Aircraft

Europe is on the verge of receiving its first joint research fund for military projects, with European Union countries expected to approve a €50 million ($60 million) fund early next week. An early candidate for funds could be a study into the needs of a new common attack helicopter for Europe, which could lead eventually to production.

In an informal meeting in Innsbruck, Austria next Tuesday and Wednesday, the EU's 25 heads of government will sign off the plan, first mooted by the UK presidency in October and approved by defence ministers in Brussels last month. The fund will be administered by the European Defence Agency, the prototype EU procurement agency.

It is understood that EADS has been instrumental behind the scenes getting agreement from various sceptical member states, in a bid to stimulate shared research into defence projects. Currently the EDA runs a series of opt-in research projects into niche technology areas, but this plan would oblige European countries to commit funds to common projects. Initial projects are understood to include studies into the requirement for a next generation combat helicopter. EADS division Eurocopter has been frustrated in its efforts to launch research into rotorcraft concepts such as unmanned platforms, tiltrotor and gyrodynes by disparate defence budgets.

The division of contribution will be a stumbling block next week, although the union's four largest members, France, Germany, Italy and the UK are expected to pay the bulk of the sum. The UK has expressed reluctance in the past to allocate public money to a European structure, despite the fact that the agency's chief executive Nick Witney, is British.

Tom Enders, EADS co-chief executive called last month for the initial €50 million to be increased to €200 million in the medium term. Eventually the fund could rival the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has an annual budget of $2 billion budget for upstream research, he says.