U.S. snubs air show

last updated 8 January 2015

Paris

The Pentagon is sending its smallest delegation in years to this week’s Paris Air Show, and has encouraged U.S. defense contractors to do the same. The Paris show is the aviation world’s biggest trade fair, where airplane builders show off their latest models to military and commercial customers. This year, to punish France for its opposition to the Iraq war, the Pentagon is sending only junior officers to represent the U.S., and American aircraft will not perform the traditional daily flybys. “From the administration’s point of view, this is a relatively harmless way of expressing dissatisfaction,” defense analyst Loren Thompson told CNN. “But I don’t think U.S. industry sees it that way.”