PARIS — The Paris Air Show comes at a timely juncture as French aerospace leaders seek to lobby a newly elected head of state and government for support of the high-tech industry in a tough world market.
"We have a new government and new ministers," said Eric Trappier, vice chairman of Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales, or Gifas, the trade body backing the air show. "It is for us a very special time to address the new government and, above all, the new president," he told a June 6 news conference.
Trappier is also chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, which has booked the largest amount of exhibition space for the June 19-25 show.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit June 19, the first day of the show, while Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is due June 23. Some 12 ministers are expected, including Sylvie Goulard, the armed forces minister, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, Europe and foreign affairs minister. The latter was the previous defense minister and was widely seen as the super salesman for the Rafale fighter jet, helping to win orders from Egypt, India and Qatar.
There is plenty of government support in the U.S. and other countries for their own aerospace industries, Trappier said. For France, one of the key factors is whether the government will boost the defense budget to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2022, he added.
Political backing is viewed as a necessity, as the Ministry for the Economy and Finance has reportedly lopped off more than €2.6 billion (U.S. $2.9 billion) from the 2017 defense budget, prompting protest from Patricia Adam, head of the National Assembly's defense committee.
The members of parliament adopted on April 6, 2016, a €700 million increase for the 2017 defense budget, particularly to support equipment spending, she said in a June 6, 2017, statement. A budget cut would threaten "our defense and security in a time of severe strategic instability and terrorist threat," she said.
The largest cut in the budgetary reduction is €675 million for equipment, business website La Tribune reported.
At the show, the French procurement office, Direction Générale de l'Armement, will display the future of weapon systems from 2017 to 2022, including the Talios laser targeting pod and Meteor long-range, air-to-air missile for the upgraded Rafale F3-R, said DGA official Thierry Sanchez. Other themes include command systems, refueling, intelligence gathering and surface-to-air defense.
There will also be a display of systems beyond 2025, with an "immersion" in studies for future weapons, pointing up the cooperative work between government and industry. "Innovative technology" to be shown include intelligent sensors, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented reality.
On display, there will be two Rafales — one from the Air Force and one from the Navy — a Tiger attack helicopter, an NH90 transport helicopter and a special forces Caracal.
There will be two F-35 fighters, one in the flying display, the other in the corral static display, said Paris Air Show Chairman Emeric d'Arcimoles. The former will fly every day except June 22, which will be a rest day for the pilot.
"French Air Force pilots don't rest," said Trappier, sparking much laughter at the news conference.
An Antonov An-132 military transport plane from Ukraine will make its first appearance at the show, as will the Embraer KC-390 and Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft.
U.S. companies make up the second-largest regional presence at the show, with 15.21 percent of the exhibitors, after 57.21 percent from Europe. The third-largest region is East Asia, with 8.5 percent. Russian firms account for 3.48 percent. French companies make up about half of the total 2,370 exhibitors.
The Paris Air Show charges the lowest rate among world exhibitions, with a tariff of €355 compared to €415 at the British Farnborough International Airshow, €562 at the Dubai Airshow and €951 at the Singapore Airshow, said Gilles Fournier, the Paris Air Show's managing director.
Some 140 aircraft will be on display. France will receive 296 official delegations, including 146 military teams.
