Atkins, the UK's largest engineering and design consultancy, and Stirling Dynamics, the UK's leading independent landing gear specialist, have won a major contract from Airbus to be their preferred supplier of landing gear systems engineering capability.

The engineering that Atkins/Stirling provides under the contract will contribute to a wide range of Airbus programmes, including the A380 and A350 XWB. Atkins/Stirling will deliver technical services across landing gear control and monitoring systems, including systems modelling, hardware and software modifications, support to test programmes, and systems integration. The contract will cover all aspects of the product lifecycle from requirements capture and initial design through to in-service support.

The Atkins/Stirling partnership will be an extension to Airbus' own engineering team, providing technical support and the additional flexibility to accommodate the workload peaks and troughs that are typical throughout programme lifecycles. Under the arrangement, Atkins/Stirling will provide local support from their offices in Bristol, UK, coupled with additional engineering expertise drawn from across their international offices.

Neil Kirk, managing director for Atkins' Aerospace business, said of the win: 'We're delighted to be awarded this contract; it's a particularly interesting project because of its technical complexity and because it will impact on such a wide range of Airbus aircraft. We have a long history of working with Airbus and I look forward to our continued relationship on landing gear systems.'

Commenting on the Atkins/Stirling partnership Neil added: 'Both Atkins and Stirling place a strong emphasis on technical excellence, customer delivery and project management, making us a natural fit to join forces and work with Airbus'.

Andrew Pfeil, Director of Aerospace for Stirling Dynamics commented, "We are delighted to announce this major contract award for our new partnership with Atkins. The contract recognises our significant expertise in landing gear design and integration, and is an important addition to our aerospace engineering portfolio. I look forward to working with Atkins to deliver world class capability to Airbus."