2003 - Paris Air Show Dateline June 2003 - Chino reported... " UAV's are coming big time -- US, Israel, others pushing them -- not sure if my pic is Global Hawk or Predator. I also saw a lot of cool UAV stuff (Israel, US), helicopter aerobatics (Eurocopter Tigre). There were no US military air displays, but plenty of US companies showing their wares on the ground, including F-16 and JSF and a F-35 mockup. Yes, a mockup of the F-35 is about all there is at the moment - which hasn't stopped the Australian Government commiting to buying it! Somewhat strange to see colorful displays filled with attractive people showing off cluster bombs and SAMs ! But it is a business too. Selling weapons, aircraft, and space = big business!		Homeland and missile defense big at Israel exhibits and others (security for the show fairly tight but I expected more - no x-rays of bags for example). The French make pretty jets -- the Concorde and Rafale are two of the sexiest aircraft designs ever (IMHO). It is hard to differentiate Rafale, Gripen, and Eurofighter apart in flight, even at fairly low altitude (delta/canard config). I wish some Russians had been there (Su's and MiG's). Eurofighter Typhoon is a cool jet, inside and out!
The contents of this website are copyright © 1998 - 2007 by MiGMan