EADS N.V. - Ukraine, EADS to Evaluate Possibilities for Cooperation in Aerospace, Defence and Homeland Security

Ukraine and the European aerospace and defence group EADS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming at cooperation in the areas of secure communications, homeland security and border control, space and aeronautics. The document was signed in the presence of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko at the Paris Air Show on Monday, June 13, by Tom Enders, Head of the Defence and Security Division of EADS and CEO designate, Jean-Paul Gut, Executive Vice President EADS International and Member of the Executive Committee of EADS, and Volodymir Shandra, Ukrainian Minister of Industrial Policy for Ukraine.

"The Ukraine is home to a huge aerospace and defence industry. It is very attractive for EADS to explore possibilities for teaming up there" said Enders and Gut. "This is the first major international cooperation agreement in aerospace, Ukraine has signed", said Shandra. "Working together actually starts with exploring the framework for cooperation, not with raising a glass of champagne."

According to the MoU, joint working groups will investigate possibilities for cooperation in the areas agreed. In aeronautics, EADS and its Ukrainian partners are discussing joint activities in the fields of helicopters and aircraft. In the space sector, a possible modernisation of existing launch vehicles will be evaluated. Other possible fields of cooperation are solid and liquid rocket engines, earth remote sensing (GMES, Galileo) and the joint development and utilisation of new space technologies. In the homeland security and defence area, both sides are exploring possibilities for cooperation in air defence, coastal surveillance, tactical command, control and communication systems.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of € 31.8 billion and employed a workforce of about 110,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the international leader in missile systems. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.