Airbus, Leonardo and Thales have signed a memorandum of understanding to combine their space activities into a single European company, the three firms announced.
The proposed venture would unite satellite and space systems manufacturing and services from all three groups, creating what they describe as a “leading European space player” with around 25,000 employees and an estimated annual turnover of €6.5 billion.
The company is expected to be operational in 2027, pending regulatory approvals and consultation with employee representatives.
According to the firms, the new entity aims to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in space while improving its competitiveness against major global rivals. It will pool technologies, research and development, and infrastructure to deliver end-to-end space solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, and national security.
Ownership would be shared between Airbus, Leonardo and Thales, holding 35, 32.5 and 32.5 percent stakes respectively, under a joint governance structure. The partners say the merger could generate mid triple-digit millions of euros in annual synergies within five years and unlock additional revenues through a broader portfolio of space products and services.
Airbus will contribute its Space Systems and Space Digital divisions, Leonardo will add its Space Division and stakes in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space, while Thales will contribute its holdings in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, and Thales SESO.
In a joint statement, Guillaume Faury of Airbus, Roberto Cingolani of Leonardo, and Patrice Caine of Thales said the plan “marks a pivotal milestone for Europe’s space industry” and aims to “build a stronger and more competitive European presence in an increasingly dynamic global space market.”
ALTJESF.
Oh yeah baby ! 😁
How long until France demands 90% of the work share?
It was Éric Trappier that put the proposal forward, not the government.
Dassault was designated lead on the NGF (fighter) pillar of SCAF. problem is Airbus Germany does not want this, and it’s been a problem since Airbus Spain joined the project, so now it’s 2v1 political/industrial games
FYI SCAF is divided into 6 pillars: 1. NGF -> Dassault 2. Remote carriers – Airbus 3. Cloud -> Airbus 4. Sensors -> Indra 5. Engines -> EUMET (Safran/MTU joint venture) 6. Stealth -> Airbus
Trappier never asked for 80%, in fact the quote where is supposed to ask this does not exist – you won’t find it, but you will find his quote denying ever asking for this.
this is a complete lie started by germans, notably an unsourced Hardpunkt article which is being repeated ad nauseam, yet on one can find the quote when Trappier supposedly said thjs. Trappier just wants to make the decisions as the designated leader on this pillar of the project (as agreed from the start) and not get overuled by Airbus & Co.
Germany is doing the exact same thing on MGCS (tank). from start it was supposed to be 50/50 split between Nexter and KMW and they created KNDS. a few years later the Bundestag imposed Rheinmetall into the project, and things have not progressed since Rheinmetall wants to run the project.
see a pattern?
Reality is France does not need Germany or Spain for this project, but the reverse is not true. France can design and finance the plane from A to Z, exactly like it did with Rafale.
I hope this charade is stopped soon and good luck to Germany designing its own jet or joining another program
Dassault – and France – would be best placed to go alone. It has unique needs – a smaller, carrier capable fighter. No-one else in Europe needs that (especially not the Germans who need a larger fighter with long range and a large payload such as GCAP), and if they need something comparable, something like the Gripen would be a good alternative.
The problem for Dassault and France is money. The French economy is moribund and there just isn’t and won’t be that much cash around to subsidise SCAF. So, Dassault will have to rely on high export volumes outside of Europe to finance the development of SCAF. Especially since they won’t be able to rely on sales to European countries like Germany, Italy, Poland, Baltics and Scandinavians. (And given how little Spain is trying to spend on defence, I doubt they will be buying that many either!).
But this will be complicated by the fact that there will be other (quite possibly cheaper) Gen 5 or 5.5 offerings available for export by then e.g. South Korea are making great progress with their KF-21 Boramae offering.
As for Germany, this does leave them on the back foot but there will be options for them in both the short (procure F35s), medium (procure GCAP/JV with Saab) and long terms (building towards a Gen 7!).
It is true that France is broke and it canot afford to go it alone, to do so would be financially irresponsible.
France’s finances are significantly worse than the UK’s, due to a much larger budget deficit and higher public debt as a percentage of GDP.
France’s budget deficit was 5.8% of GDP in 2024, well above the EU’s 3% ceiling, while its public debt was 113% of GDP, the third highest in the EU.
I like France and the French, I especially like how their military / MOD is structured by law.
(the food n drink is also exceptional).
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Two aspects of French exceptionalism. The first is the concept of ‘strategic autonomy’ (known as the ‘base industrielle et technologique de défense (BITD) souveraine’ – the ‘sovereign defence industrial and technological base’). France is in an exclusive club of four countries (the others are the United States, People’s Republic of China, and Russian Federation) that as a matter of national policy retains sovereign defence capability across the range of military capabilities, from nuclear to conventional. This posture was established in the Fifth Republic (1958-present) under de Gaulle and has not changed. France designs and manufactures its own combat aircraft, warships, submarines, tanks, artillery systems, and armoured personnel carriers. It also collaborates in pan-European programmes. Space programmes are advanced with launch facilities in French Guiana. French defence kit exports well; major customers include Egypt, Qatar, India, Brazil, the UAE and Malaysia. In the period 2015-2019 French defence exports jumped 72%.2They subsequently declined but since rebounded with an historic €22 billions worth of sales in 2022.
The second aspect is the legal and financial foundation that supports the armed forces. France has a particularly efficient system of defence budgeting and procurement. Tax payers can be reasonably satisfied they get their ‘bang for bucks’ (and indeed can verify defence spend because the Ministry of the Armed Forces is obliged by law to publish annual, lengthy and comprehensive accounts detailing how the money is spent). The overarching legal framework rests in the Budget System Law (LOLF: ‘loi organique relative aux lois de finances’), under which the Ministry is required to meet Military Planning Law.
Extract from ~ “French Defence response to Russia” (an excellent read).
by Sergio Miller
“The Wavell Room” website
November 22, 2023
your french bashing is misplaced and not true yet again :p
I don’t think it is French bashing per se. There have been plenty of examples of Anglo-French cooperation on things like Jaguar and Storm Shadow.
Dassault are very keen on having total control of all the IP which certainly doesn’t endear them to potential partners (they’re seen as cash-cows) but I think that the problems with SCAF are more to do with mis-aligned interests: France needs a different kind of fighter to Germany (and also pretty much every other European nation) so I think the whole programme was doomed from the beginning.
FYI all i have seen this poster contribute is french bashing, this is not an isolated post
Dassault wants control of its IP as any other company would. Airbus didn’t want to share any of Eurofighter IP in the NGF prototype, yet Germany demands full access to Dassault IP from Rafale!. a real case of “what is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine.”
I agree that France wants a different fighter, they want a fighter that is soveriegn and ITAR free, clearly other Europeans would rather be dependant on US. the next gen fighter will not be small, it will be bigger than Rafale and this is why the next aircraft carrier will be substantially bigger to accomodate it.
Your comment on french economy/finances is eaxctly the same arguments made in the 80s when everyone mocked France for doing Rafale solo. The reality is France can afford it and will take necessary measures to make it happen. In fact military spending has already been increasing and will continue in the future as per recent NATO pledges. This new platform is of national interest because it is an integral part of France’s nuclear deterrance (which both left and right wing governments have supported since De Gaulle) Funny those same types of comments don’t apply to countries like Japan, Italy or US have bigger debt problems. And let’s not pretend UK finances are glorious either, or maybe someone should inform Rachel Reeves. France is 7th biggest economy, equal to Turkey and South Korea combined, yet they can afford to produce their own jets, but France can’t? This economic argument is without legs.
Furthermore Dassult does not rely on European orders since they mostly buy US,. Most EU countries are still awaiting/receiving their orders of F35, so they will not be buyers since they plan on keeping their aircraft for approx. 50 years. GCAP is going to have trouble finding euro sales as well. (excluding Italy and UK of course). Dassault has historic export clients which have taken decades to nurture
As far as Germany’s option, sure they have F35, even F47. But don’t dellude yourself, Germany will demand particpation on GCAP. Germany may accept some things from US that it simply won’t from other euro countries. In fact Germany buys german, if not then from US or Israel, and nothing from Europe unless it gets workshare. And their ask now is much bigger than it was a few decades ago, since in Germany’s mind they are the economic superpower in Europe. If you listen to discussions in Germany today, you will hear echoes very reminescent of what was thought to be a bygone era.
There is no JV with Saab in the works (Sweden is not on Tempest and keen to remain independent for their fighter industry) This talk of JV with Saab comes from german newspapares grasping at straws, yet no one has bothered to ask Sweden for its opinion. Furthermore a German and Saab partnership would not resolve the lack of engine, so not sure what would be mutually benficial since there is lot of overlap/duplication and not much in terms of complementarity) I seriously doubt Sweden wants to play second fiddle to Germany and sacrifice its aero industry it has taken decades to build.
Excellent news.
thats going to be fun trying to isolate strategic national projects ( SKYNET) from other countries and users…