MATRA-DEFENSE Espace president Noel Forgeard has attacked the intended merger of the Aerospatiale and Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) satellite businesses for leaving his company out of the negotiations. He has also joined the growing chorus of protest over Aerospatiale ceding the lead in satellite manufacture to the German concern.
Forgeard has hit out at the still-unsigned merger, complaining that Matra, as Europe's biggest supplier of observation satellites, has been "forgotten too quickly" in the negotiations.
"Matra Marconi Space is a predominantly French company, with a French president. The projected company resulting from the Aerospatiale-DASA alliance will be dominated by Germany, with a German chief," he says.
Forgeard's remarks over the lead role being given to Germany on the satellite tie-up reflects the growing reluctance in Paris over giving up the prime position in European telecommunication-satellite manufacture.
The Aerospatiale/DASA deal is meant to be part of a larger accord between the two companies which gives leadership of a missiles alliance to Aerospatiale. Industrial questions on both mergers are believed to have been largely settled, but, with the new French Government likely to review all such arrangements, political issues may yet disrupt hopes for a conclusion in time for the Paris air show in June. Senior German industrial sources confirm that political pressure is being exerted to try and keep Germany from gaining the lead.
Forgeard says that only Matra Marconi, which is a joint venture with the UK's GEC-Marconi, has the ability to carry out the entire range of tasks associated with building observation satellites. He points out that the company is working on "three or four times more programmes with DASA than with Aerospatiale".
Source: Flight International