A380 subcontractors announced

During the Paris Air Show a number of subcontracts for Airbus' new superjumbo, the A380 were announced.

GKN Engage and Airbus UK announced a partnership to support the design and development of the wing for the Airbus A380 aircraft. Both companies made a three-year commitment to the project which is worth over £10 million to Engage.

'The project is a new way of working for us. It is also a good example of the long term partnerships we are developing with customers to fulfil their need for engineering resources in all disciplines', commented Graham Chisnall, Director Group Operations-Engineering, GKN Aerospace Services and CEOGKN Engage.

GKN Engage engineers will join the existing wing design Integrated Project Team (IPT), working alongside Airbus UK engineers at a newly created centre at a GKN Aerospace Services' site at Avonmouth, UK. Airbus UK will initially take the management lead but as the programme develops GKN Engage engineers will increasingly take on areas of responsibility within the team.

Smiths Aerospace, Actuation Systems has teamed with Goodrich Landing Gear to provide the entire hydraulic actuation package for the body and wing landing gear on the new Airbus A380 aircraft. The initial shipset delivery is scheduled for the first quarter of 2004, with first flight of the aircraft targeted later that year. The aircraft is anticipated to enter commercial service in March 2006. The programme has a potential value to Smiths Aerospace of $70-$ 115 million over a 20-year period, depending on the number of aircraft ordered.

The package includes wing and body gear retract, unlock, and bogie trim actuators, and body gear steering actuators. The Smiths Aerospace facility in Yakima, Washington is responsible to Goodrich for the design, manufacture and programme management, while the Smiths Aerospace, Actuation Systems business in Cheltenham, UK will provide the bogie trim actuators, using their Airbus pitch trimmer experience on past programmes, principally on the Airbus A340.

Dr. John Ferrie, Managing Director, commented, "This is a significant win for us, demonstrating our strength in utilising core engineering technologies from Smiths Aerospace design sites to meet customer needs."

Snecma Control Systems and Honeywell Aerospace have agreed with Hurel-Hispano to develop an Electromechanical Thrust Reverser Actuation System (E-TRAS) for the Airbus A380.

The E-TRAS system is designed to support the Airbus goal of reducing hydraulic systems in the A380. Reducing hydraulic demand provides weight and cost advantages for the aircraft, while the E-TRAS concept allows for an improvement of maintainability compared to classical hydraulic or pneumatic solutions.

The teaming between Honeywell Aerospace and Snecma Control Systems takes full benefit of the significant technological and industrial synergies between the two organisations in areas such as electrical and mechanical systems and equipment dedicated to aircraft propulsion systems.

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