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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2207.PDF
tfAVifil «^^fl ^•CO t:A ! ated a network of suppliers and partners. This generated a lot of technological know- how, while allowing Airbus to react more flexibly to the market. Boeing learned the lesson and is also moving towards a world wide network of risk-sharing-partners." Focus When Casa became part of EADS, its best known area was military transport, al though it also brought important assets into EADS' Aeronautics and Space divisions. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the commercial aircraft arena with a civil ver sion of the C-235, EADS Casa focused on military customers. This strategy has borne fruit, achieving highly visible sales to Brazil and the USA, and to other competitive pub licly tendered acquisition programmes. With several production centres in Mad rid and Andalusia and employing more than 6,000 people, the Military Transport Aircraft division contributed revenues of €524 million ($587 million) to EADS Casa last year. While this represents a minor part of the EADS universe, the A400M program me is expected to change this dramatically. EADS Casa is developing technologies beyond military aircraft in order to offer complete systems. Based on its expertise with maritime patrol systems, in recent years EADS Casa has developed its Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS), which integrates new- generation mission sensors, a search radar, forward-looking infrared, an acoustic system and data link 11. It can be installed on any large anti-submarine platform, such as the Atlantique or the Lockheed P-3 Orion. Recent international FITS contracts include the navies of Brazil, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and the US Coast Guard. CONTINUES P38 Cover story REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ANDALUSIA How politics plays a role in shaping industry Andalusia, Spain's southernmost region is, with the Basque region in the north, a prominent example of how local politics can influence aero space industry development. The Andalusian government has recognised the potential of reviving a local industry based on Casa facto ries in Seville and Cadiz dating back to the 1920s and employing around 2,600 people. Andalusia's minister for employ ment and technological development Jose Antonio Viera says: 'We created the Andalucia Aerospacial Consortium to become a risk-sharing partner in the McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 programme in 1987." But the succession of relatively unsuccessful programmes, such as the MD11, Boeing 717 and Fairchild Domier's scrapped 728 regional jet project, led to its liquidation in September 2002. However, Viera says: "Airbus's deci sion to establish the A400M final assembly line in Seville has created many opportunities for local industry. We decided to capitalise on compos ite materials and metal-glueing specialist SACESA to bridge between multinational and local companies. To improve engineering capacity, we have created Emerge, in which SACESA also has a stake." The Andalusian government and a group of local banks both hold around 40% of SACESA, with EADS Casa owning the remaining 20%. Viera says major projects such as the Airbus A380 belly fairing, largely sub- contracted to SACESA in a €400 mil lion ($450 million) long-term contract with Airbus Espafia, the Airbus A400M project and Gamesa's new Seville factory, are changing local industry. "The A380 and A400M pro grammes alone are producing direct investments of close to €500 million in the Seville area and creating about 10,000 direct and induced new jobs," adds Viera. 'We have created Aeropolis, Europe's largest aeronautical technol ogy park, and have made available over €100 million of financial aid. We're also reaching agreements with local universities on professional education and R&D." Nearly half of Aeropolis's space has already been taken. But not all the activity is in the Seville area. For example, the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technologies (INTA) has renewed the hangar and telemetry infrastructure of Europe's most important independent flight-testing centre at Granada airport. Originally created by Fokkerto speed up the certification processes of its air craft, it quickly became popular with other manufacturers such as Casa, Fairchild Dornier, Pilatus and Saab. INTA's director of flight-testing ser vices Luis Davila says: "Fokker discovered in 1970 that Granada has optimum conditions for flight testing. There is no other place in or near Europe with this combination of light winds, sun, low traffic and a long run way, making it ideal for all kinds of aircraft certification processes." REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: BASOUE REGION An object lesson in the power of partnership Companies, financiers and politicians in Spain's northern Basque region have managed to create an aero space industry out of nothing in little more than a decade. Cesar Fernandez de Velasco, Gamesa Aeronautica's director-gen eral, says that In the 1980s, engineering firm Sener developed its own turbine technology. It also brought together the Spanish state holding company, INI/ SEPI, and Rolls-Royce to create ITP to partici pate in Eurojet. Gamesa also decided to apply its composite materials know-how to the aerospace industry, becoming a risk-sharing partner with Embraer to work on the wings of the ERJ-145 through its subsidiary Gamesa Aeronautica. In a short time, these companies started strategic partnerships with Allied Signal, General Electric and Rolls-Royce. They also worked alongside Sikorsky on the S-92 helicopter and the IAI Astra programmes. CONTINUES P38 www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7-13 OCTOBER 2003 37
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