Airbus pushes hard for military orders

June 18th, 1999

The Airbus consortium has decided that it is time to take the military air transport market seriously. In addition to throwing its hat into the ring with the A400M for the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) requirement, and proposing five air freighters, including a Beluga super transporter for the UK's short term strategic lift requirement, it has also linked with Northrop Grumman to bid for the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) requirement.

Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures Sector and Airbus have agreed to look for an aircraft/system configuration to meet the requirement and are looking for the best Airbus aircraft to integrate with the US advanced radar system.

The United States Government, in support of the NATO AGS Provisional Programme Office, recently completed an air segment concept definition study which recommended the integration of the US advanced radar system onto an Airbus mid-sized platform as the best solution to satisfy the NATO AGS requirement.

NATO, at its recent armament directors' meeting in Brussels, welcomed the intention of some nations to begin a project definition phase based on the recommendations of the AGS Steering Committee and the results of the recent study. Work will begin soon with a meeting of the interested countries in Brussels, hosted by Canada in the near future.

A successful bid by Northrop Grumman and Airbus Industrie with an Airbus aircraft for the NATO-owned and -operated system will include work for the two companies directly involved, as well as Airbus Industrie partners and companies throughout the NATO community.

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