EADS in India

India is a strategic country for EADS with its large domestic market for commercial aviation, defense and security and space, as well as its dynamic local industry offering numerous opportunities for sourcing and partnerships. In recent years, EADS has positioned itself as a major supplier of both platforms and systems to India. EADS is pursuing an ambitious industrial strategy in India built on a long lasting business relationship developed over the past 50 years.

Airbus has fostered aviation partnerships in India since the first aircraft, an A300B2 was delivered to Air India some 36 years ago in 1976. Today, that partnership has grown to over around 70 per cent of all commercial aircraft ordered (100+ seat) in the country. Airbus is one of the biggest aviation companies in India employing over 350 people in Bangalore and is expected to grow over the next coming years. Overall Indian engineering and manufacturing companies nationwide, including more than 2,000 people, contribute to virtually all aircraft programmes across the Airbus supply chain. Airbus‘ vision for the Indian Aviation sector is to support its growth in the most sustainable way possible and to use commercial successes to further mutually beneficial industrial co-operation opportunities.

In the space sector, Astrium – Europe’s leading space company – is the principal foreign partner of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its commercial arm Antrix. For several years, Astrium and Antrix have been collaborating under a formal cooperation agreement to address the commercial market for smaller communications satellites. This arrangement has already produced two communications satellites jointly manufactured by the partners. Astrium recently used the Indian PSLV rocket for the launch of its new-generation Spot 6 Earth observation satellite. In addition, the Ariane vehicle, for which Astrium is industrial prime contractor, has been regularly used for the launch of ISRO satellites over the last decade.

ATR aircraft have been flying in India since 1999; as of today more than 50 ATRs are in operations with 5 airlines in the country. The ATRs are ideal aircraft to connect Tier II and Tier III cities in India and with frequent flights they ensure vital connection in remote part of the country. The most popular model is the ATR 72-500 and since December 2012 the latest version of ATR 72-600 is also be in operations. A great number of aircraft in India is covered by contract services with ATR for repair, exchange, pooling and onsite stock of components; for this and other type of services an ATR Customer Services regional office is operational in India since 2006, based in Bangalore and supporting all ATR customers in the region.
The South Asian continent accounts for almost 25% of the worldwide population and remain a key market for every aircraft manufacturer.

In the defence and security sectors, the Cassidian Division has positioned itself as an important contender for the delivery of platforms, systems and subsystems for the military and the public safety forces. As part of its strategy, Cassidian is working and cooperating closely with private and public Indian Institutions to further establish its footprint in these growing markets. As a major success Cassidian inaugurated India's first ever defence and security focused Engineering Centre owned by a foreign company in 2011. Cassidian has received 2 consultancy contracts to support 2 key R&D programmes of DRDO, i-e the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) development and the AEW&C aircraft programme. In both cases, Cassidian is supporting DRDO to achieve quality & milestones with expertise from Europe.

Eurocopter footprint in India on the civil and parapublic helicopter market was strengthened late 2010 with the opening of a full-fledged subsidiary. Eurocopter India is headquartered in Delhi and has also offices in Bangalore and Mumbai covering helicopter sales as well as comprehensive support and services sustained by a network of approved maintenance centres throughout the country. It can boast one third of the global Indian civil market with over 80 helicopters, including the WW Dauphin fleet leader Pawan Hans for oil and gas and passenger transport. Reinforced by five decades of unparalleled presence and cooperation with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Eurocopter is further developing sourcing activities through industrial partnership with HAL and Mahindra.

Atlas Elektronik stands for maritime security. For decades now, ATLAS – as a leading systems supplier for naval electronics – has been helping navies around the globe make the sea a safer place. ATLAS has a broad offering of sonars and sensors, command and control systems for submarines and surface combatants, mine countermeasures systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, radio and communications equipment, naval weapons as well as coastal surveillance systems and vessel traffic services. To round off its broad palette, ATLAS offers comprehensive support services, both before and after delivery of the products.

MBDA, an EADS affiliated company has always committed in providing cutting edge technology to India from the past four decades. The MILAN anti-armour missile being the basis of the longest alliance between India (BDL) and MBDA. Working also in close collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), MBDA equipped their ALH Dhruv Helicopters with ATAM air to air system. As part of the modernization of the Mirage 2000, MBDA will supply weapons platforms (MICA missiles and associated launchers).

Innovation Works India, co-located with the Airbus Engineering Center India in Bangalore, started operations in December of 2009. With seven full time researchers including three PhDs, Innovation Works India’s primary research activities have been in the areas of aero-thermal processing, CAD-CAE link, optimization, high-performance computing, distributed & cloud computing, and image processing. In collaboration with Cassidian Engineering Center in Bangalore, Innovation Works India has been working on Cognitive Radars which can provide improved target detection through better adaptability to environmental changes.IW India also partners with various university and research entities to pursue other areas of research. In addition, several students from various French and Indian universities have done internships here.

Innovation is one of the four pillars of the Airbus 2020 Vision (Airbus Innovation Cell). In order to transition from spontaneous invention towards a dedicated structure able to foster innovation, the Airbus Executive Committee created the Airbus Innovation Cell in early 2010. It has the mission to discover and realise game-changing innovations far beyond current products and services for the benefit of all Airbus stakeholders. The newly created Airbus Innovation Cell is headquartered in Bangalore and designed to take the leading position at the fore-front of innovation by focusing on selected strategic challenges and emerging opportunities, complemented by an extended network operation.