Playing to the Home Crowd, EADS Plugs Strengths on Multiple Front
On home turf and fresh from two major programs milestones, EADS
is poised to show off the breadth of its operations during the
next few days.
The European aerospace giant only recently registered key program
launches giving it a boost going into the Paris Air Show. After
months, and in some cases years, of negotiations between partner
countries, European states gave the go-ahead to the development
of the A400M airlifter and the Galileo satellite navigation program,
both efforts that should provide vital research and development
funding for the company's aircraft and space branches. The company
has also scored an important win in the U.S., having received
a contract for the first CN-235 Coast Guard maritime patrol aircraft.
At Le Bourget, EADS is introducing a new structure for its defense
and space operations.
Moreover, several of the products the company is involved in will
be flying, most loudly the Eurofighter Typhoon, but also the TB
20GT and TBM 700 and built by the Socata general aviation arm.
On display as well, the range of Eurocopter products, ranging
from the EC 20 Colibri to the NH 90 transport and Tiger attack
helo, and the EADS Casa C-295 maritime patrol aircraft.
Inside, at Hall 2A, the company has linked a Typhoon cockpit simulator
and the cockpit demonstrator for the conceptual Mako trainer.
The arrangement allows users to fly the aircraft by themselves
or conduct combined operations.
Also on the stand is a display highlighting the company's foray
into the in-vogue field of network-centric warfare. The company's
vision for NETCOS, or Network-Centric Operations Simulator, is
to allow EADS to conduct system testing in a virtual environment,
to perform collaborative system design for new weapon systems,
and mission planning. NETCOS is to tie together all of the company's
operations. At the stand is an embryonic version of NETCOS, called
CDSE.
