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The Eurofighter has taken more than 20 years to design and build Saudi Arabia has confirmed it is to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from the UK, in a deal that could be worth more than £6bn ($10bn). The contract, brokered between the Saudi government and the Ministry of Defence, will safeguard thousands of jobs at UK defence firm BAE Systems. Saudi Arabia is buying the Eurofighters to replace its range of Tornado jets which were also made by BAE. The Eurofighter was developed by BAE with European firms EADS and Alenia. Confidential figure "The required commercial principles have now...

Indian Navy eyes 100 aircraft by 2020 IANS Tuesday, July 18, 2006 08:08 IST NEW DELHI:After the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Indian Navy is looking at acquiring close to 100 aircraft in a mix of fighters, patrol planes and trainers by 2020. On the shopping list are 40 to 50 MiG-29K fighters, 30 long-range maritime patrol (LRMP) aircraft and 10-15 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs), navy chief Admiral Arun Praksh told India Strategic magazine in an interview. According to him, as the IAF was acquiring the Hawk trainers, it was logical for the navy to go in for either...

EXECUTIVES of Europe’s aircraft manufacturer Airbus were engaged this weekend in another crisis. They had hoped to unveil the design of their new A370 aircraft this week on the eve of the Farnborough Air Show. The “launch” of the new plane, which is even more critical to the company’s future than its troubled A380 super-jumbo, had been pencilled in for 14 July until British partner BAE Systems announced it was triggering a full audit of the Toulouse-based European planemaker. On Friday, the launch of the mid-sized jet was suddenly suspended to allow new chairman Christian Streiff to “review” the troubled...

BAE systems is preparing to take legal action if a valuation for its 20 per cent stake in Airbus, the troubled Franco-German aircraft maker jointly owned by BAE and Eads, fails to live up to expectations. The British defence group fears the valuation by N M Rothschild, due by next week, could cut its proceeds on the sale by as much as €1bn (£690m) according to City estimates. BAE has exercised a put option to sell its Airbus stake, but before the deal was completed the plane maker announced delays on its flagship A380 aircraft that will seriously hit earnings....

THE RAF is drawing up plans to convert a fleet of 25-year-old patrol planes into Britain’s first long-range heavy bomber force since the Falklands war. The plan is being seen as Britain’s answer to America’s B-52 bomber, still in regular use more than 50 years after it first flew. The upgraded Nimrod reconnaissance planes, developed from 1950s Comet airliners, would be able to fly non-stop from Britain to hit targets in countries such as Iraq with cruise missiles or precision-guided bombs. The RAF’s current bombers, mainly Tornados, have a far shorter range and, as in the Iraq war in 2003,...

BAE Systems has said it will exercise its put option in order to sell its 20% stake in aeroplane firm Airbus. The move comes after BAE and EADS, which owns 80% of Airbus, failed to reach agreement on the price. This means that investment banks for the two firms will have two weeks to negotiate the deal. If they fail, an independent bank will set the price. The Airbus stake is worth £3bn-£4.5bn ($5.3bn-$8.4bn), analysts have said. A "put" option gives a party the right to sell something to a second party, often within a certain period of time. In...

LONDON - British defense and aerospace group BAE Systems PLC confirmed Friday that it is in discussions to sell its 20 percent stake in aircraft maker Airbus. BAE is negotiating with Franco-German group European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co., which owns the remaining 80 percent of Airbus, about the sale. EADS recently valued BAE's stake in the aircraft maker at 3.5 billion euros ($4.3 billion). "We believe that now is the right time for us to divest our Airbus shareholding to allow us to concentrate on our core trans-Atlantic defense and aerospace strategy," BAE Chief Executive Mike Turner said in...

Two companies working for the government say they have successfully tested systems to defend passenger airplanes against shoulder-fired missiles. BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman both say they will meet the government's deadline of producing a workable system by January. It is unclear whether Congress or the Bush administration will require airlines to use the technology and, if they do, who will pay the multibillion-dollar tab for deployment and maintenance. AP Photo/Rex C. Curry A poster shows how BAE System's JETEYE, a missile defense system, would work on a commercial airliner as Burt Keirstead, background standing, program director, describes the system...

PARIS (AFP) - Shareholders in European aircraft maker Airbus approved the launch of the A350, a mid-sized carrier to compete with Boeing's planned 787 Dreamliner, and said Airbus would temporarily forgo controversial government assistance to finance development costs. EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, said it had backed development of the A350, a decision also taken by minority British shareholder, BAE Systems. In a significant move in an on-going trade dispute between the European Union and United States, EADS said Airbus would not take immediate advantage of offers of government loans from...

FRANCE is seeking to usurp Britain as favourite to win air defence contracts with Saudi Arabia worth up to £40bn (€59bn, $72bn) to British defence contractor, BAE Systems. President Jacques Chirac has had face to face meetings with King Abdullah and was the first foreign dignitary to visit the desert kingdom after the funeral of King Fahd in August, The Business has learned. Saudi Arabia is looking to upgrade some of its ageing 96 Tornados, supplied by BAE Systems, but also to buy new fighter jets in a bid to bolster its air power. The UK is offering the Eurofighter...

Excerpt - Britain's biggest arms firm, BAE Systems, has been identified on US banking records as secretly paying more than £1m to General Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator. A Guardian investigation has revealed some of the money was listed as being paid through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, which BAE has used to channel commission on arms deals. Covert payments to Pinochet-linked groups are listed on documents compiled by the Chilean authorities and obtained by the Guardian. They record large payments from BAE as recently as last year.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 21, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Seeking more protection for ground forces without enhancing risk to aviators, the U.S. Air Force has engaged Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN - News), a leader in radar and data exploitation technology, to devise a way for aircraft, from a safe distance, to detect, track and target hostile forces in motion on the ground. "The U.S. owns the airspace but today's conflicts quickly move to the ground," Nick Uros, vice president for Raytheon's Advanced Concepts and Technology group, said. "We want to keep the war fighter in the air and on the ground...

FRANKFURT Airbus was hoping to throw a lavish party next week on its home turf in France. But it may have to keep the balloons and bunting under wraps. At the Paris Air Show, which begins Monday, Airbus had sought to formally announce its new midsize plane, the A350, as well as a new management team. It also plans to show off its superjumbo, the A380. On Wednesday, the controlling shareholder of Airbus - European Aeronautic Defense & Space, or EADS - disclosed that it would not sign off on the A350 until the end of September. It made the...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has offered to cut by 30 percent loans likely to be provided for Airbus's new A350 airliner in a bid to avert a huge legal battle with the United States, which is defending its aviation giant, Boeing. An EU official said on Monday the bloc's trade chief, Peter Mandelson, had also offered to discuss the terms of any "launch investment" loans made by European governments to satisfy Washington of their commercial basis. Mandelson's move is aimed at rescuing negotiations on how to eliminate subsidies enjoyed by the aircraft manufacturing rivals -- which collapsed amid...

The United States has warned that it is going to proceed “promptly” with a World Trade Organization (WTO) subsidy case against the European Union (EU) unless the Europeans change their position on aid for the development of new Airbus aircraft. Testifying May 25 before a House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier said that a negotiated agreement on ending so-called launch aid and other trade-distorting aircraft subsidies would be preferable to litigation. But he added that the Bush administration is “fully prepared” to move forward with the 2004 WTO case and believes it has...

BRITAIN'S biggest defence company, BAE Systems, is siding with the Americans rather than its own government by refusing to export arms to China. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has called for the lifting of the arms embargo imposed after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. But BAE, fearful that the Americans would retaliate by banning exports of vital hightechnology components to Europe, has failed to back him. The company, majority owned by US shareholders and rapidly building up its interests across the Atlantic, is America's sixth-biggest defence company. BAE said: 'Our interests are their [the Americans] interests.' A spokesman added...

BAE takes Sultan to court over £600m order for warships By Sylvia Pfeifer (Filed: 03/04/2005) BAE Systems, Britain's largest defence contractor, is taking the Sultan of Brunei, one of the world's richest men, to court over a $1bn dispute involving an order for three naval ships. The dispute centres on a lucrative export order, estimated to be worth over £600m ($1.13bn), to build three offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Brunei armed forces. The contract was agreed several years ago and BAE, headed by Mike Turner, the chief executive, launched the first ship to much fanfare in January 2001. The...

Associated Press Report: Saab, BAE Accused of Exaggerations 03.07.2005, 11:00 AM Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab and British-based BAE Systems exaggerated planned offset investments in order to sell their aircraft to South Africa, Swedish Radio said Monday. The public broadcaster said it analyzed the number of investments pledged by the companies, but found that most never came to fruition. South Africa bought 28 Swedish-built JAS Gripen - the first export order for the fighter - and 24 British Hawk trainer jets for its air force in 1999. The two manufacturers had promised offset investments up to 2001, mostly in civilian industry...

Europe's biggest defense company, BAE Systems, agreed to buy U.S. firm United Defense Industries for $3.97 billion in cash Monday, bolstering its land systems business and its foothold in the United States. BAE said it would pay $75 a share for the maker of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a premium of 29 percent over United Defense's (Research) close of $58.26 on Friday.

BAE Systems to buy UDI for $4.2 bln Largest transatlantic defense deal in recent years By Aude Lagorce, MarketWatch Last Update: 3:35 AM ET March 7, 2005 LONDON (MarketWatch) -- BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor, said Monday it has an agreement to buy United Defense Industries, the Bradley tank maker, for $3.97 billion in cash and $218 million in debt assumption. The deal values Arlington, Va.-based United Defense Industries, Inc., (UDI: news, chart, profile) which also makes artillery systems, naval guns and missile launchers, at $75 a share, setting a 29 percent premium to the UDI close Friday at...