The EADS Company N.V.; Manching-Ingolstadt, June 28, 2011

The EADS Factories at Manching; Text and Photograph’s by Alex van Noye

Manching-Ingolstadt is one of the airports where a factory of EADS is located. The EADS Group includes the military arm of Airbus Industries and Eurocopter. EADS is currently one of the main partners in the Eurofighter project. The Eurofighter for the Germans and the Austians is built at Manching.

EADS is next to WTD-61 also based at Manching. WTD-61 is closely linked with EADS because both parties depend on each other. The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company NV (EADS) is a European aircraft constructor for civilian companies and the military branch. Besides aviation, the company is also active in the space program. The company is a leading contractor in terms of the development of defense equipment around the world. The Group includes Airbus as the leading producer of commercial aircraft. Eurocopter is the largest helicopter supplier in the world and is also part of the EADS group. Astrium is the European leader in the space program of the Ariane and Galileo project. Cassidian is a provider of comprehensive and integrated system solutions for security applications in the air, on land and at sea. Cassidian is a major partner of EADS in the Eurofighter program and a major player in the production of missile systems. In 2009, EADS has a turnover of € 42.82 billion, there are now over 119,500 employees involved in the company. EADS was formed on July 10, 2000, by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra from France, Daimler Chrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) from Germany and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) from Spain. The company develops and sells civil and military aircraft, but also other related systems, like; communication systems, missiles, space rockets, satellites. The headquarters of the company is based in Leiden in the Netherlands.

The American companies Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged in 1997. Later also Lockheed-Martin was added. This company is since 1995 the largest supplier to the U.S. defense department. This merger increased the pressure on the European defense companies. In order to keep their heads above the water, the European governments wanted their defense manufacturers to merge into a single entity as well. This merger would lead to the European Aerospace & Defense Company. In 1995, the German aerospace and defense company Daimler Chrysler Aerospace AG

(DASA) merged with her British counterpart British Aerospace. The French Aero- spatiale-Matra was soon added to the company. The first phase of this integration was seen as the transformation of Airbus from a consortium of British Aerospace, DASA, Aerospatiale-Matra and CASA to an integrated company. Besides Airbus, British Aerospace and DASA, EADS also consists of the partners of the Panavia Tornado project and the Eurofighter Typhoon project. Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), which was owned by the British General Electric Company, came for sale. British Aerospace stopped the merger with DASA in order to take over MES on December 22, 1998. The merger of British Aerospace and MES resulted in BAE Systems and was a fact on November 30, 1999. The manufacturer was afraid that MES would fall into American hands, and therefore they bought MES later on. DASA and the Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA proposed a cooperation agreement in June 1999. DASA agreed to merge with Aerospatiale-Matra to create the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company (EADS) on October 14, 1999. On July 1, 2000, the new company was one of the largest of its kind. Only Boeing was still bigger.

In January 2001, Airbus Industries was transformed from a formal consortium structure to a public company. Both EADS and BAE own the Airbus factories. The shares are respectively divided into a ratio of 80% and 20%. In April 2001, EADS had agreed to merge the missile business of BAE Systems and Alenia Marconi Systems. EADS took a 37.5% share of the new company MBDA. On June 16, 2003, EADS acquired 25% of BAE's share in Astrium. The satellite and space system manufacturer was now completely a part of EADS. EADS and Airbus were in the race for the U.S. Air Force $ 35 billion contract to build the KC-45 tanker together with Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman and EADS would build a fleet of 179 tanker aircraft based on the existing Airbus A330. The aircraft must be able to refuel military combat aircraft and cargo aircraft in the air. The aircraft will be built in a new Airbus factory in Alabama. The project is not yet granted because Boeing has started a lawsuit against Airbus.

When I arrived at Manching in the morning, there was not much to do. There was a Eurofighter, a Tornado IDS 1 and an F-4 Phantom on the WTD-61 platform. Unfor- tunately, none of these would take off today. Nothing happened at the beginning of the morning. At 11 am I suddenly saw a Bo-105 Bölkow at the horizon; the helicopter came in for landing. This Bölkow was also from WTD-61. The helicopters of this unit were quite active during the morning hours. The Bölkow disappeared at the other side of the airfield after its landing. A helicopter which I had not expected appeared not much later. A CH-53 from WTD-61 entered the landing. Unfortunately all the fighters on the WTD-61 platform were towed towards the hangars. I left Manching and went to Neuburg. I arrived at the beginning of the afternoon at Neuburg. I heard that 2 French Alpha-jets had landed at Neuburg in the morning. At the moment I arrived there were still 3 Eurofighters away. It did not take long before a number of Eurofighters were started at the base. There were 2 dual Eurofighters prepared to leave. All the aircraft are checked at the check point next to the taxi track. The first Alpha-Jet appeared at the head of the runway shortly after the departure of the Eurofighters. This aircraft would fly a navigational trip through Europe. The first Eurofighters which returned to Neuburg were the two dual Eurofighters. The planes flew low over the base before they went into the break. The opportunity to catch the returning aircraft in the break is excellent at Neuburg. They are on its side in the air. The last 3 Eurofighters returned quickly after the landing of the first 2 Eurofighters. These aircraft were all single seaters. The second Alpha-Jet left at the end of the afternoon. Later this week, I have a base visit at Neuburg. This afternoon was a nice appetizer for the upcoming visit.