Airbus bid to snatch helicopter deal
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Airbus bid to snatch helicopter deal
From the Sunday Times
Airbus bid to snatch copter deal
A ROW over a £3 billion military helicopter contract is set to deepen with the intervention of Airbus, the European commercial aircraft maker.
Airbus is offering to take on British engineers currently employed by Agusta Westland, the Italian helicopter company, at the famous Westland helicopter plant at Yeovil.
EADS, Airbus’s parent company, hopes the jobs offer might stop the Ministry of Defence awarding the contract to Agusta without considering a competing bid from Eurocopter, EADS’s own helicopter maker.
Defence industry sources believe the MoD is planning to announce before the general election an “industrial partnership” with Agusta that will give it the lion’s share of a £3 billion order for several types of helicopter over the next decade.
Without the UK order, Agusta could be forced to make up to 1,000 staff at the Yeovil factory redundant. The redundancies could prove damaging to the government if announced before the election.
Eurocopter submitted a set of proposals for the helicopter order to the Defence Procurement Agency late last week. It is understood to be offering savings of up to £1 billion for the supply and support of helicopters over a 20-year period, and has promised to invest in new facilities at Yeovil should it be chosen.
A ROW over a £3 billion military helicopter contract is set to deepen with the intervention of Airbus, the European commercial aircraft maker.
Airbus is offering to take on British engineers currently employed by Agusta Westland, the Italian helicopter company, at the famous Westland helicopter plant at Yeovil.
EADS, Airbus’s parent company, hopes the jobs offer might stop the Ministry of Defence awarding the contract to Agusta without considering a competing bid from Eurocopter, EADS’s own helicopter maker.
Defence industry sources believe the MoD is planning to announce before the general election an “industrial partnership” with Agusta that will give it the lion’s share of a £3 billion order for several types of helicopter over the next decade.
Without the UK order, Agusta could be forced to make up to 1,000 staff at the Yeovil factory redundant. The redundancies could prove damaging to the government if announced before the election.
Eurocopter submitted a set of proposals for the helicopter order to the Defence Procurement Agency late last week. It is understood to be offering savings of up to £1 billion for the supply and support of helicopters over a 20-year period, and has promised to invest in new facilities at Yeovil should it be chosen.
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Eh, boys. Isn't free market grand. It seems EADS is exercising its weed-out competition policy to its full extend...Well, I will be looking forward for the storm.
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I think United Technologies tried a similar tactic with the initial Irish Defence Forces pruchase of S92's.
I didnt work for them and wont work for EADS in this case. In any event surely the question is would would Eurocopter have a better product to offer in any event?
I didnt work for them and wont work for EADS in this case. In any event surely the question is would would Eurocopter have a better product to offer in any event?
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Hey Eurobolkow....who are ya callin' Shirley'. You must be a Eurocopter Lover on steroids!! The plot thickens! The Conspiracy gets deeper...........and to think this all happens because of little brown envelopes!!!! Who knows, maybe UTC got their junior partner Sikorsky to invest in some capital market portfolio's that have shares in turn with EADS AND AIRBUS!!!??????
There is alway's an 'Irish Guy' involved in these serious events............be warned 
There is alway's an 'Irish Guy' involved in these serious events............be warned
