I had the chance to to attend the Paris Airshow last weekend, and thought I'd share my thoughts in case anyone is interested in the opinions of an amateur. The crowds were huge and the lines were long so I only got to go on board a couple of aircraft (the C-2 and the NH90). Viewing the static displays up close was still a cool experience though, and some of the aerial displays were also very impressive. Being a kiwi I can't help but view the platforms in a NZ context so other nationalities will have to excuse the associated commentary.
The H160M: A great looking platform, and it was certainly larger than I expected for a "light" helicopter. It is only a mock-up at this stage but it is looking like a promising program, with airforce, army, and naval variants planned. I believe the army version is scheduled for introduction first in 2026, with the naval platform following two years later so this probably puts it out of the running for NZ's Seasprite replacement.
The A400M: Great aerial display, and a very popular platform with the shows attendees. I believe a new work program was agreed to take it through to its full contracted capabilities so hopefully its problems are behind it. I can't help but think this would have been a great asset to NZ, but we will have to wait until the strategic airlift replacement to see if we get something that can shift the NH90's around.
The C-2: Another nice looking platform, with very friendly Japanese defence force staff to guide the crowds through. Very spacious hold lateral and vertical dimensions, though lengthwise it was a lot shorter than I expected. My personal view is that the A400M is the more flexible platform in this category but with its turbofans the C-2 is more efficient at high altitudes and has greater range. It will be interesting to see how they go in securing export orders.
The NH90: I got a guided tour around one of these from a nice Italian chap from NHI. A very impressive platform with redundancy in pretty much everything (engine, flight controls, etc.) and tons of clever design features throughout (e.g. the winch operator has a little joystick to fine-tune the helicopters position when dropping the rope). The hold is quite spacious (though there's not a lot of head room) and they advertise it as being able to carry 20 troops. It would be a very tight fit in there with the centreline seats installed though so 12 is a more realistic number (i.e. just the side seats). The tail wing provides down-force rather than lift if anyone was wondering, and the aerial display was also quite impressive.
The Rafale: The Rafale's aerial display was probably the highlight of the show for me, and is worth looking up on
youtube for those interested. It is clearly a very agile platform with an abundance of power at its disposal. I think the Typhoon the F-22 are probably the only platforms that can beat it in terms of raw agility.
The JF-17: It was cool to see Pakistan's new fighter on display, and its aerial display was also great to watch. I couldn't help compare it to the Rafale's display however, and it is clearly inferior to that platform in terms of power and agility (though some of this may be down to the experience level of the display pilot).
Attached are some photos from the show:
