EADS to Open Research Facility at Russia’s Skolkovo Innovation Centre

Paris,  03 marzo 2011

Jean Botti, Chief Technical Officer of EADS, and Viktor Vekselberg, Executive President of the Skolkovo Foundation, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on research collaboration. The agreement underlines the intention of EADS to participate in the Russia-based Skolkovo Innovation Centre, a high technology business hub to be built in the Moscow region. The MoU was signed on Wednesday in Paris. According to the MoU, EADS will establish a centre that will conduct research in the areas of: aerospace technology, including telecommunications and navigation; efficient energy technologies; information technology. The Centre will also collaborate with the Skolkovo Institute of Technology and other Russian scientific institutions in order to identify technologies and competences of mutual interest.

Jean Botti, EADS Chief Technical Officer, said "I am very pleased to sign this cooperation agreement with Skolkovo. Establishing relationships with esteemed groups like Skolkovo is part of EADS' long-term strategy to build a global integrated research capability to meet the demanding needs of our customers" Viktor Vekselberg, Executive President of the Skolkovo Foundation stated: "The partnership with EADS allows us to do a strategic outlook on the space technology cluster which is to be set up at Skolkovo. The Russian United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will play a leading role in this project from the Russian side. In UAC's innovation programme projects for a joint research centre in Skolkovo are foreseen.

EADS also intends to investigate the possible participation in programmes to support the development of Russian start-up companies in relevant areas. Based on its long-standing experience, EADS intends to support development of educational programmes in technology of the "Skolkovo Institute of Technology" and also to provide advisory services to the Skolkovo Foundation in respect to establishing internal regulations, corporate solutions and governance, technical support, security and IP rights.

The EADS research centre will be a branch of the Russian Technology Office (RTO) which has been established in 2003 as a part of EADS Innovation Works to facilitate cooperation with the Russian research and development community. Since its opening, the RTO has already managed more than 100 cooperative research and technology programmes between EADS and Russian institutions with a focus on advanced engineering tools.

EADS Innovation Works is the corporate research network of EADS. It operates the corporate Research and Technology (R&T) laboratories that promote the Group's technical innovation potential with a focus on long-term research. EADS Innovation Works have two main sites in Munich and Paris and employ over 700 people including doctorates and university interns. Proximity centres are maintained in Getafe, Spain and Newport, U.K, Toulouse, Nantes and Hamburg to support the knowledge transfer to business units in these locations. EADS Innovation Works also operates R&T centres in Moscow, Singapore and Bengaluru, India.

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Airbus Military completes A400M full scale fatigue tests for EASA certification

Airbus Military has successfully completed the number of required simulated flight-cycles…


Airbus Military has successfully completed the number of required simulated flight-cycles on a full scale test airframe to achieve civil type certification of the A400M by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The test programme is required to simulate flights at least one year ahead of the actual operations performed by the aircraft. The test specimen at Dresden, known as MSN5001, has undergone 1,665 cycles, about five times the maximum number of flights expected to be recorded annually by each A400M in service, in order to give a large safety margin. By mid-2012, 25,000 simulated flights will be performed – equating to 2.5 times the A400M´s design-life.
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AAI Shadow(R) UAS Successfully Demonstrates Sense and Avoidance System

Hunt Valley, Md. – February 28, 2011 — AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that it has successfully completed an unmanned flight demonstration of a Small Sense and Avoid System (SSAASy) on a Shadow 200 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). AAI's Shadow system has established a reputation as a mature, capable system during more than 600,000 flight hours, the majority of which have taken place in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Army Ground Maneuver Product Manager Lt. Col. Andrew Hamilton stated, "This was the first successful demonstration of technology that will enable an airborne Sense and Avoid System on Army platforms. Building on the success of the ground-based Sense and Avoid System, this successful demonstration represents the next step toward an integrated air and ground-based sense and avoid solution allowing unmanned flights in the National Airspace System."

The flight was conducted by AAI and SSAASy developer Defense Research Associates, Inc. (DRA) of Dayton, Ohio, under contract with the U.S. Army. Unique to this flight test was the participation of a manned aircraft provided by the U.S. Army. The Shadow aircraft flew an average altitude of 9,000 feet for more than two hours. The manned aircraft flew at 1,000 feet above and below the Shadow during the first flight test, and 500 feet above and below for the second.

The goals of SSAASy are to improve safety and training effectiveness with the ultimate objective of safely flying UAS in U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The majority of current UAS flight time is overseas in military operations, however, flight crew training and development of UAS is conducted in the U.S. within restricted air space or under a Certificate of Authorization approved by the FAA.  

"The advantages of being able to safely conduct UAS training operations in NAS are   significant," said AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager Steven Reid.  "The limited training time available in and location of, restricted air space hinders training of flight crews.  Achieving a reliable UAS sense and avoidance system removes these limitations while enabling the FAA to safely allow unmanned aircraft in the NAS.  Beyond the military, there is also growing demand for UAS operations in law enforcement, border patrol and homeland security."

The U.S. Air Force and DRA began developing an Electro-Optical Sense and Avoid System in 2001, and created the SSAASy program in 2007 as a technology transition initiative from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Army. This effort to miniaturize the existing Electro-Optical Sense and Avoid System has been supported by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of Technology Transition, U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Force Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Shadow Program Office and DRA since its initiation.


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