The 2025 edition of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget opens in a moment of historic geopolitical tension, with two wars underway—one in Ukraine and one between Israel and Iran (with Israeli companies absent at the last minute for obvious reasons).

The event also comes on the eve of the NATO Summit in The Hague, where the historic decision will be made to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP (3.5% direct spending and 1.5% on infrastructure, security, and mobility). The show, as one would expect, reflects all of this, while also signaling the recovery of the commercial sector. But let's focus on the military for now. First of all, the announcements and news that characterized the first day of the show.

Leonardo and Baykar formalized their joint venture on drones, which will be called LBA (Leonardo Baykar Aerospace) Systems, giving a decisive boost to the process started last February. This new player is set to play a leading role in the drone market, which has always been dominated by American and Israeli companies, recently joined by Chinese ones. The goals are ambitious, but the required expertise and product portfolio are in place, and the market is growing at a tremendous rate.

Then there is MBDA, in particular MBDA Italy, which has revealed the name of the new MANPADS for the Italian Army, which will be called FULGUR, while also announcing the signing of the development contract. This is an important product, which not only meets a requirement of a leading armed force like the Italian Army, but also clearly enhances the European Group's product portfolio. The missile will also be integrated into the modular and scalable SKYWARDEN C-UAV system, which allows the use of different sensors and effectors through simple and intuitive command and control, supported by Artificial Intelligence algorithms (to assist the operator in identifying and classifying threats and selecting the most appropriate effector). MBDA also presented its ONE WAY EFFECTOR, a long-range suicide drone developed by the company in collaboration with an automotive company, whose identity has not been disclosed. The concept is that of an expendable drone, producible in large quantities, for which there is a strong requirement from the French Armed Forces. We also saw other interesting things on this first day.

Under the Leonardo stand, in addition to the AKINCI and TB-3 models, one of the 4 pre-production AW-249s combat helicopters was on display, with several weapon systems, including the FULGUR and a model of ALE (Air Launched Effects). Among the “national champions” Dassault drew attention with the showcase of a mockup of a new drone: more of a high-end UCAV than a wingman, with an all-wing configuration, dorsal air intake, and a “hawk-nose” nose. Its similarity to the NEURON demonstrator, for which Dassault was the prime contractor, is evident. 

The RAFALE is in the spotlight, present in the form of a model bearing the insignia of all customer countries, but there is no news on the SCAF front. The program is certainly not moving forward quickly, with the creeping guerrilla warfare of Dassault itself, which would like (as always) to go it alone, showing no signs of abating.

Finally, General Atomics and Saab have announced the development of an AEW drone based on General Atomics' MQ-9B SKY GUARDIAN. The same American company is also exhibiting a large model of its recently unveiled CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft), the YFQ-42A. It is clear that in Europe there is as much interest in drone-based AEW solutions – see both the Royal and Italian Navies - as there is in swarm drones.

Read our Special Supplement "PARIS AIR SHOW 2025" on FW Mag Issue n.3/2025, available online after a quick registration.

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