The Le Bourget Air Show in Paris is the meeting place=20 of governments, military men and high-tech innovation.=20 Stefaans Brummer attended this year’s show
THE fashion this summer at Le Bourget, Paris: designer=20 suits, shades and cellphones, but very few skirts. The=20 Russians, of course, go for grimy anoraks, while the=20 South Africans stand the middle-ground with off-the- shelf grey.
Le Bourget is a man’s place, a junction for government,=20 the proverbial military-industrial complex and high- tech air innovation. It is where your friendly aircraft=20 manufacturer, known for bringing families together the=20 world over, turns a hawkish face with a flashy display=20 of his latest in airborne killing toys.
Le Bourget is a national showcase where countries serve=20 notice their product will conquer the world, if not=20 physically, then at least in sales; where expert and=20 amateur, potential business partner or industrial spy,=20 ogle the other’s hardware; where megabuck deals are=20 initiated or clinched over a glass of cognac or a meal=20 of French cuisine.
Le Bourget was the site last week of the 41st Paris Air=20 Show, billed as ”the biggest international meeting=20 place of the world’s aeronautics and space industries”.
The organisers of similar shows in other parts of the=20 world may take issue with Le Bourget’s claim to be the=20 biggest, but Le Bourget can’t be too far off the mark:=20 More than 1 600 exhibitions from 41 countries covered=20 44 629m2 of indoor space and 29 226m2 of outdoor space.=20 In lay language, it means you could walk for a week and=20 still not see it all.
For a number of hours every day some of the 220=20 complete aircraft on display stretched the exposition=20 to a third dimension with thundering aerobatic show- offs. Nine days of the show also meant 2 900 telephone=20 lines specially installed, 420 000 information=20 brochures distributed worldwide and the presence of an=20 estimated 300 000 visitors, including roughly 2 000=20
Somewhere in all this was South Africa, or more=20 specifically Denel, the arms and industrial group that=20 was spawned as an autonomous offspring of Armscor three=20 years ago.
Denel’s participation reflected the ”coming out” of=20 South Africa’s arms industry now that embargoes have=20 been lifted. Two years ago Denel, which controls=20 roughly 60 percent of South Africa’s armaments=20 manufacture, also exhibited at Le Bourget, but was not=20 allowed to show military products.
If the South Africans seemed somewhat lost in the sheer=20 scale of Le Bourget, it was not because they had=20 nothing to show. Rather, their relative insignificance=20 underlined the huge technological gap between=20 developing and developed nations, and the near=20 impossibility of competing with the big guys in a world=20 where single contracts can run into billions of=20 dollars, often several times the value of South=20 Africa’s entire defence acquisition budget.
The star of this year’s show (after France, which as=20 host country fielded no fewer than 648 exhibitors, 40=20 percent of the total) was the United States, which in=20 previous years boycotted Le Bourget but has now=20 apparently decided that growing European Union co- operation in defence and technology had to be countered=20 on European turf. They entered in force.
The American onslaught was headed by the billion-dollar=20 B-2 stealth bomber, arguably the world’s most=20 controversial aircraft, and certainly the most advanced=20 bomber. This first public appearance of the ”flying=20 wing” was limited to a few overflights and a pit-stop=20 of not much more than an hour.
Officially the B-2 was there only for a crew change=20 during an operational training mission, but the clear=20 purpose was to steal the limelight for the Americans.=20 The reason, it is said, why the B-2 did not stay, was=20 that the Americans did not trust French security, and=20 the French would not let the Americans provide their=20
The rivalry between the European and American=20 superpowers became so marked, in fact, that when French=20 President Jacques Chirac opened the show he flung=20 impartiality to the wind and urged Europeans to unite=20 against the American threat.
Among the more than 1 600 stands and 220 aircraft,=20 Denel had one aircraft on static display — the=20 Cheetah, a local upgrade of the old French Mirage III – – and a collection of stands covering only a fraction=20 of a single percentage point of the floorspace.
South Africa could have had more, had not the only=20 prototype of Denel’s ACE all-composite trainer aircraft=20 crashed a few months ago, and had not a potential=20 customer asked to see an upgrade of Denel’s much- vaunted Rooivalk attack helicopter, which meant the=20 Rooivalk prototypes had to stay at home for=20 redevelopment. Scale models and a Rooivalk cockpit=20 mock-up had to do at the show.
Even so, the South African participation was no small=20 feat. Co-ordination and running the exhibits cost a few=20 dozen personnel flown to Paris. The expense of shipping=20 the displays, of transport, accomodation and exhibition=20 fees, was in the region of=20
Odds are clearly stacked against the small countries,=20 but Denel justifies the expense of show participation=20 as an investment to increase its share in the=20 international market at a time when defence spending at=20 home has dwindled substantially.
Said Johan Alberts, Denel Managing Director: ”If you=20 want to make yourself known and keep it that way, and=20 if you want to play a role in the international market,=20 you must be seen. You must show your capabilities, you=20 must meet people, and you must talk to people.”
His strategy for doing business in a cut-throat=20 international market seems to be ”if you can’t beat=20 them, join them”, and already Denel makes 27 percent of=20 its money overseas — often through alliances with the=20 big names. Alberts said Denel had co-operation=20 agreements in development, support, marketing and=20 manufacturing with about 36 companies mostly in Europe=20 and the Far East.
Examples are the gearbox Denel makes for Rolls Royce=20 aircraft engines, and a deal, announced at Le Bourget,=20 between Denel, a Spanish company and Snecma, the French=20 manufacturer of engines for Mirage fighter aircraft.=20 The engines, for which Denel’s aerospace division=20 Simera will manufacture some components, will be fitted=20 on older Mirages in upgrade conversions along the line=20 of the Cheetah.
Le Bourget emphasised the growing tendency towards dual=20 purpose technology, where military developments find=20 civilian applications and vice versa. Some will call it=20 a maximisation of resources; others may call it a=20 blurring of morality in a world where it is becoming=20 increasingly difficult to extricate oneself from=20 economies often driven by war and threats of war.
Be that as it may, Le Bourget brought together sellers=20 and buyers from a majority of the world’s countries.=20 Deals would have been entered by men — the women at=20 the show tended to be receptionists and hostesses — to=20 stimulate an industry which leads ever to faster and=20 more efficient travel, but which also refines the=20 capacity of the world’s armies to defend — and attack.
The high-tech aerospace industry will have its=20 supporters and detractors, but few will disagree that=20 India’s Hindustan Aeronautics went a little too far=20 when it used the face of Mahatma Ghandi, champion of=20 passive resistance, to promote its range of military=20 aircraft applications at Le Bourget.