One of France’s most popular newspapers, le Figaro, this week reported on AERALIS’s announcement of its French subsidiary, AERALIS France, and set out the solution AERALIS presents for France’s aging training fleet.

The following is a translation of the original article:

The British start-up Aeralis proposes to associate the French aeronautical industry with the development of a device that can be declined in several versions from a single fuselage.

Will the Patrouille de France (PAF) one day fly with a British aircraft? Shocking for some, as the PAF is prestigious and proudly represents France worldwide. Last summer, it was showcased at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics and, as every year, concluded the military parade on July 14th.

However, this is the bold bet of AERALIS, a start-up founded in the UK in 2016 by Tristan Crawford, a former Airbus design engineer. During a visit to Paris, he announced this Wednesday the opening of a subsidiary in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, near Paris. This subsidiary “demonstrates the commitment” of the young company to work with the French aerospace sector, proposing to partner with it to develop a “sovereign solution, meeting the specific needs of the Air and Space Force.” AERALIS believes it has a chance to convince the Ministry of the Armed Forces for several reasons.

Swiss Pilatus aircraft to train pilots

The PAF has been flying Alphajets since 1981, a Franco-German aircraft developed by Dassault Aviation and Dornier. The aircraft was also used to train French fighter pilots, after initial training on the Grob, a propeller aircraft supplied by Airbus Defence. Produced in over 500 units, the Alphajet was sold to 16 countries worldwide, including 176 in France. Retired in the summer of 2023, the version used to train fighter pilots was replaced by a Swiss aircraft, the Pilatus PC-21. However, Paris has not yet decided on a successor for the PAF’s Alphajets, of which it has about a dozen.

This fleet, although aging and costly to maintain, has been extended at least until 2032-2033. “The issues of replacing the PAF’s Alphajet are related to the continuity of the PAF and the opportunity to pool this fleet” for other training and advanced training missions for fighter pilots, explains the Ministry of the Armed Forces. This includes the Red Air mission – one or more aircraft play the role of attackers against Rafales to train pilots in air combat – as well as “training and support missions for ground troops or towing aerial targets,” details the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

Paris is studying several options for the Red Air missions, previously carried out by Alphajets, to “concentrate the remaining potential of these aircraft for the PAF’s use.” The future aircraft of the Patrouille de France must be “as French as possible” and “demonstrate the expertise of the French aerospace industry,” insists the Ministry of the Armed Forces. However, “to date, the development and commissioning of a future aircraft dedicated to the PAF” within the deadlines (before the retirement of its Alphajets, to avoid a capability gap), “seem impossible,” admits the Ministry of the Armed Forces. In short, there are currently no advanced training aircraft programs (powerful and fast) under development in France.

Ways of cooperation with London or Madrid

In this context, France is exploring cooperation avenues with the United Kingdom (which needs to replace its Hawk T2 trainers) or Spain. Hence AERALIS’s decision to advance its proposals to the Air and Space Force and the Royal Air Force in the UK, with an original concept. The British start-up does not propose the off-the-shelf purchase of an already developed and equipped aircraft, but a modular jet fuselage with an open architecture, from which French manufacturers – engine makers, avionics specialists, or aerostructure experts – would build and assemble in France several versions of aircraft meeting the needs of the Patrouille de France and the Air Force.

The Airbus model applied to training aircraft

“We are transposing the proven modular approach at Airbus, which, from a single fuselage, the A320, developed a family of aircraft (from the A318, the smallest, to the A321, the largest),” explains Tristan Crawford to Le Figaro. This approach has been a win-win. The manufacturer reduced design and construction time and costs; airlines reduced maintenance and pilot training costs. This is thanks to the “commonality” of parts between aircraft of the same family.

“All possible versions of our aircraft – basic or advanced training aircraft, single or two-seaters, or even drones, with several possible engines and equipment – are developed from a single fuselage and have 85% common parts and use the same flight simulator, which reduces ownership costs by 50% over their entire life cycle,” details the start-up’s CEO. Another proposed financing breakthrough is the possibility of paying for the use of the aircraft (per flight hour) rather than buying them. A very common option in commercial aviation, but rarely implemented by the military, which would be an economical response, according to AERALIS, in these times of constrained budgets.

If its aircraft concept, whose first test aircraft has been named “Phoenix,” is selected by Paris, the start-up commits to developing the aircraft in five years and assembling it in France. It is already looking at several sites to locate a future assembly line.

A $90 billion global market

The proposal to pool the acquisition or rental of this future aircraft, adaptable in several versions, put on the table for France and the United Kingdom, is part of a broader approach. Aeralis plans to propose its concept to meet the training and training needs of NATO countries’ pilots. “Our aircraft is neither French nor British. It would strengthen cooperation between France and the United Kingdom and could integrate the Lancaster House agreements (signed in 2010 with two common missile and mine warfare programs). And it could become the interoperable aircraft of NATO countries,” summarizes Tristan Crawford. He also aims internationally to meet the market for the renewal of this type of aircraft, estimated at $90 billion by 2030.

le Figaro, 13 February 2025

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