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Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 10/97 EUROPE NEEDS AN INTEGRATED AEROSPACE INDUSTRY by Dr. Norbert Lammert, Aerospace Coordinator of the German government Germany has a vital political and economical interest in an efficient and competitive aerospace industry. To be able to maintain a leading role of the German aerospace industry in all relevant areas will much depend on concrete research, production, and, most of all, procurement decisions, which are still pending. Further delays would have serious effects to the situation of the branch in Germany, including the loss of system leadership within the European affiliation, as well as, the potential loss of highly qualified work places. More than other industry branches, the German aerospace industry is affected by defence, foreign and European politics, along with competition and technology related influences, as well as, budgeting constraints. It is vital to join these, sometime diverging, forces. The German industry and the politics must increase its efforts to keep high-tech and competitive capabilities in the country or to bring them into Germany. It will be the industry's task to create the necessary efficient structures. Potential conflicts might arise from the fact that such structures can only be built at a European level, since only integrated and fully capable companies will be able to compete in the global market, while there is a considerable interest in keeping national competencies and capacities due to defence, technology or employment reasons. In France, Great Britain, Italy, and Spain, this process is formed jointly by the governments and the industries in both, military and civil programs. However, the wish for (national) system leaderships in individual areas might be in competition to efficient European structures. The current industrial talks concerning a European restructuring are significantly affected by the dynamics resulting from the recently initiated consolidation of France's aerospace branch (merger of Aérospatiale and Dassault, privatization of Thomson). The German industry's essential basis for the country's global competitiveness is standing on private enterprise-like organized European structures. The scenarios for an efficient and internationally competitive structure of the European aerospace branch have not been sufficiently defined yet. A far-reaching integration of all European aerospace activities seems to be the most logical goal, which, however, involves some significant competition political implications. Due to this, a step-approach by first integrating single divisions of Europe's aerospace branch is more realistic for the time being. From the German industry's point of view, potential variants for joining the European aerospace industry would include four areas. One example could be the separation into the areas Aviation, Missiles/Electronics, Spaceflight, and Defence/Satellites. Another combination could be the division of the activities into Large Aircraft, Defence/Satellites, Orbital Infrastructure/Space Transports, and Propulsion Systems. The main part of such a "package scenario" concerns the restructuring of Airbus Industrie. The German government has supported the development of Airbus over many years with considerable funds. The pending restructuring is not any less important than this first phase of the consortium's history and, is requiring special political attention. In the current situation, the reorientation of just the civil Airbus activities into a European company will not be sufficient in the medium and long-term to maintain a consistent competitiveness of the European aerospace industry. Still, a restructured AI could well be the origin for integrating the military aerospace industry as well. The merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas continues the process of fusionings in the USA. In general, the US government is supporting such company fusionings with pin-pointed research subsidies, as well as, with specific tax and price-law regulations. Attention is always directed at upkeeping a sufficient inner-American competition. The US developments are part of politics which is directed to further expand and manifest the country's lead in civil and military high-technologies. The American defence industry, which includes the country's aerospace industry, has adapted to the special challenges of a drastically shrinking military market and to the fundamental changes in military technology. In this process, the industry is supported by substantial governmental help, along with drastic rationalization and concentration, as well as, continuously high investments for research and development. From page 22 of FLUG REVUE 10/97 Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 10/97 Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated September 5, 1997 FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany