I dont think airbus are threatening the government, and I will reiterate my previous reply in stating that journalistic license has been used to sensationalise a statement of fact.
The uk aerospace industry now hinges on Aircraft Engines, Undercarriage, and Airbus aircraft wings.
The hangar next to my office is currently being revamped from bae 146 fuselage assembly to A400M wing assembly. Portacabins are going up almost every week almost completely in order to facilitate the A350 program (as you can tell, no ones too keen about being pinched from the a380, in its nice newish building to go work in a portacabin!! ) this project is going ahead, the design of the wing structure WILL be carried out in the UK, and, as is already stated there is no decision on an assembly site.
the money required by airbus will mainly go into assembly operations of parts manufactured by contracting companies around the uk, and the world in general, airbus uk will be stuck for cash if it cant build a350 wings somewhere in the UK, as I doubt they can be built at broughton without some major re-work, because of the intricacies of composite assembly and manufacture (it may even require a seperate assembly line and everything that goes with it from the metallics). this may lead to a shift in the core excellency AUK and BAE have in wing design and manfacture. Design is still a liklihood in the uk if a350 goes elsewhere but the uk will be required to swap a core competency with another airbus country in order to maintain an assembly/manufacture base…..fuselages are not the most glamourous of things!
This isnt hard to understand when thought out…………………….a design office only looses money. manufacturing lines can make LOTS OF MONEY, they may also loose you a bit too, but in essence, if you want major design capability you must also have a major manufacturing base to keep the design up and running. This is FACT in the aerospace world.
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