Defence dominates the skies as drones take off at the Paris Air Show
“The Choice of Sovereignty”, “Protecting Democracy” and “Ready for the Unknown”. Not a promotional campaign for the US Navy Seals but rather the slogans that were emblazoned on chalets and billboards belonging respectively to Dassault Aviation, Helsing and Airbus at this week’s Paris Air Show. Though only about a third of the 2,400 brands exhibiting this year are from the defence sector, the atmosphere at the show is decidedly militaristic. The fair has been on a hawkish turn since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the recent fraying of security ties between the US and Europe has kicked things up another notch. For anyone in attendance who still doubted that times had well and truly changed for Europe’s defence industry, the tarmac at Le Bourget offered an unequivocal reality check: a giant Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft, all of Thales’s new radar systems (including the Ground Fire 300 that can track up to 1,000 targets simultaneously) and a veritable arsenal of missiles.
Despite the presence of these big hitters, drones were the star of the show. Scores of unmanned aircraft were on display, capable of everything from medical deliveries to long-range airstrikes on the battlefield. In an era when, as one high-ranking European military officer told me, “a $100 toy can destroy a $100m plane,” the relationship between warfare and aviation is being reimagined. In the future, expect to see drone swarms deployed around the next generation of fighter jets, ready to serve as projectiles or sacrificial shields.
This is not to say that defence fully eclipsed commercial aviation at the Paris show. With Boeing focused on managing the fallout from the crash of a 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad, long-time rival Airbus came out swinging, with new deals worth $10bn (€8.6bn) to sell 132 planes to Saudi Arabia, as well as Polish and Japanese operators. The Saudi deals, including 25 A350-1000s for Riyadh Air (an airline that has yet to fly), are emblematic of a bullish commercial-flight industry that still expects to enjoy at least 4 per cent growth each year for the foreseeable future – especially in ambitious markets looking for an edge on their regional rivals.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar to what has happened in the fashion industry took place in the commercial-aviation space,” one industry insider told me at the Aéroports de Paris chalet. “The market could become dominated by low-cost airlines on one side and premium players on the other, with not much wriggle room in the middle.”
Bouvier is Monocle’s Paris bureau chief. For some longer-haul reading, fly over to our take on how Romania’s aviation gamble could reshape the nation’s global standing and the hop-on, hop-off jet service disrupting short-haul flights, via the way Andalusia is providing a clear runway to major players in the aerospace industry.
