Chris Pocock has been covering the defense beat for AIN for over 30&nbsp;years. He is a British citizen and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Chris worked in the air cargo business for ten years before becoming a full-time writer in 1983. He subsequently edited two air cargo journals before becoming AIN’s Defense Editor. He retired from that position in 2018, but still contributes to the publication. Chris has written extensively on aerial reconnaissance, including four books on the history of the U-2 spyplane. He also lectures on this and other topics related to intelligence-gathering in the Cold War.

Defense Correspondent

Chris Pocock

Less than three years after it was renamed Cassidian, the defense and security business of EADS is being rebranded again. In fact, the EADS name will disappear in a reorganization that includes application of the “globally recognized Airbus brand” to all the group’s activities. “We affirm the predominance of commercial aeronautics in our group,” said CEO Tom Enders.


Cassidian is being integrated with Airbus Military and Astrium to form a division named Airbus Defence and Space. Bernhard Gerwert, the current head of Cassidian, will serve as CEO, with a headquarters in Munich. He will control four business segments: military aircraft, headed by current Airbus Military chief Domingo Urena-Raso; space systems, headed by current Astrium head François Auque; communication, intelligence and security systems, headed by Evert Dudok, who was running Astrium Services; and equipment, headed by Thomas Mueller, who was head of Astrium Satellite Products.


“Pooling the space and defense entities is the group’s response to the changing market environment with flat or even shrinking defense and space budgets in the Western hemisphere,” said EADS. Airbus Defence and Space will have revenue of approximately €14 billion ($18.6 billion) and employ some 45,000. By comparison, Airbus recorded first-half commercial revenue of more than €18 billion ($23.9 billion). Airbus Commercial will simply be known as the Airbus division in the future. Eurocopter is being renamed Airbus Helicopters.


The reorganization and renaming will start on January 1 and be completed in the second half. “Several regulatory milestones, works council consultations and other approval procedures have to be accomplished before the changes can come into full effect,” the pan-European group said.

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