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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2208.PDF
Criuar cfrM*\/ 0 ^IQOmiles 6 100km FLIGHT An important area for which EADS Casa has assumed responsibility is development of aerial refuelling tankers based on Airbus A310 and A330 aircraft, initially with the British Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme in mind. This covers develop ment and manufacturing of tanker conver sion kits, and an advanced air-refuelling boom system. Aiming to become the most technologically advanced refuelling system on the market, and to give Europe tech nological independence in the area, the 18m (59ft)-long boom will have fly-by-wire control, giving artificial 3D vision for the operator on night missions. Developed with Madrid-based Optronics specialist Tecnobit, it will provide fuel flow of up to 4,540 litres (l,200USgal)/min. • AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT Indra: stockmarket sweetheart De Velasco says: "Then we created the Hegan aeronautical cluster to co-ordinate relations with smaller companies and local universities for R&D, and we created the CTA engine and structures-testing facility. The 28 companies in Hegan have cre ated 4,200 jobs and are now producing sales of more than €600 million ($700 million)." Fernandez says Gamesa is in the process of creating a production cen tre in Seville to support the EADS- Casa/Airbus projects, although initially it will produce empennages for the Bombardier CRJ700/900. Another project is an assembly site in Brazil near Embraer. On the North American market, he says: 'We are certainly interested in partnering with Boeing around their 7E7 project. A US production site could be a future option." ITP's chief execu tive Ricardo Marti Fluxa underlines the importance of risk-sharing as opposed to sub-contracting to create proprietary technology: "Over the last seven years we have invested €253 million in R&D, amounting to 18% of our sales. Now we own technologies to build light tita nium structures, radial structures and high-temperature alloys, as well as the vectored fighter aircraft nozzle, which no other European manufacturer is able to offer. "Based on this experience, we have evolved to become an integrated engine manufacturer. Engines from Allison and Honeywell, the R-R Trent 500 and Trent 900 and the Europrop TP400 all use, or will use, our low-pressure turbine. Despite being a newcomer, our worldwide share is 8% of the large-engine turbine market." Encountering turbulent times after its privatisation in 1999, Indra's mar ket capitalisation has bounced back to about €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion), nearly doubling its value compared to a year ago. Employing 6,500 peo ple, its sales this year will come close to €1 billion ($1.12 billion). A Madrid savings bank holds around 10% of Indra, while former refer ence investor Thales has quietly disinvested and now has less than 3%. The rest of the shares are pub licly traded. Indra's aerospace activities are grouped around three strategic areas: air traffic management (ATM), simulation and space. Javier Ruano, Indra's director for ATM, says: "We are now the fifth largest provider worldwide with a yearly revenue of about €120 mil lion. We have been very successful implementing ATM systems in 30 countries all over the world, most recently in central America - Bogota and Cabo Verde, not forget ting a €38 million contract with Eurocontrol in Maastricht." Currently, Indra's most important prospect is with the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS). "While Ruano only confirms that "Indra is making its best effort to offer NATS an optimal solution for its needs", other sources point out that NATS has changed its historic procure ment strategy for this £1 billion, 10-year capital spending pro gramme. "They can no longer afford to take politically influenced deci sions. Indra can offer them a proven system and economies of scale, such as sharing new development costs with Aena or other operators using Indra's system," says a Madrid-based financial analyst. Juan Felip, who heads the Simulation and Automatic Test Systems (SIMSAM) division, is par ticularly proud of the latest achievements: "The US Navy has selected Indra as the only non-US company for a small list of approved providers for their Training System Contract II, which manages funds of $3 billion.This confirms our technological ability to compete at the same level as other selected companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman." Indra also holds a 26% stake in Eurofighter Simulations Systems in Munich. In the civil field, Indra recently won a $40 million order from Hainan airlines for Boeing 737-800 simulators. The company not only builds simulators, but operates them. "We're currently operating a helicopter simulator centre for the Spanish army and we have a joint venture with Senasa to jointly exploit an Airbus A340 simulator. This is an interesting model which could give us the opportunity to participate in the private financing initiative in the UK as a simulation services provider." Indra's smallest aerospace divi sion is Indra Espacio, in which Alcatel Space has a 49% stake. Its 125 employees in 2002 produced revenues of €37 million in satellite communications, imaging and navi gation, with the Galileo project featuring heavily in future develop ment plans. 38 7-13 OCTOBER 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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