London (AFP) September 19, 1999 - British Aerospace (BAe) next week will unveil a plan to create a European missile giant to rival Raytheon of the United States, a British weekly said Sunday.The idea initially would be to merge the missile operations of the jointly-owned Alenia Marconi Systems -- held by Italian group Finmeccanica and BAe since the British aviation and defence group bought Marconi -- with the French-British Matra BAe Dynamics, the Sunday Business reported.
BAe would complete the plan by adding the missile business of Sweden's Saab aircraft, in which it holds a 35 percent stake.
According to the Sunday Business, the restructuring would create the second-biggest defence group in the world, with sales totaling two billion pounds (3.16 billion euros, 3.25 billion dollars).
The initiative could influence the fierce battle between European and US firms to furnish the missile to be carried by the Eurofighter warplane.
The Raytheon missile is competing with the Meteor project of Europe, backed by France, Germany and Italy and led by Matra BAe Dynamics, a firm held by BAe and the French group Lagardere.
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