Negotiations between EADS and Russian Aerospace Agency Rosaviakosmos Finalised
Strategic Partnership Agreement signed
Moscow, 02 July 2001
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Investment in Russian Aerospace Industry with EUR 2.1 bn turnover in Russia for next ten years
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Thousands of Jobs for Highly Qualified Russian Engineers
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Huge Work Load for Russian Factories
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Access to European and World Market for Russia
The partnership package between EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency Rosaviakosmos is finalised. EADS will now start direct negotiations with Russian industrial partners in order to launch the process to organise investment in favour of the Russian aerospace industry by the partners. This was announced by Philippe Camus, Chief Executive Officer of EADS and Yuri Koptev, General Director of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency at a joint press conference on Monday in Moscow. EADS and Russia will set up joint companies to manage the co-operation programmes. "This long term partnership will create some thousands of highly qualified jobs in the Russian aerospace industry and is worth some EUR 2.1 bn in revenues over the first ten years," said Yuri Koptev.
"There will be a real work load for Russian engineers," added Philippe Camus. "The production flow anticipated in the civil aviation sector for example shall be in the range of one panel for the A320 per week, one fuselage section for the A330/A340 per month and 150 fuselage sections for the A320 per year. And these figures can be increased if the programmes run successfully." European partners have conquered the world market by joining forces and opening their own markets to each other, explained Camus. "This new partnership will allow both Europe and Russia to be even more successful on the world market by joining their experience, know-how and markets." The partnership package embraces the fields of civil aviation, military transport aircraft, helicopters, fighter aircraft and space technology. "This is not about vague hopes for the future," said Camus. The Russian industry will participate in programmes which are already running successfully, like the A320 family, or which are due to start production in the near future, like the new superjumbo A380, the satellite navigation system Galileo or the military transport aircraft A400M. "Our partnership package gives Russia the opportunity to work with us in many business spheres. No market is closed to Russian products," stated Philippe Camus. "We are keen on developing strategic partnerships with the Russian aeronautic and space industry as we are keen to develop strategic partnerships with Russian Airlines, notably with Aeroflot."
In the civil aircraft sector, Russia will do co-design work and series production of derivate components. Russian factories will be certified as suppliers for Airbus. Russian scientific institutes will do research in the areas of aerodynamics, calculation, wind tunnel testing, evaluation of metals, special tools and machines, acoustics and new simulation models. This includes a participation in the A380 passenger and freighter programme. Airbus will set up an engineering centre in Russia which will employ 150 Russian engineers.
In the A400M programme, Russia will be offered the opportunity to design and manufacture landing gears, fuselage components, engine mounts and metal parts of the horizontal stabilizer.
In the field of fighter aircraft, the co-operation in the MiG-29 upgrade will be continued. The EADS subsidiary Eurocopter will start a pre-feasibility study of payload and a market study for the heavy helicopter Mi 38. A prototype will be jointly developed.
The space sector includes the existing launch companies Starsem and Eurockot, research and development of re-entry technologies, Russian participation in the European satellite navigation system Galileo and propulsion technology. EADS supports the Russian idea to launch the proven Soyuz rocket from Kourou, French Guyana.
Training of Russian managers concerns the management of aerospace companies, international cooperation, certification and quality control. Training on the job in EADS facilities is also part of the programme. The programmes will start immediately after the signature of the contracts between EADS and the industrial partners on the Russian side. "That means that Russian specialists can start - not in ten years, but tomorrow - developing and manufacturing parts for aircraft which are and will continue to be sold worldwide," said Philippe Camus. "That also means a guaranteed cash flow for our Russian partners beginning tomorrow. And that also means that know-how will stay in Russia and their young people will have an incentive for staying in this industry. It means direct access for Russian products to the to European and world market. The great aerospace traditions of Russia will continue." EADS and Russia have a ten year track record of successful cooperation. Launch Services by Starsem and Rockot, upgrade of MiG-29 aircraft or research in the field of aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen are just some examples. And the DMS-R computer EADS delivered to Energia for the "Zvezda" module of the International Space Station is operating perfectly. "Our experience has shown that we can be very successful together," said Koptev. Camus pointed out that the skills, the experience and the know-how of Russian aerospace engineers and scientists are second to none. "These skills must be preserved and further developed: they are part of the wealth of Russia. Partnership with Europe is the way to make this wealth grow again."
Examples like Airbus, Eurocopter, the helicopter manufacturer, Eurockot or Ariane, the rocket launcher show, EADS has experience in organising international programmes. "We have proven that on the world market we can beat competitors who are based only in one country," said Camus. The EADS partners have joined forces to be more competitive, "but we have the kind of partnership in which we have not lost our identities" underlined Camus. "We are still French, German, Spanish, Italian or British doing complimentary work under one single roof of EADS. EADS secures jobs and experienced employees in all its participating countries. Russia can therefore join in partnership with Europe without losing its identity in aerospace."
With pro forma revenues of EUR 24.2 billion in 2000, EADS is the largest aerospace company in Europe and the third largest such company in the world. EADS was founded in July 2000 by the merger of the French Aerospatiale Matra, the Spanish CASA and the German DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) and employs a workforce of over 100,000.
