Airbus, Mercury Systems to Cooperate in Technology for Autonomous Flying

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Airbus Defence and Space and Mercury Systems, Inc., a leader in trusted, secure mission-critical technologies for aerospace and defense, have announced that they will cooperate in the field of autonomous and flight control computer programs.

Formalized by a Framework Cooperation Agreement, both industry-leading companies have shown their firm commitment to advance a strategic teaming agreement in research, demonstration, validation and certification of autonomous and flight control computer programs, especially algorithms and environment of execution. 

The complementary capabilities of the Geneva-based Mercury Mission Systems International division in mission computing, safety-critical avionics and platform management capabilities for aerospace and defence platforms and Airbus Defence and Space as a global provider of military aircraft, defence systems and earth observation products/services will lead to delivering better solutions and products to customers.

Airbus Defence and Space Executive Vice-President Marketing and Sales Dr. Bernhard Brenner highlights the importance of this cooperation: “At Airbus we are committed to innovation and pioneering aerospace. By this cooperation we will further strengthen our activities in developing future solutions and products for both piloted or autonomous flying. As Mercury is one of our award-winning suppliers, I am particularly glad that we can extend our successful cooperation with this agreement. This agreement is also another commitment of Airbus to Swiss partners, especially in the security-relevant technology and industry base.”

“This important initiative further solidifies our longstanding relationship with Airbus to drive key advances in secure and trusted autonomous technology,” said Didier Thibaud, Mercury’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “At the intersection of hi-tech and defense, we collaborate with industry leaders like Airbus to deliver the most innovative, purpose-built mission computing solutions that help them meet their business commitments and further their leadership in the global market.”

Examples of successful cooperation between Airbus Defence and Space and Mercury are the development of a high-performance computing platform by Mercury for the Airbus A3R automatic air-refueling system onboard the A330 SMART MRTT Tanker aircraft and the contribution in equipment and systems for Airbus platforms such as the C295. In 2019, Mercury was awarded Best-Performer for Equipment & Systems by Airbus.