As the defense landscape continues to evolve, Airbus is looking to accelerate its development of new platforms and technologies here in the United States. Airbus U.S. Space and Defense Chairman and CEO Rob Geckle spoke with Executive Mosaic’s Summer Myatt in a new video interview about what the company is bringing to the U.S. defense ecosystem.
“I’m constantly looking to cultivate additional technologies that I can Americanize, industrialize and improve and adapt here in the United States,” said the 2023 Wash100 Award winner.
“An interesting feature of U.S. national security policy is to foster and encourage foreign direct investment in the United States in a way that is consistent and supports national security,” Geckle noted. “Folks will often ask me, ‘Rob, how can a company like Airbus — which is a European company known for commercial technology and aircraft — how can you be a defense contractor?’”
Geckle explained that Airbus U.S. operates under what’s known as a special security agreement, which allows the company to work directly with U.S. officials in the proper classification settings.
“I report to an independent board of directors, that is majority controlled by U.S. nationals with requisite security clearances and allows me to operate in a classified environment, take technology that’s ready, affordable, I can industrialize it in the United States and have improved and adapted manufactured by U.S. nationals, adapted by U.S. engineers and improved over time iteratively,” Geckle shared.
With trends like peer and near-peer warfare, deterrence and data-centric warfare shaping the defense landscape today, Geckle said Airbus U.S. “can add value along a number of those axes, whether it’s platforms, aircraft, whether it’s space or space systems.”
Watch the full video interview with Airbus’ Rob Geckle for more insights about U.S. defense trends and technologies.