Airbus - 2022 Universal Registration Document

1. Information on the Company’s Activities /

1.1 Presentation of the Company

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Transformation The Company remains focused on aviation safety, quality and also on performance with lead time reduction to continuously improve customer satisfaction. Airbus Helicopters continues to refine and execute its transformation plan in order to be sustainably performant and agile to maintain its competitiveness in the face of market evolutions, inflation and retain its ability to invest in the future. Airbus Helicopters continues to deploy data governance and accelerate its digital transformation based on standard capabilities to deliver digital continuity for integrated data-driven processes. Commitment to Innovation In 2022, Airbus continued to invest in product development for both the civil and military markets. The H160 entered into service in Japan, Brazil, and in France and with orders from all major mission segments, including the French version of the H160M, the helicopter’s complete portfolio of mission capabilities are currently in development. On the military side, the Company has focused on the development of the H175M and expanding the mission capabilities of the H145M, notably in the field of manned unmanned teaming (MUM-T). This technology allows unmanned platforms to be operated from a piloted helicopter. Airbus has developed a solution for this task and has demonstrated its capabilities with unmanned rotor and fixed wing vehicles of different shapes, sizes, and from different manufacturers. Important goals in the last two years were to reduce the crew’s workload (focus on keeping the “original” crew-concept with two members) and assure that the communication with different kinds of datalinks between the helicopter and the UAV can be realised. The technology has reached a level of maturity where it can be offered to military and parapublic customers. Another major development launch for Airbus Helicopters came with the Tiger MkIII contract signed by France and Spain. The new standard for the attack helicopter will allow the helicopter to be upgraded in order to be connected to the digital battlefield, enabling it to perform manned-unmanned teaming as well as share tactical information in real time. It will also provide an unrivalled range of weapons (turret gun, laser-guided rockets and missiles) and renewed detection and targeting capabilities. The integration of state-of-the art avionics, which will also equip the H160M, will reduce the crew’s workload and enable them to be fully focused on mission execution. In June 2022, Airbus Helicopters was named coordinator of the “EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project” (ENGRT) funded by the European Defense Fund (European Defence Fund 2021 Calls for Proposals). ENGRT will pave the way for the next generation of military rotorcraft in Europe. ENGRT is a Research and Technology project, the first phase will focus on the concept of operations with battlefield simulations. Concept studies and pre-design of alternative rotorcraft platforms will also be performed. The contract was officially signed in December 2022 and work kicked off right away. Seven nations are directly involved in the project: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Finland and the Netherlands. Other nations are indirectly involved through a participation of their industry: Sweden, Romania and Norway. Airbus also furthered the development of its own unmanned aerial system (UAS), the VSR700, which began trialling autonomous take-off and landing capabilities at sea. Trials were conducted

using an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) based on a modified Guimbal Cabri G2 equipped with the autonomous take-off and landing (ATOL) system developed for the VSR700. At the end of the year, the UAS began flight testing over sea, a key step in preparing its upcoming demonstration onboard a French Navy frigate. Airbus Helicopters continued to make inroads on its decarbonisation roadmap which is based on a threefold approach using SAF, hybridisation, and electrification. The Company continued to lead a SAF user group for its helicopter operators and industry partners as well as using SAF for its own training and flight tests in France and Germany. It performed the first flight of a helicopter, an H225, powered solely by SAF on both engines in the first half of the year. At the Airbus Summit, Airbus presented a new demonstrator, the DisruptiveLab, aimed at testing technologies that could reduce CO 2 emissions by as much as 50%. Joining the FlightLab and Racer which performed its power on at the end of the year, the trifecta of demonstrators illustrate Airbus’ R&T strategy to take technologies to a higher technology readiness level in order to optimise subsequent development cycles. The DisruptiveLab will evaluate a new aerodynamic architecture intended to reduce fuel consumption, as well as pursuing the implementation of hybridisation with a fully parallel hybrid propulsion system that enables the battery to be recharged in-flight. The new architecture of the DisruptiveLab features an aerodynamic aluminium and composite fuselage, specifically designed to reduce drag and thus reduce fuel consumption. The blades are integrated into the rotor in a way that allows for a more compact rotor head which reduces drag and therefore improves energy efficiency while lowering the perceived noise level. Its lighter rear fuselage incorporates a streamlined Fenestron tail rotor that also contributes to improved performance. The DisruptiveLab demonstrator is part of the French Council for Civil Aviation Research Conseil (CORAC)’s roadmap and has been partly financed by the French Civil Aviation Authority (“ DGAC ”) in the frame of the French Stimulus plan, which is part of the European Plan, Next Generation EU, and the France 2030 plan. In 2022, the Company also made significant progress on the development of its fully electric vertical take-off and landing prototype, CityAirbus NextGen. Airbus selected all of its partners for the structural features of the aircraft, joining forces with Spirit Aerosystems to produce CityAirbus NextGen’s wings, MagicAll to provide its electrical power distribution units, as well as KLK Motorsport and Gerg GmbH, who will supply the prototype’s rear structure. This secures all necessary partners for the prototype. The Company is now preparing the next phase of CityAirbus NextGen’s, which will make full use of its brand new advanced air mobility (AAM) dedicated test centre, currently in construction at the site in Donauwoerth. Beyond the vehicle, Airbus set up the first ever working ecosystem of its kind in Germany, with the Air Mobility Initiative, that gathers more than 30 industrial and institutional partners to look at advanced air mobility through the aircraft, airspace management and infrastructure lenses. By ramping up efforts to create comprehensive ecosystems to support air mobility services, Airbus is making sure that the first feeder cases that are foreseen with CityAirbus NextGen are tailored to meet communities’ needs, from essential missions in the medical

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Airbus / Universal Registration Document 2022

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