PARIS - Might EADS and Northrop Grumman assemble Alenia's C-27J Spartan at their planned Mobile, Ala., plant? A breakdown over Boeing's cooperation with the Italian company on the battlefield transport plane opens that possibility, but conflicting political pulls inside the European company make the subject a highly charged one, executives familiar with the situation said.
"The idea is going around, but it's too early to say there are talks," an executive close to EADS said.
The companies concerned have yet to open formal discussions, but impromptu talks could be held between Alenia, Boeing and other American companies at the Farnborough airshow, which opens July 14, an industry source in Italy said.
The possibility of assembling the C-27J at the Mobile site has arisen because Alenia recently broke off negotiations with Boeing over managing a facility in Jacksonville, Fla., for the Spartan twin-prop.
That leaves Alenia with an aircraft contract but no factory.
EADS North America and Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, have plans to build an aircraft factory new from the ground up.
The two companies intend to build the Mobile plant to assemble the KC-30 air tanker, a militarized Airbus A330, for the U.S. Air Force, but the contract is in suspension after a successful appeal to the Government Accountability Office by Boeing.
A second defense executive said Alenia's difficulties with Boeing presented an opportunity for EADS and Northrop Grumman to step in, but there was no knowing whether a deal would get done, even if it appeared to be a natural fit.
If EADS and Northrop Grumman started assembling the C-27J at Mobile, that would show their credibility as industrial partners, the executive said.
Among the obstacles, however, are political tensions among EADS' core shareholders, France, Germany and Spain.
The executive close to EADS said that the C-27J is a rival to the CASA 295 aircraft from EADS CASA, which lost against Alenia in the $2 billion Joint Common Aircraft program for the U.S. Army and Air Force.
That meant EADS Spain, particularly the Military Transport Aircraft division, would strongly object to EADS North America assembling a direct competitor product.
The Spanish shareholder in EADS, government holding company SEPI, has also been pushing for an increase in its 5.49 percent stake in EADS for some time.
EADS Spain's Seville plant is responsible for building the A400M airlifter, which recently rolled out in a blaze of publicity, with Spain's King Juan Carlos attending the ceremony.
In Rome, an Alenia spokesman said the firm was considering finding a new U.S. company to partner with on the C-27J should Boeing definitively pull out of the program.
He declined, however, to comment on whether that new partner could be Northrop Grumman, or if Mobile could be the site of the new line.
"There are also two other options," he said. "One is to proceed at Jacksonville without Boeing and the other is to await a new proposal from Boeing."
Alenia sources have previously said that talks with Boeing had broken down after the American company asked for too much money to get involved. But Finmeccanica CEO Pierfrancesco Guargualini subsequently left room for maneuver, stating, "This is still being analyzed before a final decision is made. It is not concluded."
"The decision has to be made very soon, because if it's Jacksonville, work must start on building the line by year end," the Alenia spokesman said.
Tom Kington contributed to this report from Rome.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
Help
