With the expansion of the company, the diversity of the Airbus products also changed with time. The company’s products have been segmented into different divisions. Each product has its own technical team of diversified specialties. Airbus Defence Division is one of the three divisions.
Read more: Airbus and its Operational Divisions
Airbus Defence Division: a Multi-Domain Field
Nowadays, the dynamics of defence for any country have changed altogether. It is no more confined to aircraft, ships, or ground vehicles. It has gone beyond that. Information breach has become a serious threat and countries are in continuous efforts to secure their communication networks of all types. In a nutshell, defence is not securing one domain ie the physical boundaries. But, now it has expanded to multiple domains.
Airbus and Future Combat Air System (FCAS)
Future wars will require synergetic effects from the ground, land, and sea elements. Both manned and unmanned systems will be playing parallel roles in a future war theatre. The FCAS is about the same network of both manned and unmanned platforms from fighters and drones to satellites.
What Airbus is Doing for FCAS?
Airbus has been working for the FCAS in a very focused manner. For defence purposes, the company offers a world-class portfolio of products includes top of a line fighter jet; the Eurofighter Typhoon swing-role combat aircraft; the A400M, C295, and CN235 airlifters; the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport; along with robust, dependable unmanned aerial systems (UAS). For networks and systems, Airbus’s secure and resilient communications capabilities provide comprehensive bandwidth and best-in-class capabilities. It will be in just to Airbus if Eurofighter is not mentioned here.
Read more:- Future Combat Air System: Owning the sky with the Next Generation Weapons System
Eurofighter
The Eurofighter Typhoon is the world’s most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market. It is the sole representation of the peak of British, German, Italian and Spanish collaborative technology in avionics, aerodynamics, materials, manufacturing techniques and engines. Eurofighter Typhoon is Europe’s largest and major military collaborative programme. It is the only fighter to offer wide-ranging operational capabilities while at the same time delivering unparalleled fleet effectiveness.
Multi-Domain Elements of Airbus Defence Division
As mentioned earlier, the war theatre is about fighting in multiple domains. Some of the salient multi domain elements of Airbus are:-
- Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for both military and commercial solutions
- Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS)
- Multi-Domain Combat Cloud (MDCC)
- Security
- Actionable Intelligence (related to information security)
- Network for the Sky (NFTS) for military communications
- Military Satellite Communications
Read more:- Airbus and its Global Partnerships
Airbus: A Comprehensive Solution
Airbus has become a comprehensive solution to its defence programme. The global partnerships with different engineering societies and federations is a solution to its progress in the defence domain. Besides, the affiliated university programmes of Airbus with global universities has also paved way to increase and improve its pool of human resource required for its future defence programmes.
