ALEXANDER CAMPBELL / LONDON
Further consolidation in the European missile industry now seems less likely, with leader MBDA playing down forecasts of a merger with LFK by June.
BGT, leader of the international consortium building the IRIS-T air-to-air missile (AAM), also says there is "no prospect" of any closer links with MBDA, and it has instead teamed up with Raytheon of the USA to market the AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM.
Late last year, MBDA chief executive Marwan Lahoud said the integration of LFK would be signed off before June this year. MBDA now says this prediction "may have been a little too gung-ho", but adds that "the merger is still scheduled to happen before the end of the year".
MBDA's shareholders, BAE Systems, EADS and Finmeccanica, have yet to agree a fair value for LFK, which is the main obstacle to the deal. Another German government order for the KEPD350 Taurus stand-off missile could affect this decision if it is signed in the near future, according to MBDA.
Meanwhile, any co-operation between MBDA and German missile builder BGT is now out of the question, according to BGT. "There is no prospect of any closer links," the company says. "We can't imagine we would want to merge with MBDA, given our link with Raytheon," it adds.
The Raytheon/BGT joint venture, which is due to be formally announced later this month, will market Raytheon's Sidewinder AAM to existing customers in Europe. BGT already co-operates with Raytheon to produce an infrared seeker for the RAM shipboard air-defence missile, and for the European version of the Stinger man-portable air defence missile.
MBDA has often cited BGT as a takeover target, but the German company has always been keen to maintain its independence. Talks with LFK, owned by EADS and MBDA, collapsed in 2001 over BGT parent Diehl's insistence on maintaining leadership of any joint venture project.
Source: Flight International