Press releases - Strategic missiles

Successful first submarine launch of M51

Third success in a row for Astrium: This test, which was performed from the BLB’s submerged launch platform, enabled DGA and Astrium personnel to validate the M51’s entire underwater phase: shooting the missile from a launch tube on a device-launching nuclear submarine (SNLE), M51 ignition and surfacing from the water.

This success confirms that the missile is ready to be loaded on and launched from the SSBN, and paves the way for further test launches from the submarine “Le Terrible” before the M51 enters operational service in 2010.

François Auque, Chairman and CEO of Astrium, commented: “This success is a landmark that consolidates the progress of the M51 programme. It also confirms the competence of the Astrium teams and their ability to master highly complex technologies.”

Astrium is prime contractor for the development, production, and maintenance in operational condition of the M51 missile. G2P, Thales and Sagem are the main subcontractors in this programme, which occupies over a thousand engineers and technicians at Astrium.

Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2007, Astrium had a turnover of €3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007, EADS generated revenues of €39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116,000.

Media contacts: Matthieu Duvelleroy (Astrium FR)            Phone: +33 (0) 1 77 75 80 32

Jeremy Close (Astrium UK)                       Phone: +44 (0) 1 438 77 3872

Mathias Pikelj (Astrium GER)                    Phone: +49 (0) 7545 8 9123

Francisco Lechón (Astrium SP)                Phone: +34 91 586 37 41

www.astrium.eads.net

EADS SPACE is part of Team SAIC, which has just been selected for NATO contract

: Brussels, September 18, 2006 – EADS SPACE is proud to be a major contributor to TEAMSAIC, led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), which has been selected by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to negotiate a firm fixed-price contract to support the integration of NATO’s Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) system. The programme defines a six-year period of activity with an estimated value of $95 million. EADS SPACE’s involvement is the latest step in a long-lasting and successful relationship with SAIC on NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defence Feasibility Studies since 2001.

As part of the System Engineering & Integration (SE&I) contract, EADS SPACE will be Systems Engineering lead and will support various other activities. It has proven experience drawn from some of Europe’s largest and most complex space programmes, including the Ariane 5 launcher, the Automated Transfer Vehicle for the International Space Station and a number of ballistic missile programmes.

"EADS SPACE will provide world-class experience in ballistic warfare and space-related capabilities including exo-atmospheric interception and sensor systems. EADS SPACE will also contribute its expertise in complex systems engineering to support SAIC and NATO in this new challenge," said Alain Charmeau, CEO of EADS SPACE’s launcher division. "As part of Team SAIC, EADS SPACE is committed to successfully integrating Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence assets with NATO command and control capabilities in an effective architecture solution."

EADS SPACE is one of Europe's foremost experts in the ballistic warfare domain, offering leading edge knowledge of ballistic missile defence and countermeasures. EADS SPACE offers sophisticated, high fidelity missile defence simulations to the NATO programme. Under the previous NATO Ballistic Missile Defence Feasibility Studies, EADS SPACE was responsible for the overall technical feasibility, threat analysis, sensor performance and sensitivity analysis.

The members of Team SAIC are drawn from six NATO nations including France, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. Team members include: SAIC as prime contractor, EADS SPACE, Thales, Thales-Raytheon Systems Company SAS (TRS SAS), the Raytheon Company, Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft GmbH (IABG), Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Co. KG , QinetiQ, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), and Datamat SpA.

SAIC is the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States, with more than 43,000 employees in over 150 cities worldwide. For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2006, the company reported annual revenues of $7.8 billion. SAIC engineers and scientists solve complex technical problems in national security, homeland security, energy, the environment, space, telecommunications, health care, and logistics. SAIC: FROM SCIENCE TO SOLUTIONS™

EADS SPACE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space company), is dedicated to civil and defense space systems. In 2005, EADS SPACE had a turnover of €2.7 billion and 11,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain. EADS SPACE has three main areas of activity: Launchers and orbital systems, Satellites and ground systems and Services providing civil and military satellite based services.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. In 2005, EADS generated revenues of €34.2 billion and employed a workforce of more than 113,000.

Contacts for the Media

EADS SPACE Rémi ROLAND +33 (0) 1 42 24 27 34

EADS SPACE Frédéric-Pierre ISOZ +33 (0) 1 42 24 28 77

http://www.space.eads.net

EADS SPACE Transportation entwickelt Demonstrator für ballistische Lenkflugkörper

: Les Mureaux, den 27 Juni 2005 – Die EADS SPACE Transportation begrüßt die Ent-scheidung des französischen Verteidigungsministeriums, ein Programm zum Bau eines Demonstrators für die Oberstufen ballistischer Lenkflugkörper anzustoßen.

Das Demonstrator-Programm zielt auf die Konstruktion einer künftigen dritten Raketenstu-fe ab, die modernste Lenksystem-, Strukturwerkstoff- und Antriebs-Technologie in einer neuartigen Systemarchitektur vereint. Zudem soll die hochmoderne Technik getestet und unter einsatznahen Bedingungen erprobt werden, um ihre exakte Bewertung zu ermögli-chen.

Dieses Demonstrator-Programm wird ferner zur Sicherung der hohen technischen Kom-petenz beitragen, die das technologische Fundament sowohl der französischen Nuklear-streitkräfte als auch der Sektoren Lenkflugkörper und Trägerraketen bildet. In letzteren agiert die EADS SPACE Transportation künftig als Hauptauftragnehmer – in enger Ko-operation mit Partnerunternehmen wie insbesondere Snecma-SNPE, Thales und Sagem.

Das in 30 Jahren aufgebaute französische Know-how in Sachen ballistische und Träger-raketen zu schützen, ist für Frankreich und ganz Europa eine Herausforderung. Zu deren Bewältigung sollte die militärische Entscheidung für den Demonstrator vom zivilen Raum-fahrtsektor entsprechend unterstützt werden, wie dies zur Gewährleistung von Europas unabhängigem Zugang zum Weltraum erforderlich ist. Europas Raumfahrtbehörden und Regierungen werden voraussichtlich in den nächsten Monaten ihre Pläne zu ihren De-monstrator-Programmen der kommenden drei bis vier Jahre bekannt geben.

Die EADS SPACE Transportation ist Europas Spezialist für Raumtransporte und bemann-te Raumfahrt. Sie entwickelt und baut die Trägerrakete Ariane, das Weltraumlabor Co-lumbus, das unbemannte Versorgungsfahrzeug (ATV) für die internationale Raumstation (ISS), Wiedereintrittsfahrzeuge, Lenkflugkörpersysteme für Frankreichs Nuklearstreit-macht, Antriebssysteme sowie raumfahrtspezifische Ausrüstungen. Die EADS SPACE Transportation ist eine 100-prozentige Tochtergesellschaft der EADS SPACE, einem Spezialhersteller ziviler und militärischer Weltraumsysteme. Die EADS SPACE erzielte im Jahr 2004 einen Umsatz von € 2,6 Mrd. und beschäftigte 11.000 Mit-arbeiter in Deutschland, Frankreich, Großbritannien und Spanien. Die EADS ist ein weltweit führender Anbieter von Produkten für Luftfahrt, Raumfahrt und Verteidigung sowie dazugehöriger Dienstleistungen. Die EADS erwirtschaftete im Jahr 2004 einen Umsatz von € 31,8 Mrd. und beschäftigte rund 110.000 Mitarbeiter.

Pressekontakt: +33 (0)1 39 06 14 50

M-51

A new generation of missiles: © EADS Astrium / Bechenec

The M-5 is the new generation of French strategic submarine-launched ballistic missiles, designed to keep pace with changing threats and defences, to be operational at the end of the decade. As for all the ballistic missile systems in France nuclear deterrence force, Astrium is prime contractor for their development, production, deployment and maintenance.

On 27 November 2003, off the French Mediterranean coast near Toulon, after many weeks of rigorous preparation, the first real-size, fully equipped mock-up of the M-51 missile was ejected from the Cetacé underwater rig, an apparatus which replicates a submarine storage and launch tube. The 10-metre long, 52-tonne mock-up performed perfectly, projected out of the water at a speed of around 20 m/s to a height of about 20 metres and then falling back into the sea; deploying its airbag system to cushion impact on re-entry. The reusable mock-up was then recovered and brought ashore for processing and analysis of the 400-odd measurements recorded during the test.

Designed for the hunt

The M-51 is significantly different to the M-45, its currently operational predecessor, in terms of shape, size, weight and even its interface with the submarine launch tubes. It will feature multiple warheads, with far greater payload mass and volume (including warheads and penetration aids). It also offers longer range than the M-4, enabling submarines to expand their patrol zones. Weighing a total of 50 tonnes (compared to 35 for the M-4 missiles), each of its three stages is powered by a solid rocket motor equipped with a flex-bearing nozzle. The structures are made of wound carbon-epoxy fibre.

M-45

Permanently ready to keep the peace: © EADS Astrium

The M-4 generation of ballistic missiles, developed and produced by Astrium for the ballistic missile systems in France’s nuclear deterrent force, features multiple warheads and a range of more than 4,000 kilometres. They were incrementally deployed on the first-generation of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SNLEs) from 1985, taking over from the previous M-20 missiles.

Astrium also developed an enhanced version, the M-45, with higher-performance TN75 nuclear warheads (stealthier and with penetration aids). The M-45 entered service aboard Le Triomphant in spring 1997.

M-4/M-45 through-life support: Astrium's role

As prime contractor for the ballistic missile systems of the French Ministry of Defence armaments procurement agency DGA, Astrium is also responsible for the development and manufacture of the weapon systems and weapon deployment systems, covering analysis of technical events occurring in service at the maritime base and onboard SNLEs, system design support and examination of engineering changes, user technical assistance, preparation and analysis of missile launch acceptance.

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Press releases - Strategic missiles