Aviationtoday.Com: Dateline: Berlin

You don’t have to possess the perceptiveness of the famous correspondent William L. Shirer, who covered Berlin during the 1930s and 1940s, to recognize that Berlin is a modern miracle. A mere 63 years ago, Allied bombers reduced the city to little more than smoking rubble. Today, this rebuilt and reunited city is a vibrant, hip cultural center and business hub, boasting the reclaimed mantle of capital.

I attended the 2008 ILA Air Show, held May 27-June 1 at Schonefeld Airport in Berlin. ILA this year reflected the vibrancy of the contemporary aerospace market. The air show itself was operated by ILA officials with the heel-clicking efficiency you’d expect of the German people. Unlike other international air shows, you could set your watch by the press conference itinerary. If an event was scheduled to begin at, say, 1 p.m., then by Himmel, it started at 1 p.m.

For starters, this year’s ILA was bigger than ever, a heartening sign amid worries that the aviation industry will suffer from stratospheric oil prices and the global economic slowdown. “This year will be a record with 1,127 exhibitors from 37 countries, and more than 300 aircraft on display — more than at any other aerospace trade show anywhere,” said Dietmar Schrick, managing director of the German Aerospace Industries Association BDLI, which organizes ILA with Messe Berlin.

Indeed, while walking the trade show floor, conducting interviews and attending press conferences, I gleaned an overriding sentiment of optimism. The mood I’m describing is not the false optimism of PR functionaries on puppy uppers peddling the corporate line. Rather, it was a genuine feeling that aviation is experiencing rare boom times that show no sign of relenting. The numbers and new business deals at ILA tangibly backed this up.

New avionics technology made a big splash at ILA. Notably, Rockwell Collins is pulling out all of the stops to spark European interest in its open architecture glass cockpit systems. This marketing push comes in the wake of its newly won contract from Eurocopter Deutschland to develop a German Avionics Management System (GAMS) for the German Army CH-53G helicopter. The GAMS is based on Rockwell Collins’ Common Avionics Architecture System and integrated into the new glass cockpit of the Sikorsky CH-53G.

The modular open system architecture cockpit and mission management system include new navigation sensors, a flight management system, five displays and a communication suite tightly customized to pre-existing requirements mandated by the German Army. Rockwell Collins officials took pains to point out that a considerable amount of the development and production work for these avionics systems occur on German soil, at the company’s Heidelberg plant.

EADS Defence and Security and Thales signed an agreement in Berlin to develop, manufacture and sell a common passive radar on the international market, targeting such customers as the German, French and other NATO military forces. Passive radar is designed to detect small, low flying, low speed aircraft, such as light unmanned aerial vehicles.

In the skies over the Schonefeld airfield, the German Army flaunted its newest operational helicopter, the NH90. The German Army was the first customer to take delivery of the multi-role NH90 and is to date the largest operator, with 80 firm orders and 54 options. The German Luftwaffe has ordered 42 more.

The aircraft’s sensors include the Thales European Navy Radar, a 360 degree, nose-mounted surveillance radar. It’s also outfitted with an under-nose Forward Looking Infrared camera, a Magnetic Anomaly Detector and sonar system. The helicopter uses the same Thales TopOwl helmet-mounted sight as Eurocopter’s Tiger attack helicopter. The NH90 is being produced by the NHI consortium, a joint venture among Europe’s major helicopter companies, including EADS Eurocopter, AgustaWestland and Stork Fokker. The consortium so far holds more than 500 orders for the NH90, from 18 customers spread across 14 countries.

John Persinos is publisher and editorial director of Aviation Today. You can reach him at jpersinos@accessintel.com or 301-385-7211. You can read more of his daily reporting from the ILA Air Show by accessing his archived blog postings at www.aviationtoday.com.