EADS N.V. - EADS to increase industrial footprint in India

EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services, is committed to supporting India in the development of both its aerospace infrastructure and its industrial capabilities in aviation, space and defence technology. This was announced by EADS CEO Tom Enders during meetings in New Delhi with Indian top officials. Enders is a member of a German delegation headed by Minister for Economic Affairs, Michael Glos.

“India is rapidly developing into a major player in the aerospace industry and several Indian companies have been contributing for over 40 years to the global success of EADS,” said Enders. “India is a priority country for EADS as it offers market potential and solid aerospace and defence competencies. We will facilitate the creation in India of training Centres for pilots and mechanics, maintenance and spare part distribution centres.”

EADS India Private Limited, a 100% owned subsidiary of EADS, was registered earlier this year and will lead the development of the Group in India.

A significant step will be the opening of the EADS Technology Centre India. This campus-style institution will bring both the EADS subsidiaries and the Indian partners under the same roof, performing engineering and information technology services.

The decision on the location will be made soon. Operations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2007 and the entire campus will be inaugurated in early 2008.

Central to the EADS campus will be a state-of-the-art engineering unit called the Engineering Centre Airbus India. It will be a 100% owned subsidiary of Airbus and will represent the biggest on-site unit owned by an EADS Division. The Airbus Engineering Centre will focus on high-end engineering analysis and design and will eventually work closely with several Indian aeronautic suppliers. The Airbus Engineering Centre is expected to enter into operation during the first half of 2007 from a temporary site, with a recruitment programme starting as early as September 2006.

The EADS Technology Centre India will become a major employer in the aerospace and defence sector in India with the potential to create up to 2,000 jobs. Over the next 15 years, the volume of investment and high-tech activities generated thanks to the EADS Technology Centre, including the Airbus Engineering Centre and other cooperation programmes will reach approx. INR 11,000 crores (€ 2 billion).

“This investment clearly signals our commitment to India, our Indian customers and our industrial partners,” stated Daniel Baubil, Head of EADS Global Industrial Development. “We highly estimate their technological skills and it is our goal to jointly develop, manufacture and market products together with Indian companies.”

Since the Indian aeronautic and defence platform manufacturers are increasingly outsourcing the manufacture of parts to the private sector and thus broadening the range of potential subcontractors, EADS has decided to launch an Indian sourcing office. This office with branches in New Delhi and Bangalore will be operational by the end of 2006. Its aim is to support the EADS Business Units in sourcing, both for market access and cost reasons.

The collaboration between EADS and Indian companies, which started in the 1960s, has been further boosted by recent cooperation agreements. In 2005 Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization ISRO, and EADS Astrium agreed to jointly address the commercial market for communications satellites with a payload power below 4 Kw and a launch mass in the range of 2 to 3 tonnes. Since the cooperation agreement was signed, the ISRO Antrix /EADS Astrium alliance has already sold two satellites to European operators, Eutelsat Communications and Avanti. These satellites are already in production in Bangalore.

HAL has a long history of cooperation with EADS starting in the 60s with the license production of the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. Since then, more than 600 helicopters have been produced by HAL.

In October 2005, India’s Ministry of Defence awarded the world's leading missile manufacture MBDA (controlled at 37.5 % by EADS) the contract to supply its Exocet SM-39 weapon system to arm its Navy’s new Scorpène conventional attack submarines. The contract made India the 34th customer for the renowned anti-ship missile system. The deal also cemented a longstanding relationship which has seen MBDA supply key programmes to the Indian Army and Air Force. This began more than 20 years ago with the production under licence of the Milan anti-armour systems by India’s Bharat Dynamics. BDL has already produced about 30,000 Milan guided antitank missiles under the licence agreement with MBDA. MBDA has also equipped the Indian Air Force and Navy with airborne weapons for its Jaguar, and Mirage 2000 combat aircraft. The armed version of the Dhruv, Advanced Light Helicopter under development for the Indian Armed Forces, is to carry an air to air missile from MBDA.

In July 2006, a contract covering the joint development of a missile warning system for the Indian Air Force was signed between EADS Defence Electronics and the Indian Defence Avionics Research Establishment. The partners will jointly develop a missile warning system based on EADS' proven warning sensor MILDS AN/AAR-60 and integrate it into the existing Multi-Sensor Warning System of the Indian armed forces. It is expected to have the system operational by 2007. As part of the agreement, EADS in a first step will deliver 36 sensors for further integration and development. EADS also committed itself to establish step-by-step a local production of MILDS AN/AAR-60 in India.

As one of Europe's leading aerospace companies, EADS Germany and EADS CASA Spain alongside Alenia Aeronautica in Italy, BAe Sytems in the United Kingdom are developing and manufacturing the world's most advanced new generation swing-role combat aircraft – Eurofighter Typhoon. An excellent candidate to fulfil the requirements for the Multi Role Combat Aircraft Project in India, Eurofighter Typhoon is extremely agile, highly manoeuvrable, delivers air-to-air and air-to-ground capability and meets operational demands of air forces worldwide.

EADS is the world's leader in passenger aircraft and helicopters and has secured a strong position in these fields in India. In 2005, Airbus sold 229 planes to the Indian customer, the regional aircraft manufacturer ATR 50. Airbus holds 73% of all future orders and options in India, valued at $ 22 billion in 2006. Airbus has forecasted that by 2025 up to 960 aircraft will be required to meet Indian air travel demands and the majority of these aircraft will come from the A320 family. This year, the success for both Airbus and ATR continues with Indian Airlines (43 A320 a/c family) and Kingfisher (five Airbus A340-500, 15 ATR 72-500). In July 2006, GoAir signed a purchase agreement for 10 Airbus A320 family aircraft with an option for a further ten.

Eurocopter's market share in the civil and para-public market in India is about 50%, its largest customer being Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd. Private or corporate owners of Eurocopter helicopters include Reliance, Jindal and Vectra Aviation among others.

At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2006, ATR and Kingfisher Airlines announced that a Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA) has been concluded for spare parts and maintenance services for the new ATR 72-500 aircraft fleet. This 10-year GMA stipulates that ATR will handle the repair of equipment and line replaceable units, plus an inventory of spare parts and engines on lease at Kingfisher premises, as well as the airframe maintenance checks and the maintenance of propellers and landing gears for a total amount of about $ 50 million. Through this agreement, ATR will cover a range of maintenance services for the 35 ATR 72-500s fleet already ordered by Kingfisher.

EADS to increase industrial footprint in India

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