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French historians have demanded the return of Napoleon III in the wake of Brexit, whose remains lie in a tomb in Hampshire. The emperor, who was the final monarch to rule France before he died in exile in 1873, was laid to rest in a church in Farnborough. But historians in France are hoping to have his remains repatriated as part of a post-Brexit trade deal.

Think of aerobatics and it's fighter jets and light aircraft that spring to mind. But the crowds at the recent Farnborough Airshow were treated to the sight of a new Rolls-Royce-powered LM100-J Hercules transport plane pulling outrageously nimble manoeuvres – including a loop. The man at the controls was chief test pilot Wayne Roberts – and his stunt was caught on camera.

Alabama had a large presence at the Farnborough International Airshow. In the case of Raytheon, that presence was also tall, slender and packing a punch. The Massachusetts -based company had several presentations and displays at the London show, including information on the Standard Missile-6 and SM-3. Both of the missiles are produced at Raytheon's 70,000 square-foot automation integration and testing facility on Redstone Arsenal. The company's presentation included a life-size model of its SM-3 kill vehicle, a defensive weapon used by the U.S. Navy to destroy short-to-intermediate-range ballistic missile. The SM-3 doesn't use explosives; engineered instead to use sheer force...

Saab has revealed plans to inaugurate an avionics systems test rig for further development of the Gripen E fighter. Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow, Lennart Sindhal, deputy CEO of Saab said that the systems test rig would mean that all the sensor suites for the aircraft could be tested on the ground, while data was transmitted and received from an airborne aircraft. He added that this development will be followed by the production of three more tactical rig test aircraft over the next three years to prove the Gripen E fighter. The aircraft will be built at a rate...

Two US fighter jets were due to make their international debuts this week at the year's most important aerospace event, the Farnborough Airshow. At the moment, only one of them is here. The F-35 may be the world's most expensive, most advanced military jet programme, but it was a cheap and cheerful budget aircraft that managed the trans-Atlantic crossing to Farnborough. The Scorpion costs about $20m (£12m) a throw, is built from off-the-shelf components, and went from drawing board to first flight in 23 months. The F-35, costing three times as much and conceived in the early 1990s, is still...

Russian officials will not feature their Sukhoi Su-27 twin-engine fighter jets on display this year at the Farnborough International Air Show — a move that marks a strategic departure from prior years for Russia, show officials said. The Russian Su-27 fighter jets were at Farnborough last year, leading observers and analysts to presume that tensions in the Ukraine have led the Russians the scale back their presence this year. This year’s show outside of London will run July 14–20. “With the continuing issues in the Ukraine, I don’t think there will be any Russian aircraft,” a Farnborough official told Military​.com.

Every two years, a select group of Western fighter manufacturers touch down at Farnborough air show to promote their wares in what is perhaps the toughest of all sales categories. As the home show for Eurofighter partner company BAE Systems, the event offers a prime opportunity to highlight the credentials of the Typhoon, as it works with allies Airbus Defence & Space and Finmeccanica’s Alenia Aermacchi to add to their operators list. Austria, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the UK have together received more than a combined 400 examples so far, and Oman is under contract to field 12...

Gripen NG Demonstrator will be displayed to the public for the first time outside Sweden. The event will take place in the UK during the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in Fairford 17–18 July and the following week at the Farnborough International Airshow. The fighter will be arriving in Farnborough on Monday, 19 July and will be on static display until Friday 23 July. Gripen NG Demonstrator is a flying platform for the development of new technologies and features incorporated into the Gripen NG – the next generation fighter with significantly increased combat range and endurance, increased payload and super-cruise...

Although the US government last year opted to halt production of the Lockheed Martin F-22 without approving an international sale of the air superiority fighter, the Raptor is making a welcome return to the show. Deployed to the UK from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, the US Air Force's Raptor will better its brief appearance on the opening day of the last Farnborough show by flying each day this week. The service flew four of the type to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to support its appearances here and at the Royal International Air Tattoo last weekend

US firm Raytheon has unveiled its anti-aircraft laser at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire. The Laser Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) can either be used on its own or alongside a gunnery system. In May, the laser was used to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a series of tests. Raytheon said the solid state fibre laser produces a 50 kilowatt beam and can be used against UAV, mortar, rockets and small surface ships. The idea of using lasers as weapons has been around almost as long as the laser itself, invented in 1960.

About 1,350 companies and organizations from 52 countries, including 59 Russian firms, will take part in the Farnborough-2010 Air Show, which opens near London on Monday. The Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said in a press release that 29 Russian companies will showcase about 250 military products, including combat aircraft, helicopters and air defense systems. Among most prominent Russian exhibits are Su-35 Flanker and MiG-35 Fulcrum-F multirole fighters, the Su-32 fighter-bomber (an export version of the Su-34 Fullback aircraft) and MiG-29 Fulcrum combat aircraft. Russia also plans to promote heavily its Superjet 100 medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by the...

Aerospace firm Sukhoi said Thursday that it planned to sign a “firm contract” to sell 30 SuperJets to a customer from Southeast Asia next week. The company said in a statement that the deal would be sealed at the Farnborough International Airshow, which starts July 19 and runs for a week. “This will be our biggest foreign contract for planes that have a catalogue price of $31.7 million each,” Sukhoi spokeswoman Olga Kayukova said Thursday. Sukhoi chief executive Mikhail Pogosyan said June 11 that the company will supply the first three of its SuperJet passenger airplanes this year as Russia...

FARNBOROUGH 2008: Why the Eagle stays near the top perch More than a quarter-of-a-century after it first flew and 24 years after its first Farnborough appearance, the F-15 Eagle is still sitting near the top of the fighter tree. Still in service with the USAF and continuing to play a vital front-line role with the air forces of Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, the F-15 is winning orders in competition with newer fighters. Boeing remains confident of future sales and is convinced it can keep its production line open. It says the F-15 offers a range and payload...

FARNBOROUGH 2008: Indian carrierborne MiG handover inches closer Anatoly Belov, designer general of the Russian MiG Aircraft Corporation, says the first MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB aircraft will soon be delivered to the Indian Navy, more than 12 months later than the original scheduled handover. In January 2004, MiG won a contract to supply twelve single-seat MiG-29K aircraft and four MiG-29KUB trainers, as well as simulators and spare parts. Two of the aircraft were originally due to be delivered to the Indian Navy in June 2007 and six more in November 2007, with deliveries to be completed by 2009. But the MiG-29KUB...

Farnborough: UK prime minister rumoured to have tour of Airbus Corporate Jetliner for government jet UK prime minister Tony Blair is to take an evaluation tour of the Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) today at the Farnborough air show, speculation has it. The UK head of government is addressing the air show today at around 15:00 on the importance of aerospace to the UK economy. After this, he is understood to be offered a chance to look around a corporate interior version of the ACJ. Airbus does not have an ACJ on the static display at the show, where security...

Military hardware makers are taking centre stage as the aerospace industry gathers at the world's largest air show in Farnborough this week. After a low profile at last year's Paris show - thanks in part to the absence of Americans following the stand-off between France and the US over Iraq - makers of fighter jets, attack helicopters and missiles are back with a vengeance. This year, the Pentagon returns with several high-level delegations that include a dozen generals and admirals, reinforcing the view that the US plans to continue spending big on arms. John Douglass, chief executive of the Aerospace...

MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - A new Russian reconnaissance helicopter, Ka-31, has been presented to foreign delegations at the Farnborough 2004 international air show, reports Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms exporter. Presenting the helicopter at Farnborough, Russian officials pointed out that many nations nowadays feel an acute need for lightweight reconnaissance aircraft, ones that could provide their armed forces with timely and accurate intelligence while also exercising control of sea, land, and aerial borders. And using large reconnaissance planes for these purposes may be too costly. According to its designers, the Ka-31 helicopter can be employed in both military and...