helicopter has been divided into three Major Component Assemblies (MCAs), each produced at a different facility. In this Airbus-type system, the goal is for each MCA to arrive at the final assembly line in Marignane fully tested and configured. The tail boom will be built in Albacete, Spain; the centre fuselage, in Donauwörth, Germany; and the avionics bay and main dynamic assemblies, in Marignane, France.

The assembly line will feature seven work stations, some of

which are already in place in Marignane. Assembly starts at Station 1 with installation of wiring harnesses in the centre fuselage, followed by air conditioning and the cockpit avionics bay (Station 2), the main dynamic assembly and rear fuselage (Station 3), engines, cowling and landing gear (Station 4), ground tests and final quality check (Station 5) and development of special configurations (Stations 6 and 7).

The supplier is Latécoère Services, since acquired by ADF

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INDUSTRY and now renamed Latésys.The centre fuselage of the first preproduction H160, designated PS2, is already in position at work station 2. It is awaiting installation of its air conditioning system and avionics bay.A semiautomatic robotic arm is used to manoeuvre the latter into position in the cockpit.

Once the installation work has been validated by the Quality Assurance teams, an automatic guided vehicle moves the centre fuselage to station 3, where a semi-automatic robotic system positions and installs the tail boom.Another semi-automatic system is used to install the main dynamic assembly and the engines.The completed fuelage/tail boom assembly is then transferred to the next station.

Workers equipped with tablets connected to the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to monitor progress and manage activities.

The entire system has been designed to achieve maximum efficiency while facilitating assembly tasks by eliminating the need to lift heavy loads and to work in contorted positions — the work platform can raise the entire fuselage if necessary.Another advantage of the platform is that it offers a second work level, which is much appreciated when it comes to installing the dynamic assemblies and engines (see infographic on following pages).

Airbus Helicopters is taking a cautious approach in the early stages of assembly. A total of 10 pre-production machines will be assembled to validate the process — verification of geometrical stability at interfaces, time spent at each station, reduction of quality rejection rates. The validation process will also cover tooling, documentation and operator training.

The objective is to achieve a good level of industrial maturity of the production process before the initial production ramp-up.

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GUIDED VEHICLE.

Babcock to become H160 launch customer abcock is set to become the global launch customer for airbus helicopters' h160 after signing a five-year framework agreement for the purchase of an unspecified number of helicopters. the delivery schedule has yet to be announced. the fleet is destined for eMs and other critical services missions starting in europe and to be deployed progressively across babcock’s bases worldwide.the agreement was signed at haI heli-expo 2018. babcock’s aviation business provides mission critical services, ranging from aerial emergency medical services, aerial fire-

B

Airbus Helicopters' H160 programme director Bernard Fujarski says the Marignane assembly line will be capable of producing 30 H160s per year.

The dedicated building has ample space for a second assembly line and even a third, if the French government confirms its decision to order the H160 to meet the French requirement for a joint force light helicopter (Hélicoptère Interarmées Léger, HIL).

DONAUWÖRTH.

In Donauwörth, the teams working on assembly of the centre

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fighting, search and rescue, surveillance operations, and oil and gas transportation, in 14 countries. also at heli-expo, airbus signed the first h160 order with a north american customer. the undisclosed operator — described as a major us business entity with extensive experience in corporate aviation — has ordered four machines in airbus corporate helicopters (ach) configuration. one aircraft will be delivered in stylence by ach configuration, the in-house, private and business design product line; with the remaining three aircraft to be delivered in ach exclusive configuration.

fuselage have less floor space, but work flow organisation is rigorous. Under the direction of Dirk Petry, director airframe & vehicle integration, work is organised around four stations, based on five working days at each station. Assembly work at Station A involves spars, the centre f'rame, floors and lower shells. Station B is dedicated to installation of the main gear box deck, engine deck, engine frame, frames 3,4,6,7,8 and the upper deck side beam.

Station C is dedicated to attachment of the upper fuselage

splice, bottom and front fuselage and the upper shell. Station D focuses on installation of the side and upper shells, radome, door supports and boarding steps.

Installation of electrical harnesses and fuel system components takes place in parallel.

On leaving station D, following quality inspections, the MCA is ready for painting and shipment to Marignane.

The H160, with three prototypes now in flight testing, is currently preparing certification and entry into service in 2019.

■ Yann Cochennec

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H160 aSSEmblY linE

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SPACE

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

COLUMBUS CELEBRATES

YEARS 10 IN ORBIT

EuropE has cElEbratEd thE first 10 yEars in orbit of thE columbus laboratory modulE. thE modulE was dockEd with thE intErnational spacE station (iss) in fEbruary 2008, following 11 yEars of dEvElopmEnt work. sincE thEn, it has sErvEd to pErform almost 1,800 sciEntific ExpErimEnts.

The Columbus module offers a pressurized volume of 78.5m3. he Columbus module is the major contribution of the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS) programme. It is one of three ISS elements exclusively dedicated to science experiments under microgravity conditions, alongside the U.S. Destiny laboratory (which entered service in February 2001) and Japan's Kibo laboratory (installed between March 2008 and July 2009) — scheduled to be joined by Russia's Nauka laboratory by the end of this year.

Construction of the European laboratory was approved by the ESA ministerial council meeting in Rome in 1985 and confirmed by the ministerial council meeting in The Hague in November 1987.After several programme changes, Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA, which would later become EADS Astrium Space Transportation, then Airbus Defence and Space) was designated prime contractor in March 1996, at the head of a

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consortium of 41 companies from 14 European countries, called Euro-Columbus.The project was a follow-on to the Spacelab programme, Europe's contribution to NASA's SpaceTransportation System (STS), approved in 1973.

The Spacelab programme consisted of two 75m3 modular laboratories designed to fit inside the Shuttle orbiter's payload bay — the second of which was fully financed

by NASA. Built under the leadership of VFW-Fokker/Erno (which would later become DASA), based on a mechanical structure supplied by Aeritalia (the former name of Alenia Aerospazio, now Thales Alenia Space), they flew 16 missions between November 1983 and April 1998.

The internal structure of Columbus was also produced by Alenia Aerospace at its Turin plant in northern Italy (like the U.S. Harmony and Tranquility modules), with final assembly at Airbus facilities in Bremen, Germany.Work was temporarily suspended following the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia on 1st February 1983. Delivery to Kennedy Space Center

finally occurred in June 2006. The module was finally launched on Space Shuttle Atlantis (mission STS 122) on 7th February 2008 after a delay of two months due to problems with main fuel tank pressure sensors.

ESA astronauts Léopold Eyharts from France — on his second spaceflight, following a mission to the Russian Mir station 10 years previously — and Hans Schlegel from Germany were crewmembers on the Columbus assembly and commissioning mission.

They joined five NASA colleagues on Shuttle flight STS-122.

The 13-day STS-122 mission, also known as the 1E assembly mission, was to attach the European laboratory to the ISS using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, then activate and begin commissioning of the laboratory.This included the attachment of European external experiment facilities and additional assembly/maintenance tasks.

After the undocking of STS-122, Léopold Eyharts remained on the Station for nearly 7 weeks as a member of Expedition 16 along-

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duration flights (see table).

This summer, Germany's Alexander Gerst will become the second European astronaut — six months after Paolo Nespoli — to work twice on Columbus (Horizons mission).

“CO-OWNERS”.

In this way, to borrow the expression of Jean-Jacques Dourdain, ESA director general from 2003 to 2015, the 17 member countries of ESA have progressed from being “simple ISS partners” to being “co-owners” alongside the U.S., Russia, Canada and Japan, enjoying 8% of ISS occupancy, in line with their investment.

Permanently docked with the ISS, Columbus is a cylindrical module of aluminium construction measuring 6.8m in length and 4.5m in diameter and with a mass without payload of 10.3t. It is shorter and wider than Destiny

AIRBUS

side U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson (who flew with Thomas Pesquet in 2016/17) andYuri Malenchenko from Russia.The mission was performed at a hectic pace, after launch delays reduced the mission duration from 85 days to 48.

Eyharts continued Columbus commissioning activities, activating the internal experiment facilities as well as undertaking European scientific, public relations and educational activities and additional activities in his role as ISS Flight Engineer 2. Eyharts returned to Earth with Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-123 mission, on 27 March 2008 after nearly 49 days in space.

Eyharts and Schlegel were followed by a total of 11 other ESA astronauts (one each from Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain and France, and four from Italy) on 12 missions, including nine long-

“Columbus is a shining example of European research technology and a key contribution of the ESA member states to the success story of the International Space Station.”

Nicolas Chamussy, Executive Vice President Space Systems, Airbus Defence and Space

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SPACE (8.5m x 4.3m) and Kibo (11.2m x 4.4m). It offers a pressurised volume of 78.5m3 (vs. 106m3 for Destiny and 70m3 for Kibo), including 23m3 of payload.

It is designed to accommodate three operators and up to 16 “payload racks” (interchangeable, telephone booth-sized modules), 10 of which contain equipment used to conduct experiments, while three are used for storage and a further three are dedicated to power and water supply and air conditioning equipment.

Video and data links send results back to researchers on Earth.

The experiment racks are usually used for multidisciplinary research projects in areas such as human physiology and life science, space medicine, material sciences, liquid and solid state physics and plasma research.

There is also a platform or ‘balcony’ attached to the outside of the laboratory module, which also hosts equipment and experiments, such as for Earth observation, tests of space techno-

NanoRacks teams with Thales Alenia Space anoracks announced in february that thales alenia space would become a partner in its commercial airlock programme. nanoracks signed a space act agreement with nasa in 2016 to install the first-ever private airlock module on the international space station. thales alenia space will produce and test the critical pressure shell for nanoracks’ airlock module, which is targeting to be launched to the iss in late 2019, and will be used to deploy commercial and government payloads. thales alenia space will also manufacture various secondary structures, including the micrometeoroid orbital debris (mmod) shields with multi-layer isolation (mli) panels, the power and video grapple fixture support structure and other structural components. thales alenia space will produce and test the pressure shell this year, then ship it to nanoracks’ integration facility in houston, texas in 2019. nanoracks will integrate the avionics and wiring to complete the airlock assembly.

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logy and research on cosmic radiation. External facilities include the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) and Solar, a platform to study solarrelated phenomena.

Europe has supplied four racks, along with a European Transport Carrier (ETC).The racks operate largely automatically or by remote control from Earth. Eight special

Airbus still involved in ISS irbus has been carrying out industrial operating activities for the European iss components for nearly 10 years on behalf of Esa. these services include maintenance, spare-parts procurement and the logistics required for the European elements of the space station, which are also needed to keep the columbus space laboratory operating. these activities also include developments to improve the functionality of the laboratory, as well as supporting scientists in developing new experiment racks. the contract also covers data transfers, the communications systems and the maintenance of ground stations. the company recently delivered the acls (advanced closed loop system), an advanced life support system to purify air and produce oxygen for the iss. the system also produces water, more or less as a by‑product of the technology. acls is set to be used as a technology demonstrator on the iss from summer 2018. the system extracts a portion of the carbon dioxide in the cabin atmosphere and, using hydrogen obtained from splitting water molecules, converts it to methane and water in what is known as the sabatier process. oxygen is then produced from this water using electrolysis. this increases overall system efficiency and reduces the need for supplies from Earth.

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www.aircosmosinternational.com

User Support Operations Centres (USOCs) in Europe permit scientists to monitor their experiments directly or intervene interactively by teleoperation. Each is specialised in a specific research area and based in a different ESA member state. These USOCs form the link between the experiment racks in space and scientists and engineers on the ground.

High-speed networks ensure rapid communication.All USOCs are linked with international mission centres in the USA, Russia and Japan via a European ISS network on the ground.

The European racks are: ● Biolab, used for biological experiments on micro-organisms, cells, tissue cultures, small plants and small invertebrates — managed by Germany's DLR/ Microgravity User Support Centre (MUSC) centre in Cologne; ● European Drawer Rack (EDR), a flexible experiment carrier for a large variety of scientific disciplines — managed by the Dutch Erasmus centre in Noordwijk and the Belgian BUSOC centre in Uccle; ● European Physiology Module (EPM), to investigate the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body (like the FrancoGerman Cardiolab experiment to study the cardiovascular system) — managed by the CNES Cadmos centre in Toulouse; ● Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL)

to study the dynamics of fluids in the absence of gravity, managed

by Italy's Microgravity Advanced Research and Support (MARS) centre in Naples.

The ESA experiment racks were developed and built primarily by the German space industry, in most cases under the leadership of the Airbus Defence and Space team in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Before new experiments are launched, USOCs develop procedures to optimise and calibrate payloads and experiments, and support astronaut training. The centres interact with the scientists by providing them with data on the experiments, receiving and processing requests for scheduling experiments and providing information and instructions for the experiments being run.

Although each centre has a different role depending on the technical and operational responsibilities assigned to them, all USOCs act as information centres for their users.They identify potential clients and familiarise them with the possibilities that the ISS provides for scientific and commercial use.

Over the past 10 years almost 1,800 experiments have been conducted on board Columbus.

The total cost of development and operation is €880m, 51% of which was financed by Germany.

AIR&COSMOS

■ Pierre-François Mouriaux

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20 TH APRIL 2018

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