There were plenty of storylines worth following as the Paris Air Show opened yesterday at the famed Le Bourget Airport. The Russians are filling the void left by the absence of U.S. military aircraft and the heated rivalry between Boeing and Airbus is growing more fierce as billions of dollars in deals are on the line.
Thanks to the ongoing sequestration, the U.S. military brought no aircraft to Paris this year. That left the skies wide open for the Russians, who are wowing the crowds this week with heart-stopping routines by the Su-35 multirole fighter, a fast and agile jet with excellent thrust-to-weight ratio that is attracting notice from military leaders throughout the world primarily because, unlike fifth-generation fighters from the U.S., it is a no-nonsense design that can be made cheaply.
