Messier-Bugatti, which is displaying on Stand E1 in Hall 4, comes to Farnborough having gained a contract from British Aerospace for the development and supply of a braking control and steering system for the new Series 500 and 600 range of Airbus A340 airliners.

The new requirement arose because these two latest A340s have replaced the pair of rearward-retracting auxiliary wheels below the center fuselage with four forward-retracting wheels. All versions also have a pair of four-wheel bogies under each wing, plus twin nosewheels.

Following six months of assessments earlier this year, company engineers selected an all-electric, "full brake-by-wire" system capable of stopping a 12-wheeled aircraft. Certification of the system is planned for 2001.