Early Pakistan JF-17's appear to be optimized for the air-to-air role, and are likely to fit the classic definition of a lightweight jet fighter with a limited ability to engage beyond visual range. They are also touted as multi-role fighters, but ground attack will depend on unguided bombs and rockets being available, and until the ability to use precision laser guidance and/or GPS-guided ground attack weapons exists the capability will be somewhat limited.

Another aircraft making its debut at Farnborough 2010 was the Saab Gripen NG

The Gripen NG Demonstrator is a platform for the development of new technologies, and features incorporated into the Gripen NG significantly increase combat range and endurance over the standard Gripen fighter, together with an increased payload and super-cruise capability. The Gripen NG Programme offers a completely new avionics systems structure which guarantees over 100% spare computing capacity and 30% spare capacity in all of the aircraft systems. The new structure makes it very easy and cost-effective to incorporate new functionality or to integrate new hardware. Saab is now testing all the tactical systems, such as the AESA radar and the new communications systems, together with the electro-optical Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) and the new fuel system which incorporates larger internal fuel tanks.

An Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, also known as active phased array radar is a type of phased array radar whose transmitter and receiver functions are composed of numerous small solid-state transmit/receive modules (TRM's). AESA's aim their "beam" by broadcasting a number of different frequencies of coherent radio energy that interfere constructively at certain angles in front of the antenna. They improve on the older passive electronically scanned radars by spreading their broadcasts out across a band of frequencies, which makes it very difficult to detect over background noise. AESA's allow aircraft to broadcast powerful radar signals while still remaining stealthy.

Staying on the fighter theme, Boeing had two FA-18F Super Hornets at Farnborough.

One was available for static display and the other performing in the aerial display.

So fresh off the production line were they that no squadron markings had yet been applied

The first production Super Hornet was delivered to the U.S. Navy in December 1998. After completing the most thorough operational evaluation in U.S. Naval history, the FA-18E/F entered operational service in November 1999, and the the first operational FA-18E/F Super Hornet squadron (VFA-115) stood up in June 2001 and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in July 2002. In April 2005 Boeing delivered the first Block II Super Hornet, complete with AESA radar and in May 2007 Australia signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance to buy twenty four FA-18F Super Hornets, becoming the first international customer. The first five Super Hornets were subsequently delivered to Australia in March 2010 and delivery is ongoing as we write.

Bae Systems Typhoon IPA5 seen landing after its display

The British Aerospace Typhoon's currently in production for the Royal Air Force are the FGR.4 version, a multi-role airframe capable of both air to air and air to ground operations. IPA5 (seen above) is the Instrumented Production Aircraft for this mark and is used by Bae to test the systems and weapons configurations for this particular mark. As well as new production aircraft rolling off the line at Warton a programme to upgrade older Royal Air Force F.2 Typhoon's is also underway. Finmeccanica also had an Italian production aircraft in their static dsiplay at Farnborough in the shape of CSX7275 from 36 Stormo. Expectations now are that the Italian Air Force will only procure 90 of the originally planned order for 121 Typhoons.

Maybe the star for everyone was not the Pakistani JF-17's but perhaps the Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor from the US Air Force.

It undoubtedly put on an awesome display when it performed.

The F-22 is an entirely new way of thinking about fighter capabilities. This fifth generation fighter represents a leap forward in fighting capabilities for the U.S. Air Force. Advanced stealth enables 24/7 operations while remaining virtually undetected by enemy forces, super-cruise speeds greater than Mach 1.5 without afterburners enhance survivability, extreme agility allows out-manoeuvering, information fusion generates 360-degree battlespace awareness for the pilot and as a joint-force enabler it assures future air dominance for joint and coalition forces.

The F-22 is powered by two Pratt and Whitney F119-100 low bypass after-burning turbofan engines providing 156kN of thrust. Thrust vectoring is controlled by a Hamilton Standard dual redundant digital engine control.

Construction is 39% titanium, 24% composite, 16% aluminium and 1% thermoplastic. Titanium is used for its high strength-to-weight ratio in critical stress areas, including some of the bulkheads, and also for its heat-resistant qualities in the hot sections of the aircraft. Carbon-fibre composites have been used for the fuselage frame, the doors, intermediate spars on the wings, and for the honeycomb sandwich construction skin panels.

The cockpit is fitted with hands-on throttle and stick control (HOTAS) and has six colour liquid crystal displays. The Kaiser Electronics projection primary multifunction display provides a plan view of the air and ground tactical situation including threat identity, threat priority and tracking information. Two displays provide communication, navigation, identification and flight information. Three secondary displays show air and ground threats, stores management and air threat information. A BAE Systems head-up display (HUD) shows target status, weapon status, weapon envelopes and shoot cues. A video camera records data on the HUD for post-mission analysis.

A variant of the M61-A2 Vulcan cannon is installed internally above the right air intake. The F-22 has four hardpoints on the wings, each rated to carry 2,270kg, which can carry AIM-120A AMRAAM or external fuel tanks. The Raptor has three internal weapon bays, the main weapons bay can carry six AMRAAM AIM-120C missiles or two AMRAAM and two 1,000lb GBU-32 joint direct attack munition (JDAM). Raytheon AMRAAM air-to-air missile is an all-weather short- to medium-range radar-guided fire-and-forget missile, with a range of 50 nautical miles. The side bays can each be loaded with one Lockheed Martin / Raytheon AIM-9M or AIM-9X Sidewinder all-aspect short-range air-to-air missile. The GPS-guided, Boeing small diameter bomb (SDB) was integrated on the F-22 in February 2007 and eight SDBs can be carried with two AMRAAM missiles.

The AN/APG-77 radar has been developed for the F-22 by the Electronic Sensors and Systems Division of Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Electronic Systems. The radar uses an active electronically scanned antenna array of 2,000 transmitter / receive modules, which provides agility, low radar cross-section and wide bandwidth.

The second of three CASA-295MP Persuader maritime patrol aircraft on order for the Chilean Navy's VP-1 Squadron is seen in the static display at Franborough. The contract was signed in October 2007 and also includes options to buy a further five aircraft. The CASA 295MPA includes Airbus Military´s Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS) for mission control, which integrates a wide range of sensors and provides an interface with the navigation and tactical communications systems. The ASW version of FITS has completed an extensive operational evaluation, including participation on anti-submarine and anti-surface (ASW / ASuW) missions during NATO exercises. The CASA 295MPA is capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions such as; Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-surface Warfare (ASuW), Signals intelligence (SIGINT), Imagery intelligence (IMINT), Surveillance of an EEZ, maritime traffic and illegal immigration, Law enforcement at sea (combating drug trafficking and terrorism) and Search and rescue (SAR).

Airbus Military's A400M prototype EC-402 lands at after its spirited and impressive display at Farnborough 2010

The A400M is a collaborative venture involving the governments and industries of six European countries. It is capable of carrying a load of 32 tonnes over a range of 2,300 nautical miles at speeds comparable with pure-jet military transports; furthermore, the range of the aircraft can be extended by the use of a removable air refuelling probe mounted above the cockpit. The aircraft is capable of operating either at low-level (down to 150ft) or at high-level altitudes to 37,000ft, and it will be able to deploy troops and/or equipment between and within theatres of operation either by parachute (up to 108 paratroopers), or by landing on short, unprepared or semi-prepared strips. The aircraft will also offer significant improvements in reliability, maintenance and operating costs over current C-130 Hercules fleets.

The two-pilot flight deck crew has the benefit of an integrated, digital avionics system in the cockpit and a fly-by-wire control system. Additional systems provide a night-vision-compatible glass cockpit complete with two head-up displays supported by at least five multi-function displays that allow state-of-the-art avionics developments to be incorporated to the flight-deck design, so greatly reducing crew workload. The aircraft is powered by four Europrop International (EPI) turbo-prop engines, which will be the most powerful turbo-props developed to date in the western world. They are lighter, easy to maintain and consume 20% less fuel per mission relative to a similar turbo-fan engine. A modern Defensive Aids Suite will be fitted, incorporating radio and infra-red frequency detectors, electronic-countermeasure equipment and chaff/flare dispensers.  The cargo bay of the A400M is controlled by one loadmaster and can be configured for a number of roles including troop carrying, or a mixture of troops and support equipment, palletised cargo, two attack helicopters such as the Apache or Puma; or a mixture of light and heavy engineering equipment. Offloading equipment or stores after landing can be achieved using conventional ground equipment, the aircraft’s internal load-roller system, by airborne parachute or by gravity extraction from the aircraft’s rear ramp.

Providing a comparison to the A400M was the Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules, this one being from the U.S Air Force's 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein in Germany. Similar in appearance to earlier models of the Hercules, the C-130J is virtually an all-new aircraft. Major improvements include a state-of-the-art, computer-controlled digital flight deck - designed for two-pilot operation and equipped with twin mission computers. More powerful, digitally-controlled Rolls-Royce engines fitted with Dowty Aerospace advanced technology six-bladed composite propellers enable the C-130J to fly much further, faster and higher than previous models. The C-130J was also the world’s first military transport aircraft to have a head-up display certified as the primary flight instrument for all stages of flight. The C-130J is at least 15% more fuel-efficient than previous models and in addition, improved technologies drastically reduce the requirements for maintenance and logistic support.

In case you are wondering, the "Ridare La Luce" inscription on the side of the aircraft relates to an Itailian humanitarian mission in Mali, Africa to fight eye desease. Not sure what the significance is to the C-27 though. Presumably it was involved in providing some form of support in the transportation role??

Staying on the transport theme is the Alenia C-27J Spartan. Looking somewhat like a small C-130 with two engines the C-27J can fly farther, faster and higher than any other twin engine military transport aircraft in its class. The C-27J features the unique capability to vary cargo floor height and continuously adjust attitude, ensuring easy loading and unloading of large volume, high density payloads without ground support equipment. The C-27J has outstanding threat-avoidance capabilities, including a take-off ground run of about 1,900 feet at maximum take-off weight on an unpaved surface. In a tactical environment, the aircraft is capable of climbing to 10,000 ft in 3 minutes, descending from 10,000 ft in under 2.5 minutes, and can handle up to 3g forces. At its maximum landing weight, the C-27J has a ground roll of less than 1,115 ft. It is currently in service with the air forces of Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria and the aircraft is also under production for the U.S. Army and Air Force’s Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program.

The first Agusta-Westland AW.139 helicopter for the Italian Guardia Costeria on the Finmeccanica stand

The AW.139 will perform a range of missions including maritime patrol, search and rescue (SAR) and emergency medical services, with three more AW.139s due for delivery in the coming months. Alessandro Parrini, Senior Vice President Italian Government Business Unit, said “We are delighted to add the Italian Coast Guard to the long list of coast guard and SAR operators worldwide who are already using the AW.139 for these demanding duties. The AW.139 has rapidly become the new generation medium twin-engined helicopter of choice for such missions. It will allow the Italian Coast Guard to continue to play a key role in monitoring, protecting and assisting people around Italy’s shores.”

The AW.139 is equipped with a wide range of SAR equipment including an external rescue hoist, cargo hook, wire strike protection system, search/weather radar, FLIR/LLTV system, NVG compatible cockpit, night sun searchlight, external loudspeaker system, emergency floatation system and external life rafts. The cockpit features the latest technology, including a Honeywell Primus Epic fully integrated avionics system, a 4-axis digital Automatic Flight Control System and large flat panel colour displays.

The Bell UH-1Y Venom (above) is the latest in the line of the most widely produced helicopters in the Western world today. The new helicopters are used by the United States Marines and are already seeing action in Afghanistan. The UH-1Y can be distinguished from prior models by its four blade main rotor. Sharp eyed observers will also notice that the forward fuselage is about two feet longer than its predecessor. Other changes are a stronger airframe, improved maneuverability and hardened fuselage components providing greater protection to its crew and passengers. More powerful engines in the UH-1Y provide greater speed, and additional payload capacity, whilst new avionics include an all glass cockpit, forward looking infra red imaging systems, and electronic counter measure abilities. There are also new, larger fuel tanks which can withstand greater impacts. Along with all of the improvements of the new helicopter comes more reliability. The UH-1Y incorporates a series of sensors to provide its crew with the latest maintenance detection available and major components of the helicopter can be more easily reached through access hatches and doors, allowing easier and faster maintenance when necessary.

FLIR Systems 'BRITE STAR' is used on the nose of the aircraft for targeting and Forward Looking Infrared images that are displayed on selected multi-function displays (MFD) inside the cockpit. The 'Top Owl' Helmet Mounted Sight and Display (HMSD) system supports improved communication and reduced cockpit workload. Manufactured by THALES Avionics, Top Owl is the most technically advanced helmet available. Upgradeable in-service and as additional requirements develop, it combines both avionics function with the aircrew life support and protection into a single unit.

MH-60R from HSM-40 based at NAS Mayport Florida