EADS Aeroframe Services Opens Service Area in Lake Charles; $14 Million Investment in US Economy; Joint Venture With Northrop Grumman.

Business Editors

LAKE CHARLES, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2001

The U.S. joint venture between EADS Sogerma, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, and Northrop Grumman Corporation marked the official opening of its state-of-the-art heavy maintenance and modification facility on Wednesday at Chennault International Airport.

EADS Aeroframe Services, LLC, the joint venture between the two aerospace and defense giants announced in October 2000, is investing $14 million in a modern facility for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of large commercial aircraft.

"This venture with Northrop Grumman allows EADS to provide full support networks to its customers of the Americas, and to its family of aircraft, beginning with the Airbus line," said Philippe Camus, chief executive officer of EADS. "The American market is extremely important to us, and Aeroframe Services is part of our commitment to expanding US-European industrial co-operation."

"This official opening represents tangible results of our partnership with EADS Sogerma and is proof of our commitment to strengthening European and U.S. industrial cooperation," said Ralph D. Crosby Jr., Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and Integrated Systems Sector (ISS) president. "We believe that this new joint venture has the potential to help the Lake Charles area as it further strengthens our relationship with our European partners and builds on our current agreements with EADS."

EADS CEO Philippe Camus attended a formal opening and tour of the refurbished and expanded facilities at the Lake Charles airport, along with Yves Richard, chairman and CEO of EADS-Sogerma, Eric Schulz, president and CEO of EADS Aeroframe Services, and Martin Dandridge, corporate vice president, and executive vice president, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector.

"Expanding EADS' participation in the aerospace and defense industries in the United States is part of our corporate commitment to strengthening transatlantic ties and increasing our U.S. economic contribution," said Camus. "Our impressive portfolio of companies and products will only be stronger as we focus more on the North American market. It is a logical strategic step for EADS, which is today the world's third-largest aerospace and defense company."

Eric Schulz pointed out that Aeroframe Services has about 100 employees today, "but we have plans to roughly double our employment as work builds on our wide-body aircraft line."

The MRO operation received its formal certification to operate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in February, and a few days later greeted its first aircraft maintenance customer, Skyservice Airlines of Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, with a job to perform scheduled maintenance on an Airbus A-320 aircraft.

Since February, EADS Aeroframe Services has performed six `C' checks on several A320s and is currently engaged in its first C4 for the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and also several Supplemental Type Certificate/Engineering Orders for Brazilian TAM Linhas Aereas SA on behalf of Capital Investment Trust (CIT) and Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (S.A.L.E.).

Northrop Grumman ISS has a world-class aircraft modification and refurbishment facility in Lake Charles for the U.S. Air Force Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS). The plant, located at the former site of Chennault Air Force Base, is leased from the Chennault International Airport Authority (CIAA).

The joint venture is also part of the strategy of its parent, EADS-Sogerma Services, whose mission is to provide premier aircraft maintenance and modification services on a global basis for all Airbus owners and operators. EADS Aeroframe Services also offers paint services with Jet Center Aviation of Hondo, Texas.

"EADS Aeroframe will permit EADS Sogerma to bring its complete expertise in total support to the operator and aircraft owners of the Americas", as stated by Yves Richard, chairman and CEO of EADS-Sogerma.

EADS Aeroframe Services is among more than a dozen EADS subsidiaries in the United States with diverse, well-established customer bases. EADS already contributes more than $4 billion annually to the U.S. economy through its subsidiaries and suppliers, which have locations ranging from the Nation's Capital to Miami to Silicon Valley. Its subsidiaries in the United States include:

                  --  EADS Aeroframe Services
                  --  Airbus Industrie of North America, Inc.
                  --  American Eurocopter Corporation
                  --  Astrium North America
                  --  ATR Marketing and Support, Inc.
                  --  Barfield, Inc.
                  --  EADS CASA Aircraft USA, Inc.
                  --  Cilas U.S., Inc.
                  --  Fairchild Controls Corporation
                  --  Intecom
                  --  ISTAR Americas Inc.
                  --  Matra Datavision, Inc.
                  --  MATRAnet, Inc.
                  --  Socata Aircraft

EADS, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, was created in July 2000 through the merger of Aerospatiale Matra, CASA and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. With annual sales of more than $22.7 billion and more than 100,000 employees, EADS is the largest aerospace company in Europe and No. 3 worldwide. EADS is a top performer in all sectors of defense and aerospace markets.

EADS has subsidiary locations in 28 U.S. cities in 16 states, as well as hundreds of suppliers across North America. To learn more, visit the EADS Web site at www.eads.net.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector, headquartered in Dallas, Tex., is a premier aerospace systems integration enterprise. ISS has the capabilities to design, develop, integrate, produce and support complete systems, as well as airframe subsystems, for airborne surveillance and battle management aircraft, early warning aircraft, airborne electronic warfare aircraft and air combat aircraft.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $15 billion, global aerospace and defense company with its worldwide headquarters in Los Angeles. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in defense and commercial electronics, systems integration, information technology and non-nuclear shipbuilding and systems.

With 80,000 employees and operations in 44 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.