EADS Global Website - Our Vision

Innovation at EADS

The world will change considerably in the coming decades, requiring new products based on emerging technologies and efficient processes. Products and processes must be tightly linked to improve competitiveness and differentiation. Research & Technology (R&T) plays a central role in EADS remaining competitive by being more innovative, better, cheaper and faster in delivering products than its competitors, in view of the fact that European companies suffer from a largely fragmented and generally lower customer funding than their US peers, for example.

In addition, EADS and its Divisions promote cutting-edge technologies and scientific excellence to contribute to global progress and to deliver solutions for the challenges posed by such societal issues as environmental protection, mobility, defence and security, and safety.

EADS aims to strengthen its position as a global leader in the aerospace and defence business and to deliver competitive, integrated solutions to its customers while targeting increased revenues and profitability. In doing so, the company strives to solidify an innovation culture, to work more globally for all its stakeholders, improve its cultural diversity and promote ethics and transparency within its organisation.

The Research & Technology strategic approach

The key strategic obligations for EADS include the saving and developing of core competencies and core technologies for platform and platform-based systems architecture and integration. In parallel, EADS must keep its innovation pipeline constantly filled to replace ageing technologies and processes. Each Division must muster the technologies needed to face fierce international competition and pro-actively respond to customer requirements.

Building on the identification, evaluation and clear prioritisation of critical technologies for the Group, EADS is shaping a technological policy that strengthens Group synergies and is aimed at maintaining and, when needed, increasing the EADS R&T effort, each Division being responsible for proposing its own targets, and at securing public and private R&T funding.

The EADS R&T strategy is driven by:

Shareholder value: a stringent, leading-edge R&T portfolio that enables flawless introduction of new technology on future products and delivers strong Return-on-Investment
Customer excitement: high-value solutions that meet the technological, performance, safety and cost-competitive pressures that challenge our future
Societal responsibility: solutions answering the paramount considerations of mobility, environmental protection, safety and security
Successful on-time, on-quality, on-price introduction of new products and processes
Technology leadership to fuel business growth

EADS R&T activities cover a wide spectrum of technological domains; they are targeted at the different levels in the value chain and structured according to the timelines of short term/committed programmes, medium term/optional programmes and long term/advanced concepts for the introduction of new technologies into the company’s products and processes.