EADS senior vice president Gert Runde says the jury is still out on whether Airbus platforms will ever secure a foothold in US Department of Defense (DoD) competitions - despite EADS' recent progress in developing closer US defence industry ties.
However, Runde told Flight International that the picture appears brighter than before as EADS, the majority shareholder in Airbus, discusses potential involvement in the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft and tanker competitions with US authorities. "There's a change in attitude that we've observed. How far this will go remains to be seen. We are trying to get a feeling for the situation. We don't want to enter competitions we are going to lose."
Suggestions that the DoD is readying itself for the prospect of buying non-US developed aircraft have been floated since last year. One senior US Air Force general told Flight International recently that the time may have come to "shed some of our national priorities" in terms of co-operative alliance aircraft development.
For now, EADS is building its US partnerships, particularly with Northrop Grumman, "and to grow those partnerships so that when the time comes to be appropriate for more concrete corporate tie-ups, we will be ready", Runde says.
Source: Flight International