Naval aviation innovation in Paris
June 17th, 2009 | Aviation Foreign navies Science and technology | Posted by Phil Ewing
Rusty Baker/Navy
Some people just never get a break. While we’ve been living it up here at Navy Times’ action-packed Center of Excellence in the exotic, romantic Virginia suburbs outside Washington, some of our poor co-workers had to fly all the way to boring old Paris for something called the Paris Air Show. On their trip they wrote and multi-media’d up a storm, and some of their stories included items of interest to the world of naval aviation:
- A representative for defense giant Northrop Grumman, just one of the many companies that contributes to the F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, which the Navy and Marine Corps will buy, described how its advanced sensors will enable the jet to see and eliminate bad guys first.
- The Russian fighter jet-makers Sukhoi and MiG, whose names and products are legendary, appeared this year for the first time as a joint company. If Russia, China and India go forward with their respective plans to field aircraft carriers that carry fixed-wing aircraft, odds are excellent the planes will be Su/MiGs.
- Speaking of the F-35, engine giants General Electric and Rolls-Royce say the alternative jet engine they’re developing for the Lightning II will be even more powerful than its current engine — which is the most powerful jet engine ever developed.
- The officials behind the F-35, by the way, see a potential market for as many as 6,000 aircraft worldwide — double the number now planned for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and the current international customers.