Airbus - 2022 Universal Registration Document

1. Information on the Company’s Activities /

1.1 Presentation of the Company

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Market Airbus Defence and Space is active in governmental, institutional and commercial markets. As a general trend, defence budgets are forecasted to grow globally, triggered by geopolitical shifts, heightened security risks, intensity of natural disasters, initiatives supporting strategic autonomy and continuous development of domestic defence industries. Recent examples of these developments in Europe include a fourth round of collaborative Permanent Structured Cooperation (“ PESCO ”) projects, the calls for proposal by the European Defence Fund (“ EDF ”), the Eurodrone contract signature with OCCAR ( Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d'Armement ), and the signature of the FCAS Demonstrator Phase 1B. In addition, European Union Member States have defined a number of projects in the frame of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (“RRF”) that aim at building and strengthening space capabilities. Together, these initiatives provide sales opportunities in Europe and beyond. Market access outside the home countries may be subject to restrictions or preconditions such as national content, local industrial participation or the provision of export licences. Nevertheless, Airbus Defence and Space is well-placed to benefit from global growth in defence expenditure. The Military Air Systems programme line with its combat aircraft, military transport mission aircraft and unmanned aerial systems (“ UAS ”), along with related services, mainly supplies the public sector, specifically armed forces. Customer relationships in this segment are characterised by their long-term, strategic nature and long decision-making cycles. Once a contract is signed, its life span, including the services business, often lasts for decades. Beyond a strong foothold in home countries, the customer base is increasingly global, in particular due to the success of the A330 MRTT and C295 programmes. The volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous geopolitical situation is gradually leading to a greater importance of defence in Europe. A clear signal in this direction was the signature of FCAS Phase 1A in early 2020 by France and Germany, with Spain joining later that year. Over the past three years, FCAS has been progressing with the execution and achievement of the Joint Concept Study and the Demonstrator Phase 1A which lead to the signature of the Common Operational Requirements Document (“ CORD ”) by the three Air Forces in September 2021. Most recently, the FCAS Demonstrator Phase 1B was awarded to Airbus and its industrial partners ( i.e. Dassault Aviation, Indra, Eumet, others), leading to the contract signature on 16 December 2022, and covering the work on the demonstrator and its components for about three and a half years. Airbus military aircraft such as A400M, MRTT, Eurofighter and other manned and unmanned platforms will play key roles in the FCAS ecosystem. There is also notable momentum in Europe for cooperation in large UAS programmes as demonstrated by the Eurodrone contract signature between Airbus Defence and Space as industry prime (in partnership with Leonardo and Dassault), Military Air Systems Customers

and OCCAR on behalf of the nations (Germany, France, Spain and Italy) on 24 February 2022. This will lead to the delivery of 20 Eurodrone systems, along with an initial five-year package of in-service support. Beyond the Eurodrone, Airbus’ unmanned aerial systems help solve challenges for commercial, government and military customers alike. Institutional and government customers are recognising the benefits of UAS for public services. An increasing number of applications require UAS solutions in areas such as law enforcement, fire-fighting, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, border protection or emergency services. Civil and enterprise customer interest for UAS continues to grow, with the main focus being on smaller and tactical UAS. Some customers may find a service and leasing model more adapted to their specific needs. UAS services offer further growth potential with different levels of flexibility and customer involvement. The business encompasses the full set of services ranging from logistics, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (“ MRO ”) and data analytics offers, to traditional leasing into complete aircraft-as-a-service flight operations. Competitors The market for military aircraft is dominated by large- and medium- sized American and European companies capable of complex system integration. Among the competitive factors are affordability, technical and management capability, and the ability to develop and implement complex integrated system architectures. The required skills for overall systems integration into an aircraft are extensive and the number of players in the world market is rather limited. In particular, dedicated mission aircraft such as the heavy tankers, are derived from existing aircraft platforms. Adapting them requires thorough knowledge of the basic airframe, which generally only the aircraft manufacturer possesses, along with knowledge of systems architecture and integration. The main competitors in the military transport and mission aircraft market include Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Embraer, Leonardo, Northrop Grumman, Saab, Antonov, and the United Aircraft Corporation. Heavy military transport has historically been driven by US policy and budget decisions, therefore has been dominated by US manufacturers and split in strategic and tactical aircraft segments. On Combat, Airbus activities take place through the contribution to the Eurofighter Typhoon, jointly with BAE Systems and Leonardo. The main competitors in the segment include Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Saab and UAC. With regards to UAS platforms, Israeli and US firms are well established, with European and Chinese companies gaining in relevance. Major competitors include AeroVironment, Baykar Technology, Boeing, Elbit Systems, General Atomics, Israel Aerospace Industries, Leonardo, Northrop Grumman and Turkish Aerospace Industries. The market witnesses the emergence of new, smaller, companies worldwide, addressing specific and/ or national requirements. There is room and need for synergies and partnerships between smaller and larger UAS companies.

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Airbus / Universal Registration Document 2022