Julian Moxon/PARIS
A strategic co-operation agreement between European aerospace giant EADS and several Russian aerospace firms is expected to be signed this week. The wide-ranging memorandum of understanding (MoU) will cover the civil aircraft, helicopter and space sectors, Flight International can reveal.
Gustav Humbert, chief operating officer of Airbus, in which EADS has an 80% stake, says negotiations have been going on for some time, and that though progress has been slow, EADS is now ready to sign a deal with Russian aerospace industry organisation Rosaviakosmos.
"EADS is talking to Rosavia-kosmos about an umbrella MoU where we fix co-operation between different EADS divisions and parts of the Russian aerospace industry in civil aircraft, space, helicopters and other areas," reveals Humbert. "We'd certainly like to include Russian industry in Airbus programmes, but it's too early to know exactly what form that will take."
Humbert says the MoU will lead to talks with Russia on A3XX co-operation, although a lack of funds means it is unlikely to become a risk-sharing partner. Russia industry has tried to cooperate with Airbus in the past, but the transformation of the airframer into a single company from January should do much to ease the process, sources say.
EADS controls 100% of Eurocopter, the world's biggest helicopter manufacturer, while Russia's rotorcraft sector is dominated by Mil and Kamov. In space, EADS has a majority stake in Astrium and a stake in launcher market leader Ariane-space, while Russia's space industry is already linked to EADS via projects including the Starsem Soyuz marketing venture (with the former Aerospatiale and Arianespace) and the Eurockot Rokot launcher (Khrunichev and the former Dasa).
Source: Flight International
