Schedule, Problems Keep Key U.S. Aircraft Away

Several of the Pentagon's highest profile aviation programs are featured at Paris only in stand displays because tight test schedules and developmental problems have kept the aircraft tied up in the U.S.

Among the programs not gracing Le Bourget with a flying presence are Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor, Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk UAV, and the Bell Helicopter Textron- and Boeing-built V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.

Northrop Grumman had sketched perhaps the most ambitious plans. It wanted Global Hawk to retrace Charles Lindbergh's historic 1927 solo flight from New York to Paris. The idea called for the UAV to leave the Ryan facility where Lindbergh's aircraft was built and fly in steps via New York to Lindbergh's landing place here at Le Bourget.

However, U.S. Air Force officials refused to make the UAV available. With a still relatively small fleet, and one aircraft just having returned from a six-week deployment to Australia, they ruled that all Global Hawks needed to remain in the U.S. to support exercises there.

Global Hawk is now likely to make its European air show debut next year at ILA Berlin. Northrop Grumman and EADS have a cooperative agreement to work on UAVs and the Berlin mission is likely to grow out of that arrangement.

For the F-22, developmental flight testing demands meant no aircraft could be spared to come to Paris. The program's test program is already running behind schedule and will likely be extended several months, although USAF officials insist they will still field the stealth fighter as planned in 2005.

Paul Metz, Lockheed Martin's test pilot, will be here to update on F-22 progress. The aircraft has been meeting performance goals, but been hobbled by a series of nagging technical issues that has slowed flight testing.

Bell, Boeing and the U.S. Marine Corps were hoping to bring the V-22 tiltrotor to Paris. But after two crashes last year, the program was thrown into turmoil, flying had to be suspended, and the Paris foray had to be called off. The Pentagon is now slowing the program for at least a year to fix hydraulic, software and other problems.