Airbus opens up

Intel Report

After a gap of three years, Airbus held its three-day Trade Media Briefing for military aviation journalists from all over the world. Alan Warnes reports from Bavaria.

Luftwaffe Eurofighter 31+41 from TaktLwG 31 ‘Boelcke’ flying over the Manching runway at a speed of Mach 0.9 and altitude of 200ft. The future for the jet in Germany looks bright, with plans to upgrade 110 existing Tranche 2/3 aircraft with Captor-E radar before acquiring 38 new Tranche 3 examples, comprising seven twin-seaters and 26 single-seaters, plus options for a further five single-seaters. Dietmar Fenners

The media event in early November was a chance to catch up with senior management and receive updates on many of the company’s military programmes. Although the focus was the German division – Airbus Helicopters at Donauwörth and Airbus Defence and Space at Manching – several key players from the company’s Madrid branch discussed recent developments in their airlifter (C295 and A400M) and tanker (A330 MRTT) businesses. As well as the Donauwörth and Manching facilities, media representatives also went to nearby Neuburg air base to visit the Eurofighter-equipped Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 (TaktLwG 74).