1989?2000 German aerospace manufacturer
DASA
(officially
Deutsche AeroSpace AG
, later
Daimler-Benz AeroSpace AG
, then
DaimlerChrysler AeroSpace AG
) was a German aerospace manufacturer.
It was created during 1989 as the aerospace subsidiary arm of
Daimler-Benz AG
(later
DaimlerChrysler
) from 1989. The company acquired rival manufacturer
Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm
(MBB) that same year, integrating it along with its other aerospace interests,
MTU Munchen
, and
Dornier Flugzeugwerke
, by 1992.
The company's existence was relatively brief due to the
peace dividend
of the 1990s having motivated industry-wide consolidation. During July 2000, DASA merged with
Aerospatiale-Matra
of
France
and
Construcciones Aeronauticas SA
(CASA) of
Spain
to form
EADS
, which has since rebranded itself as
Airbus Group
.
History
[
edit
]
An
ADAC
Eurocopter EC135
, 2008
DASA (from
Deutsche Aerospace Aktiengesellschaft
) was founded on 19 May 1989 by the merger of Daimler-Benz's aerospace interests,
MTU Munchen
, and
Dornier Flugzeugwerke
.
[1]
During December 1989, Daimler-Benz acquired rival German aerospace consortium
Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm
(MBB), merged it into DASA. During March 1990, Daimler-Benz initiated a major restructuring of the new group, integrating the previously separate companies into five product groups; Aircraft, Space Systems, Defense and Civil Systems/Propulsion. Several companies continued to exist under their own names but, by 1992, most (including MBB and TST) of the former entities had been fully integrated.
[
citation needed
]
During 1992, DASA's helicopter portfolio, which had been largely inherited from MBB, was merged with the helicopter division of French manufacturer
Aerospatiale
to form
Eurocopter
. The
Bo 108
, DASA's in-development helicopter derived from MBB's highly successful
Bo 105
, was one of the assets transferred to the new company; it was launched as the
Eurocopter EC135
during the early 1990s to considerable similar commercial success.
[2]
By 2014, Eurocopter, which was subsequently rebranded as
Airbus Helicopters
, was a market leader in the field, operating four principal manufacturing plants in Europe (
Marignane
and
La Courneuve
in France, and
Donauworth
and
Kassel
in Germany), plus 32 subsidiaries and participants around the world, including those in
Brisbane
, Australia,
Albacete
, Spain and
Grand Prairie
, USA.
[3]
[4]
As of that same year, in excess of 12,000 helicopters built by the company were in service with over 3,000 customers across roughly 150 countries.
[5]
During the early 1990s, DASA became involved as a strategic partner of the
Dutch
aircraft manufacturer
Fokker
, the latter reportedly being interested in expanding its footprint in the regional aircraft sector.
[6]
During 1993, it was announced that DASA purchased a 40 per cent stake in Fokker.
[7]
However, by 1995, both Fokker and DASA were experiencing considerable financial difficulties, largely as a result of the extremely competitive nature of the regional market during this era. Fokker was forced to reduce production of its
Fokker 50
airliner;
[8]
and embark upon a major restructuring programme, including efforts to renegotiate prices with its suppliers, in what was viewed by aerospace publication
Flight International
as a last-ditch effort to save the company.
[9]
[10]
During January 1996, DASA's board decided to distance the company from the struggling Fokker.
[7]
[11]
[12]
At one stage, DASA had agreed to provide a rescue deal for the company, but this had been contingent upon a commitment by the Dutch government.
[13]
Head-on view of a
Dornier 228
The poor state of the company's finances heavily contributed to DASA's decision to depart the regional aircraft market entirely.
[14]
[7]
According, during June 1996, it was announced that DASA had sold the majority of the assets of its former Dornier division to American aviation company
Fairchild Aircraft
, leading to the creation of
Fairchild Dornier
. Furthermore, that same year, DASA announced that all manufacturing operations for the
Dornier 228
would be transferred to
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) of
India
; two years later, activity on the German production line was permanently terminated. These moves were intended to concentrate the company's resources on the production of the larger
Dornier 328
airliner, as well as to respond to Dornier's wider financial difficulties.
[15]
On 1 January 1995, the company announced that it had changed its name to
Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG
. As a consequence of the
peace dividend
of the 1990s following the dissolution of the
Soviet Union
, industry-wide consolidation increased. Following the merger of parent company Daimler Benz with American car manufacturer
Chrysler Corporation
during 1998, the company was renamed
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG
on 7 November 1998. Management and politicians alike remained keen to form partnerships with other European companies in the aerospace and defense sectors. On 10 July 2000, it was announced that DASA (minus MTU) had formally merged with
Aerospatiale-Matra
of France and
Construcciones Aeronauticas SA (CASA)
of Spain to form the
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company
(EADS). Following the merger, the former DaimlerChrysler Aerospace division initially operated as
EADS Deutschland GmbH
; following the rebranding of EADS as
Airbus Group
, the division was formally rebranded as
Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
.
[
citation needed
]
Major projects
[
edit
]
A
Tornado ECR
of the
German Air Force
in 1999
Immediately upon its creation, DASA was associated with several ongoing aircraft programmes, including the multinational
Eurofighter Typhoon
fighter programme, the
Panavia Tornado
fighter-bomber, along with various other initiatives and partnerships. The company's work on the Tornado was largely conducted via
Panavia Aircraft GmbH
, a tri-national consortium consisting of
British Aerospace
(previously
British Aircraft Corporation
),
Aeritalia
of Italy, and DASA, having inherited MBB's involvement. Under this arrangement, DASA manufactured the Tornado's central fuselage on behalf of all international customers while the other partners manufactured the rest of the airframe.
[16]
DASA's subsidiary MTU also held a 40 per cent stake in the Tornado's engine manufacturer
Turbo-Union
, a separate multinational company formed to develop and build the
RB199
engines for the aircraft.
[17]
[18]
Production of the Tornado was terminated during 1998; the final batch of aircraft being produced was delivered to the
Royal Saudi Air Force
, who had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados.
[19]
DASA was also responsible for the mid life upgrade (MLU) of the German fleet of
Panavia Tornados
, similar to the RAF's
GR4
upgrade.
[
citation needed
]
During the 1990s, the Eurofighter proceeded towards the mass production phase, DASA holding a workshare stake in the programme. The workshare split had originally been agreed at 33/33/21/13 (United Kingdom/Germany/Italy/Spain) based on the number of units being ordered by each contributing nations.
[20]
However, following order cuts during the
peace dividend
following the collapse of the
Soviet Union
, the programme's workshare split was renegotiated as 43% for
EADS MAS
in Germany and Spain; 37.5% for
BAE Systems
in the UK; and 19.5% for Alenia.
[21]
[20]
On 27 March 1994, the
maiden flight
of the Eurofighter prototype took place in
Bavaria
, flown by DASA chief test pilot Peter Weger.
[22]
Production was divided into three tranches, these being a production/funding distinction without directly implying an incremental increase in capability with each tranche. Tranche
3 was later divided into A and B parts.
[23]
In September 1998, contracts were signed for production of 148 Tranche
1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for Tranche
2 aircraft.
[24]
In March 2008, the final aircraft out of Tranche
1 was delivered to the
German Air Force
, with all successive deliveries being at the Tranche
2 standard or above.
[25]
Owing to its expertise with both German and
NATO
aircraft, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace provided various upgrade packages for a wide range of aircraft, such as the
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
and the
Boeing E-3 Sentry
. During 1993,
MiG Aircraft Support GmbH
was established with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace holding a 50% stake. The company undertook the upgrade of the German Air Force's fleet of 24
MiG-29s
to
NATO
standards.
[
citation needed
]
These fighters had been inherited from the former
East Germany
after the reunification of the country in 1991.
Aircraft
[
edit
]
A
Polizei
BK 117
Rockwell-MBB X-31, one of two X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability Demonstrator aircraft (top)
Partnerships
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Citiations
[
edit
]
- ^
Gunston 2005, p. 120.
- ^
Pope, Stephen.
"Eurocopter EC 135."
Flying Magazine
, 18 May 2012.
- ^
Airbus Helicopters ? Spain
Archived
16 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Airbus Helicopters ? Interactive Network Map
Archived
15 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Airbus Helicopters ? Who We are
Archived
14 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Decisions, Decisions."
Flight International
, 2 June 1992. pp. 35, 38.
- ^
a
b
c
Jeziorski, Andrzej.
"DASA folds its wings."
Flight International
, 31 January 1996.
- ^
"Fokker losses hit record."
Flight International
, 22 March 1995.
- ^
O'Toole, Kevin.
"Fokker slashes costs in new restructuring plan."
Flight International
, 8 March 1995.
- ^
"Fokker plans new Indian link."
Flight International
, 17 May 1995.
- ^
O'Toole, Kevin.
"Fokker in capital crisis as losses rise mount."
Flight International
, 12 July 1995.
- ^
Jeziorski, Andrzej.
"Fokker submits its bail-out plan to Dutch Government."
Flight International
, 13 September 1995.
- ^
Jeziorski, Andrzej.
"DASA stands by ailing Fokker."
Flight International
, 3 January 1996.
- ^
Jeziorski, Andrzej.
"DASA dealt double blow."
Flight International
, 23 August 1995.
- ^
Eriksson, Soren and Harm-Jan Steenhuis.
The Global Commercial Aviation Industry.
Routledge, 2015.
ISBN
1-13667-239-7
, pp.59?62, 241.
- ^
Segell 1997, p. 125.
- ^
Segell 1997, p. 124.
- ^
Long, Wellington.
"Swing-Wing Wonder Weapon Is Going Into Production."
Ludington Daily News,
24 August 1976.
- ^
Jackson et al. 1998, p. 241.
- ^
a
b
Eurofighter: Weapon of Mass Construction
(TV broadcast).
BBC
, 6 July 2003 airdate.
- ^
Haertl, Ronald.
"Eurofighter?A Milestone Report".
Archived
26 March 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
European Security and Defence
. Retrieved: 3 July 2011.
- ^
"1994: Maiden flight for future fighter jet."
BBC News
, 27 February 1994. Retrieved: 19 March 2008.
- ^
Hoyle, Craig.
"Eurofighter partners sign €9 billion Tranche 3A deal."
Flight International
via
flightglobal.com,
31 July 2009. Retrieved: 7 July 2012.
- ^
Chuter, Andy. "EF2000 deal firms up first batch order."
Flight International
, 23 September 1998.
- ^
Holm, Kathryn and Martina Schmidmeir.
"German Air Force: 10,000 Flying Hours with the Eurofighter."
Archived
27 September 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
Eurofighter.com
, 16 March 2009. Retrieved: 3 July 2011.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Gunston, Bill (2005).
World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers, 2nd Edition
. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. p. 164.
ISBN
0-7509-3981-8
.
- Jackson, Paul, Kenneth Munson, Lindsay Peacock and John W. R. Taylor, eds.
Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1997?98.
London: Jane's Information Group, 1998.
ISBN
0-7106-1788-7
.
- Segell, Glen (1 January 1997).
Wither or Dither: British Aerospace Collaborative Procurement with Europe
. Staffordshire, UK: Glen Segell Publishers, 1997.
ISBN
1-901414-03-5
.
External links
[
edit
]
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