Military Jets Photography: 2005 06 19 Le Bourget

The 46th International Paris Airshow was all about he first public appearance of the Airbus A380. Boeing tried to take some glimp away from the A380 with their 787 Dreamliner. They choosed a different approach (moving more folk more efficiently) to their main rivals.
Meanwhile in the military industry, we had the market with the fourth generation multirole fighter competing eachother to gain new orders. Dassault (Rafale), Eurofighter (Typhoon), Boeing (F/A-18F) and Saab/BAE Systems (Gripen) were present. A welcome return was made by the Russians in the form of the Sukhoi Su-27SKM, after settling their difference of opinion with some Swiss bankers.
The static layout was much like any other Trade show, with barriers etc. specially placed so you can't see too much of the planes without clutter. Dassault and Eurocopter were very well reprensted. The Indian Aerospace Industry was nice to see. The Americans were also well represented.

One disappointment was that the soon to be retired Mirage IVP, with its snazzy paint job, was shoehorned into a corner and took no part in the flying.
The main problem with photography of the display at Le Bourget usually is the distance of the runway from the crowd line. At least some decent taxiing shots can usually be taken.
Apart from the A380, new types debuting at the show were the Aermacchi M346, Embraer 195, Dassault Falcon 7x, Boeing 777-200LR and Gulfstream G550.