Israel Aerospace No-Show at Paris Air Show

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will be a virtual no-show at the prestigious Paris Air Show this year, though the reason for it was unclear, Globes reported on Tuesday.

IAI will be present at the show, which opens in two weeks, but its profile will be far lower than in previous years. No lavish display of new products with which to wow the world. Instead, it will make do with a delegation of managers and sales representatives to meet with customers from abroad.

Some sources attributed the scaled-down participation in the show to a range of internal problems, including the ongoing difficulty in appointing a chairman, a police investigation of its operations, tense labor relations, and an economizing effort.

Other company sources were quoted as saying that management woes alone would not deter IAI from its usual high-profile presence in Paris. Rather, it simply doesn’t have the eye-catching hardware to tempt the big buyers. So the company decided that no shelves are better than empty shelves.

Meanwhile, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems plans to be at the show in force, with its new version of the Spike LR 2, called the Gil 2 in Israel.

Rafael says that the new missile has 5G (fifth generation) capabilities, launchable from a land base, a helicopter, or a ship at sea. Rafael says that its advanced systems and connectedness to the internet will enhance effectiveness under a range of battle conditions.

The Paris Air Show is held at Le Bourget airfield, north of Paris, every odd year.