Domingo Urena–Raso, Executive Vice President of Military Aircraft for Airbus Defence and Space, told a conference that Airbus is planning to create a centre in Poland for designing and assembling Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for both military and civilian uses.
Urena–Raso announced that Airbus would seek to cooperate with Polish research centres and technical universities, saying “We value very highly the potential of our future Polish scientific and industrial partners in this enterprise.” The drones will have gross weights of up to 500 kg each, and a final decision from Airbus on the investment is expected later this year.
During the “Vision of the future of Europe’s military aviation industry” conference in Warsaw, Urena–Raso also said that Airbus plans to produce light aircraft in Poland, in particular for agricultural and firefighting purposes. He commented “The experience from the production of the Polish Wilga and Kruk [Polish utility aircraft], which are still being used today in many countries, and the skills of the country’s engineering workforce are something which we want to take advantage of.”
Airbus currently employs 850 people at the PZL Warszawa-Okęcie branch, which has been growing rapidly in recent years and had a turnover of EUR 61 million last year. Airbus’ Warsaw branch is already intended to assemble hull parts for the A350 and future A330 neo airliners, as well as producing half the components needed to assemble C-295 military transport aircraft.
Source: The News