Venture Atlas

France and Germany signed a joint declaration to build a 'European sovereign digital backbone' spanning data-centric security, AI and cloud, a move widely read as an effort to develop a homegrown alternative to Palantir's military software following talks between Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz. Paris has pitched its AI-powered Arcadia command-and-control platform — alongside comparable German systems — as a replacement for Palantir's Maven Smart System, which underpins NATO targeting operations. The push follows France's DGSI moving to drop Palantir for French rival ChapsVision's ArgonOS and Germany's services making similar switches, with the partners targeting a proof-of-concept within 18 to 24 months.

Singapore-based lessor BOC Aviation announced at the Farnborough International Airshow that it will purchase and option up to 300 CFM International LEAP engines — 200 LEAP-1A and 100 LEAP-1B — its largest-ever engine order. The turbofans will power incoming Airbus A320neo-family and Boeing 737 MAX narrowbodies, deepening a LEAP relationship that already spans more than 240 aircraft in BOC's fleet. The order underscores resilient narrowbody demand as both planemakers sell delivery slots into the 2030s.

Boeing booked nearly 150 orders on the July 20 opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow, headlined by lessor SMBC Aviation Capital, which split a major narrowbody deal by ordering 100 Boeing 737 MAX and 100 Airbus A320neo-family jets. Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air committed to 28 Boeing 787 Dreamliners — converting 20 of its earlier 787-9 orders to the larger 787-10 — plus six Airbus A350-1000s, while Philippine Airlines took up to 20 Boeing 787-10s. The flurry firms up deals the two planemakers had chased for weeks as delivery slots sell out into the 2030s.

Archer Aviation and defense company Anduril unveiled a jointly developed autonomous hybrid-electric tiltrotor aircraft at Farnborough on July 20, offered in a commercial variant Archer calls Halo and a defense variant Anduril calls Thunder that share a common architecture. The series hybrid-electric design takes off vertically and transitions to wing-borne cruise, with Anduril saying Thunder is built to cruise above 200 knots and range thousands of nautical miles as an autonomous 'loyal wingman' flying alongside crewed aircraft. First flight is targeted for 2027.