European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) is a large European industrial consortium, whose primary members are Aerospatiale-Matra of France, Dornier and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany, and Construcciones Aeron�uticas SA (CASA) of Spain. As of 2003, EADS employs more than 100,000 people at 70 production sites worldwide. Its main office is situated in Amsterdam.

The current CEO is Philippe Camus.

Table of contents

1 History and activities
2 Subdivisions
3 Shareholders (October 2002)
4 Criticism
5 External links

History and activities

EADS was formed by its member companies in July 2000, to become the world's second largest aerospace company (after Boeing). EADS is also the second-largest European arms manufacturer. The company develops and markets civil and military aircraft, as well as missiles, space rockets, and related systems.

In November 2003, EADS announced that it was considering working with Japanese companies, and the Japanese METI, to develop a hypersonic airliner intended to be a larger, faster, and quieter, replacement for the Concorde, which was retired in October the same year.

EADS is a major contributor to the International Space Station, and is expected to deliver the Columbus Laboratory Module in 2004 through its subdivision EADS Space Transportation.

Subdivisions

Airbus Industrie (joint ownership with BAE Systems)
Military Transport Aircraft (behind the A400M competitor to Lockheed Martin's Hercules)
Aeronautics
Space
- 100% shareholder in satellite company EADS Astrium (after buying out BAE Systems' 25% stake on January 30, 2003)
- 100% shareholder in EADS Space Transportation, responsible for the Ariane launchers and orbital systems such as the Columbus orbital facility.
- 100% shareholder in EADS Space Services, formed mostly from Paradigm Secure Communications Ltd, a defense satellite operator for the UK MoD (operating the Skynet 5 system)
- 28% sharesholder in space transport operator Arianespace (largest commercial shareholder of Arianespace)
Defence and Civil Systems
- Eurocopter Group (100% ownership), manufacturer of light and medium civil and military helicopters.
- Dassault Aviation (45.76%), manufacturer of military aircraft.
- MBDA (37.5%), manufacturer of missiles

Shareholders (October 2002)

Publicly traded 33.8% (CAC, DAX, Madrid)

SOGEADE 30.3%
DaimlerChrysler 30.3%
SEPI 5.6%

Criticism

The arms manufacturing side of EADS has been critised for several reasons:

The delivery of weapons to non-NATO countries without accounting the political situation and the economic consequences and to countries where there is an arms race going on.
In South Africa EADS used bribes to sell its weapons.
EADS doesn't supply adequate information about its weapon production.
EADS produces weaponry for European countries that enable a limited nuclear war, which goes against international legislation.