Military News Farnborough International Air Show 2018
The most important military novelty of FIA 2018 was the presentation of the mock-up of the 6th generation Tempest combat aircraft.
This year's Farnborough International Air Show, which took place from 16 to 22 July, has traditionally become a major event for the civil aviation and aerospace industry and a competition stage for the leading market players. Somewhat eclipsing the civilian market, its military segment also introduced several new products, which are worth getting to know more closely on the pages of Wojska i Techniki.
From the point of view of military aviation, the most important event of the Farnborough International Air Show 2018 (FIA 2018) was the presentation by BAE Systems and the UK Department of Defense of a mock-up of the 6th generation fighter, bearing the historical name Tempest.
Storm Presentation
The new structure, according to politicians, will enter combat service with the Royal Air Force around 2035. Then it will become one of the three types of British aviation combat aircraft - next to the F-35B Lightning II and Eurofighter Typhoon. Work on Tempest at this stage was entrusted to a consortium consisting of: BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, MBDA UK and Leonardo. Tempest is being developed as part of a 10-year program implemented under the National Security Strategy and the 2015 Strategic Defense and Security Review. On the other hand, the concept of the development of combat aviation and the aviation industry was outlined in the document "Strategy of Combat Aviation: An Ambitious View of the Future", published by the MoD on July 2015, 16. By 2018, the program is to absorb £2025bn by XNUMX. Then the enterprise was subjected to critical analysis and a decision was made to continue or close it. If the decision is positive, it should save tens of thousands of jobs in the British aerospace and defense industry after the end of the current production of Typhoons for the Royal Air Force and export customers. The Tempest team includes: BAE Systems, Leonardo, MBDA, Rolls-Royce and the Royal Air Force. The program will include skills related to: the production of stealth aircraft, new surveillance and reconnaissance instruments, new structural materials, propulsion systems and avionics.
The premiere presentation of the Tempest model was another element of the concept work associated with the development of a new generation of multi-role combat aircraft on the Old Continent, although it could also take on a transatlantic dimension - a few days after the British premiere, representatives from Saab and Boeing announced the possibility of joining the program. Interestingly, among potential stakeholders, the DoD also mentions Japan, which is currently looking for a foreign partner for the F-3 multirole combat aircraft program, as well as Brazil. Today, the military part of Embraer is more and more closely connected with Saab, and the civilian part should be "under the wing" of Boeing. In addition, cooperation between the Brazilians and Boeing is dragging on in the military sphere. One thing is for sure - the economic situation and Brexit mean that the UK cannot afford to build a car of this class on its own. They openly talk about the need to include foreign partners in the program, and decisions on this matter should be made before the end of 2019.
According to current data, the Tempest should be an optional manned vehicle, so it can be controlled by a pilot in the cockpit or an operator on the ground. In addition, the aircraft must be able to control unmanned aerial vehicles flying with it in formation. Weapons must include energy weapons, and the fire control system must be fully integrated with the military network-centric information exchange system. Today, this is the first concept car of the 6th generation, which has reached the stage of the layout presented to the public. Studies of this type of Western development are being carried out in the EU by Dassault Aviation (the so-called SCAF - Système de Combat Aérien Futur, disclosed in May this year) together with Airbus as part of the Franco-German cooperation and in the USA. , which is connected, among other things, with the needs of naval aviation, which after 2030 will need a successor to the F / A-18E / F and EA-18G machines and the US Air Force, which will soon start looking for a car that can replace the F-15C / D, F-15E and even F-22A.
Interestingly, and not necessarily surprisingly, the British presentation could mean that "traditional" divisions could emerge in the European aviation industry. In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about the Franco-German SCAF initiative, the goal of which is to develop a next-generation multi-role combat aircraft, for which the transitional stage (in Germany) is the purchase of the next batch of Eurofighters. The UK's collaboration with Leonardo may indicate the formation of two separate national teams (French-German and British-Italian) able to compete for the favor of Saab (Saab UK is part of Team Tempest, and BAE Systems is a minority shareholder in Saab AB) and co-operators. from the United States of America. As the British themselves point out, unlike Paris and Berlin, they, along with the Italians, already have some experience with 5th generation machines, which should make it easier to work on the Tempest. It is certainly worth keeping a close eye on the political and economic activities associated with both projects in the coming years. [In November 2014, a Franco-British contract was awarded for a feasibility study on the construction of a prototype SCAF/FCAS next-generation fighter, and a bilateral government contract was expected in late 2017 to build a prototype, which will be the culmination of approximately 5 years of cooperation between Dassault Aviation and BAE Systems. However, this did not happen. The UK "kicked out" the EU in the Brexit referendum, and in July 2017, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron announced a similar German-French cooperation, which was sealed by an interstate agreement from April-July of this year, without British participation. This means, at a minimum, freezing the former Franco-British agenda. The presentation of the "Storm" layout can be regarded as confirmation of its completion - approx. ed.].
