Military orders likely to steal limelight at Dubai Airshow

Companies selling their military wares will be gunning for a slice of a huge pot, as spending on military aircraft by Middle Eastern countries is expected to top $100bn by 2014, according to a report by consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

Not surprisingly, one of the highlights of this year's show will be the first-ever flight demonstration by the Eurofighter Typhoon in the region, which is designed and built by a consortium of three separate partner companies: Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, and EADS.

With 707 aircraft under contract, it is Europe's largest military aircraft programme.
The aircraft has entered service with the British Royal Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, the Italian Aeronautica Militare, the Spanish Air Force and the Austrian Air Force.

Middle East orders

Saudi Arabia is the biggest customer for the Eurofighter outside Europe, as it has 72 jets on order in a deal worth almost $10bn.

So far there are no other customers in the Middle East for the aircraft, but BAE is in talks with 'lots of countries, including the UAE', said Craig Penrice, Air Crew Advisor for BAE.

'More countries are looking to develop their military aircraft industries not only because of what it provides them militarily, but as it also provides knock on technology in other areas,' said Paul Earnshaw, Communications Manager - International Programmes, at BAE.

'In the case of Saudi Arabia, 48 of their aircraft on order are going to be built partly in country, which means there will be highly skilled jobs created in the kingdom in an industry that is in its infancy in the country,' he said. 'And there is a huge amount of technology developed in the military that finds its way into civilian life, so it's an avenue to creating industries as much as developing the military.'

The $100m airplane can carry eight missiles, three fuel tanks, plus a gun, but what most impressed us was the pilot's helmet, which has a mounted display that allows the pilot to aim the aircraft's missiles, radar, and infrared tracking system simply by pointing his head. Remarkably, even with all that technology, the helmet weighs just under two kilograms.