Airbus

Airbus is demanding a large industrial share in the planned successor project to the Eurofighter and Rafale, pointing to strengths in the center fuselage, flight control, avionics, cockpit, sensors, stealth capability and networking. After the failure of the FCAS project, Germany and partners are looking for a reboot; Airbus sees Germany as a key funder and expects a correspondingly high industrial share. The company is pushing for a quick decision by year-end and is proposing potential partners such as the UK and Sweden (Saab). » More on wiwo.de

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has written to the prime minister warning that awarding the £2.4bn Skynet military satellite contract to Lockheed Martin could jeopardise the UK’s long-term role in European military space and threaten Airbus’s UK operations in Stevenage and Portsmouth. Airbus, Thales and Leonardo are pursuing a merger of their space units (Project Bromo) to create a single European competitor, and Airbus says losing Skynet would risk the UK missing out as that hub develops. Lockheed Martin and UK politicians argue its bid would bring a new factory in Durham, jobs and a UK design authority. The procurement decision has been delayed and will be made by Andy Burnham and the chancellor John Healey. » More on theguardian.com

Airbus is advancing development of a successor to the A320, targeting roughly 20–30% fuel savings compared with the A321neo. The plan is for a conventionally powered short-/medium-haul aircraft that should achieve high efficiency mainly through new engines (including open-fan concepts) and slimmer, longer wings. Program start is targeted for the end of this decade, with market entry planned for the second half of the 2030s. Airbus is already testing large-scale wing prototypes and intends to conduct demonstrator flights next year. » More on faz.net