Most of the companies that intended to take part therefore had to adjust their plans to take this planetary force majeure into account.
In total, about 2500 companies from 47 countries of the world present the most diverse “flying” equipment in the pavilions of the show with an area of more than 45 thousand square meters and at the Le Bourget airfield. For civilian and military purposes. It should be noted that this time there were more of the latter than in previous years.
The French deployed the full range of their 4th generation Rafale fighter-bombers. By the way, demonstration flights at this prestigious salon began with them. But the promising FCAS / SCAF sixth-generation aircraft complex, on which Dassault and Airbus are working with the Germans and Spaniards, is presented only in the form of a full-scale layout, which is understandable. After all, all the contradictions between the partners have not yet been fully resolved, striving, as local media have repeatedly reported, to “pull the cover” on themselves, seeking certain concessions and privileges .
Nevertheless, the French are very determined to carry out the project of “the combat aircraft of the future”, for which, as announced by President Emmanuel Macron, another European country, Belgium, participated in the work. In any case, under the most favorable conditions, according to experts, the FCAS / SCAF complexes will not be in combat service until the middle of the next decade.
But with drones which, for obvious reasons, now have a special place at Le Bourget, it’s quite the opposite. There are many such projects.
So, the French company Turgis & Gaillard presented the MALE class Aarok combat drone (“medium altitude with a long flight time”), which is a direct competitor to the American MQ-9 Reaper. This massive aircraft (weight 5.5 tons) is capable of barrages in the air for 24 hours and carries both reconnaissance equipment and various weapon systems weighing up to one and a half tons. According to the creators of Aarok, production can start as early as the end of next year, and deliveries can begin after that. The estimated cost, depending on the configuration, will be 5-10 million euros, which is an order of magnitude cheaper than the American “reaper” (in the usual version, the MQ-9 Reaper “pulls” 30 million dollars, and the one who got acquainted with the depths of the Black Sea last March, given the stuffing with sophisticated equipment, all 65 million).
A similar drone – Eurodrone – was exhibited at the show by three airlines at once – Dassault, Airbus and Leonardo. Its length is 16 meters and its wingspan is 30. It is capable of reaching speeds of up to 500 km/h and is in flight from 18 to 40 hours. True, one should not count on the fact that this device will be on the market in the near future. The first copy, according to the manufacturers, can only be assembled by the end of 2026 and “will not go on sale” until 2028.
Another drone is The Patroller. Development of the French company Safran (famous for its aircraft engines). This “patrol boat” will be more modest (length 8.5 meters, payload 210 kilograms) and is intended for reconnaissance and other missions in tactical format. The radius of application is 180 kilometers. A feature is a digital system for combat use in conjunction with the new French Jaguar and Griffon infantry fighting vehicles.
Another particularity of Le Bourget 2023, the air taxi. For them, this year, a special space has been reserved for them: “Urban Air Mobility”. There are currently around two hundred such projects around the world, but seven of the most advanced were shown at the show.
And, of course, one of them is the VoloCity from the German company Volocopter. A “flying taxi” is a cross between a drone and a helicopter. Above the roof of the cabin is a disc-shaped frame with a diameter of 11.3 meters. It has 18 propellers fitted with electric motors. The charge comes to them from nine batteries specially designed for this case.
When the batteries are fully charged, Volocity is able to fly up to 500 meters in altitude at a speed of 110 km/h and carry a load weighing 450 kilograms over a distance of up to 30 kilometers. In addition, thanks to the electric traction, the device creates four times less noise than a conventional helicopter.
It is important to note that this air taxi has already made its first demonstration flight within the framework of the current exhibition, thus showing that, as already announced, it can be used next year for the transport of passengers during the Olympic Games in Paris.
It should also be noted that at Le Bourget attention was drawn to projects in the field of civil aviation which are guided by, say, the “environmental agenda” – reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, use alternative energy sources. An example is the Blue Spirit Aero Dragonfly project. We are talking about a four-seater aircraft with a dozen electric motors running on a hydrogen fuel cell. This “dragonfly” with a cruising speed of 230 km/h is expected to make its first test flight at the end of next year, and will enter full operation in 2026. The company expects that at from 2030, at least 120 such “leaflets” will be produced each year.
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