Tag: Paris (Page 9 of 16)

Arms Firms Fret Delays in Franco-German Fighter Project

October 7, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS, Oct 7 (Reuters) – France’s Dassault Aviation and Europe’s Airbus have stepped up pressure on France and Germany to agree on the next stage of a planned fighter project, warning Europe’s arms industry and long-term security could suffer from delays.

The two companies are the leading industrial partners in a project to build a futuristic swarm of manned and unmanned warplanes, announced by the leaders of France and Germany two years ago and expanded earlier this year to include Spain.

Dassault and Airbus won a 65-million-euro contract in January to develop the concept for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) but await a new contract to build demonstrators for interlinked fighters, drones and an “air combat cloud” by 2026.

Dassault Aviation Chief Executive Eric Trappier told a conference of policymakers last month that the demonstrator contract should have been launched in September but this was now slipping towards end-year. He called it “indispensable” to avoid any further delays in order to maintain the 2026 deadline.

No reason has been given for the delays.

On Monday evening, Dassault and Airbus amplified those warnings with a joint statement.

“If Europe does not move forward — and move forward quickly — on this programme, it will be impossible to maintain the development and production capabilities needed for a sovereign defence industry,” the companies said.

The warplane system is expected to be operational from 2040, with a view to replacing Dassault’s Rafale and the four-nation Eurofighter, in which Airbus represents both Germany and Spain.

The new project faces competition from Britain and its plans for a new combat jet dubbed “Tempest”.

The fighter developments have split the current Eurofighter consortium and led to a shake-up of industrial alliances as Italy joins Eurofighter partner Britain on Tempest, turning its back on Germany and Spain, while Sweden has opened the door to abandoning its independent stance by co-operating on Tempest.

The FCAS is also overshadowed by differences between France and Germany over export policy after Germany imposed a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia over the death of killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi a year ago by Saudi operatives.

The ban, recently extended to March, has raised questions over a long-delayed Saudi border systems contract run by Airbus.

Airbus Defence and Space Chief Executive Dirk Hoke called in a magazine interview last week for the export ban to be relaxed. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has said there is no reason for the moratorium to be lifted.

France and Germany are expected to discuss the issue at ministerial meetings this week.

AIRBUS SETBACK IN SPAIN

Airbus meanwhile faces a battle to shore up its position as a top defence contractor in Spain after losing its place as the representative of Spain’s interests on the upcoming fighter project to local defence electronics firm Indra Sistemas.

Spain last month named Indra as contractor for the Spanish share of the Franco-German-led FCAS project, displacing Airbus from the Spanish coordinator role it had held on Eurofighter.

Airbus officials have pledged to try to overturn the move but a Spanish defence source told Reuters there was no change in the decision.

Indra declined to comment.

Publicly, Airbus has said it was surprised by the decision but has pledged to continue to defend Spain’s best interests.

Dassault will meanwhile mark a long-awaited milestone on Tuesday when it delivers the first of 36 Rafales to India, the culmination of a fighter procurement process that lasted almost 20 years and involved the cancellation of a much larger deal.

La Tribune reported on Monday that France and India were discussing a possible repeat order for 36 more Rafales.

(Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo Gonzalez in Madrid, Tassilo Hummel in Berlin, Editing by Deepa Babington)

Record U.S. Tariff Award Over Airbus Aid Could Fuel Trade Tensions

September 29, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) – Transatlantic trade ties face renewed disruption this week when global arbiters are expected to grant the United States a record award allowing it to hit European imports with billions of dollars of tariffs in a long-running aircraft subsidy dispute.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has found that both European planemaker Airbus <EADSY> and its U.S. rival Boeing <BA> received billions of dollars of illegal subsidies in a pair of cases that have run for 15 years.

Both sides have threatened tariffs after the Geneva body found neither adhered fully to its findings. However, the United States has a head start, with the European Union having to wait until early in 2020 to hear what level of retaliation it can exact over Boeing.

The WTO is expected this week to reveal the amount of EU goods the United States can target. People familiar with the case say the three-person tribunal is expected to award it around $7.5 billion, a record for the 24-year-old watchdog.

Such retaliation rights are rarely granted by the WTO – most parties reach settlements – and in many cases complainants do not exercise their rights. The United States though has indicated it will target EU goods to the fullest extent.

It has already published a $25 billion list from which it will pick items to target from aircraft and aerospace parts to wine, cheese and luxury goods.

The WTO award in the world’s largest corporate trade dispute could fuel already strained trade tensions, diplomats say.

EU manufacturers are already facing U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum and a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to penalize EU cars and car parts. The EU has in turn retaliated.

Trade talks between the two, designed to ease tensions and ward off the threat of a tit-for-tat tariff war, have not gone well. The two sides have made some progress on regulatory cooperation, but a proposed deal to reduce duties is stuck, with Washington saying agriculture should be included and Brussels insisting it cannot.

The Trump administration has concluded that tariffs were effective in bringing China to the negotiating table over trade, and in convincing Japan to open its agricultural market to U.S. products. Washington is unlikely to skip the opportunity to implement tariffs in the case over aircraft subsidies, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Airbus has said this would lead to a ‘lose-lose’ trade war.

Some U.S. airlines have urged the administration not to go ahead with the tariffs, saying they could lead to layoffs.

NO SETTLEMENT IN SIGHT

The parties could still theoretically resolve the issue and stave off sanctions, but both sides accuse the other of failing to respond to invitations to reach a negotiated settlement.

U.S. officials say the decision about next steps will be up to U.S. President Trump.

The EU cannot retaliate immediately to any tariffs as it did following the U.S. imposition of metal tariffs in 2018.

It can either wait until a pronouncement in the parallel Boeing case or possibly revive an existing right to hit $4 billion of U.S. imports in a WTO dispute over U.S. tax breaks for exports, even though the two sides settled in 2006. Such a move would likely be strongly contested by Washington.

EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom has urged Washington to hold off sanctions and seek an overall deal on aircraft support, but Washington has shown no sign it wants to talk.

A U.S. government official said Washington has been willing since the very beginning to negotiate a solution, but that the EU gave more support to Airbus rather than fixing the problem.

EU-U.S. trade relations are likely to be a major focus in Brussels during a parliamentary hearing of the next trade commissioner, Irishman Phil Hogan, on Monday, and of national trade ministers meeting on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington, reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Record U.S. tariff award over Airbus aid could fuel trade tensions
FILE PHOTO: Boeing Co’s logo is seen above the front doors of its largest jetliner factory in Everett

Boeing 702X Satellite Offers Unique Multi-Mission Flexibility

September 10, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Matured design enables delivery to customers in less than three years
Boeing software reallocates bandwidth to meet real-time changes in demand

PARIS Sept. 9, 2019 — Boeing [BA] unveiled its 702X family of software-defined satellites, highlighting a 1,900kg variant for geosynchronous orbit. The 702X technology enables operators to adapt to changing market conditions by dynamically allocating bandwidth.

The 702X builds on Boeing’s existing success with the 702 series satellites. The 702X platform incorporates a mature design, with a medium Earth orbit version already in production. Advanced manufacturing processes dramatically reduce cost and schedule risk while allowing the 702X to be delivered to customers within three years.

The 702X satellites will allow operators to distribute capacity to a variety of end users, connecting businesses, ships, airplanes, autonomous vehicles and broadband internet users around the world. “Satellites are, and will continue to be, an integral part of our data-driven society,” said Eric Jensen, vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, Boeing Commercial Satellites. “The 702X gives our customers the tools necessary to evolve with the market.”

The 702X is available to customers today. Boeing estimates the first 702X geosynchronous variant will be operational as soon as 2022.

Boeing is unveiling its new 702X family of software-defined satellites. All 702X variants, such as the small geosynchronous orbit model shown here, will provide satellite operators the flexibility to reallocate bandwidth through software updates in real time to meet changes in market demand. (Boeing photo)

French Judges Drop Charges Against Air France Over 2009 Crash, Blames Pilots

September 5, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS, Sept 5 (Reuters) – French judges have dropped charges against Air France and Airbus over a mid-Atlantic plane crash in 2009 that killed all 228 people on board, blaming the pilots for losing control of the plane.

In their conclusions, seen by Reuters, the judges said the pilots of the Airbus A330 had failed to process all the warnings and instrument readings provided by the aircraft.

The plane plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris after entering an aerodynamic stall and falling from an altitude of 38,000 feet during a storm, its engines running but its wings losing lift.

“The direct cause of the accident is the crew’s loss of control of the aircraft’s trajectory,” the judges determined.

Other crews, faced with similar situations, had successfully maintained control of their aircraft, their ruling said.

The judges overruled the prosecutors investigating the case, who had recommended that Air France stand trial over the crash in July.

In their 2012 report, French civil accident investigators found the startled crew of AF447 mishandled the loss of airspeed readings from pitot sensors blocked with ice and pushed the jet into a stall by holding the nose too high. The report also cited poor training and the lack of a clear cockpit display for speed problems.

The three-year civil investigation was not designed to cast blame, which was the purpose of the separate judicial probe culminating in the decision on Thursday.

A lawyer representing the families of victims said an appeal against the judges’ decision would be lodged immediately.

“The judges have just written in black and white that the icing of the pitot sensors had nothing to do with the accident. It’s nonsense,” Sebastien Busy told Reuters. “If the pitot sensors hadn’t iced up, there wouldn’t have been an accident.”

The accident was the deadliest in the history of Air France and in the history of the A330.

A decade later, the aviation industry is still implementing lessons learned from the crash. Changes have focused on training, cockpit procedures and the tracking of aircraft in remote zones.

It took salvage teams nearly two years to locate the A330’s flight recorders on the ocean floor.

(Reporting by Sophie Louet and Emmanuel Jarry Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Dozens of Airbus A380’s Face Urgent Checks

August 21, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Investigators probing an engine explosion on an Air France A380 in 2017 are studying a possible manufacturing flaw in a recently salvaged cracked part in a move likely to trigger urgent checks on dozens of Airbus superjumbos, people familiar with the matter said.

The focus of a two-year-old investigation into the mid-air explosion over Greenland, which left the plane carrying more than 500 passengers with the front of one engine missing, has switched to the recently recovered “fan hub,” the people said.

The titanium alloy part is the centrepiece of a 3-metre-wide fan on engines built for the world’s largest airliner by U.S.-based Engine Alliance, co-owned by General Electric and United Technologies unit Pratt & Whitney.

It had sat buried in Greenland’s ice sheet since September 2017 when one of four engines on Air France flight 66 abruptly disintegrated en route from Paris to Los Angeles. It was prised from the ice in June after a high-tech aerial radar search.

Confirming the focus of the probe after Reuters reported the plans for inspections, France’s BEA air accident agency said it had discovered a “sub-surface fatigue crack” on the recovered part and the engine maker was preparing checks.

The people familiar with the matter linked the crack to a suspected manufacturing flaw and said the checks – to be carried out urgently on engines that have conducted a certain number of flights – would affect dozens of the double-decker jets.

The people said the suspect part was fabricated on behalf of consortium member Pratt & Whitney, which declined to comment.

Engine Alliance is one of two engine suppliers for the Airbus A380 in competition with Britain’s Rolls-Royce.

Its engines power a total of 152 aircraft or just over 60 percent of the 237 A380s in service.

Besides Air France, other airlines operating the A380 with Engine Alliance powerplants include Dubai’s Emirates, Qatar Airways, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Korean Air.

The checks will involve taking some planes out of service outside their usual maintenance schedules, one source said.

Investigations are not complete and are likely to tackle other features such as the loads or physical forces at play. Experts say air accidents are rarely caused by isolated factors.

Europe’s Airbus declined to comment.

SIOUX CITY REMEMBERED

Nobody was hurt in the September 2017 incident, in which the Air France superjumbo diverted safely to Goose Bay in Canada.

Although rare, uncontained engine failures, in which shrapnel capable of puncturing the fuselage exits an engine at extremely high speeds, automatically raise alarm.

The checks come weeks after relatives marked 30 years since an engine failure left a United Airlines DC-10 with almost no control, culminating in the death of 111 out of the 296 people on board during an attempted landing at Sioux City, Iowa.

U.S. investigators cited a defective titanium alloy part and weak inspection procedures, although they also praised the “highly commendable” performance of the crew of flight 232.

The July 1989 crash sped up improvements in manufacturing methods for titanium alloy. Experts say hidden internal defects in such parts are unusual but remain difficult to detect.

Titanium alloy is used widely in aerospace, which is the metal’s biggest customer due to its strength compared to the weight of each part and its ability to handle high temperatures.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Elaine Hardcastle)

Embraer Delivers 51 Total Jets in Second Quarter of 2019

August 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Embraer delivers 26 Commercial and 25 Executive Jets in 2Q19

São José dos Campos, Brazil, July 30, 2019 – Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) delivered a total of 51 jets in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19), of which 26 were commercial aircraft and 25 were executive jets (19 light and 6 large). As of June 30th, the firm order backlog totaled USD 16.9 billion compared to USD 16.0 billion at the end of 1Q19. Embraer’s 2Q19 backlog increase is largely due to continued market demand, mainly for the new family of Praetor jets in Executive Aviation. See details below:

In the second quarter, Embraer received the Type Certificate for the E195-E2 from three regulatory authorities: ANAC, the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil); the FAA (U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). The E195-E2 is the largest of the three members of the E-Jets E2 family of Embraer commercial airplanes.

In the beginning of the 2Q19, Embraer signed a firm order for 10 E195-E2 jets with Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest airline. The contract includes purchase rights for a further 20 E195-E2s. With all purchase rights being exercised, the contract has a value of USD 2.12 billion.

During the 53rd International Paris Air Show, Embraer announced several sales contracts as follows. All values are based on Embraer’s current list prices.

United Airlines signed a contract for up to 39 E175s, comprising 20 firm aircraft and 19 options. The order has a value of USD 1.9 billion with all options being exercised. Binter, of Spain, confirmed the purchase rights for two additional E195-E2s from the original contract signed in 2018. The two new E195-E2s have a value of USD 141.8 million.

Embraer also announced KLM Cityhopper’s intention to purchase up to 35 E195-E2 jets, consisting of 15 firm orders with purchase rights for a further 20 aircraft of the same model. This intention to purchase, which still requires a Purchase Agreement, has a value of USD 2.48 billion.

Embraer announced during the Paris Air Show that it signed a contract with Japan’s Fuji Dream Airlines (FDA) for a firm order of two E175 jets. The order has a value of USD 97.2 million and was already included in Embraer’s 1Q19 backlog as “undisclosed.”

In the executive aviation segment, Embraer received the Type Certificate for the new Praetor 600 super-midsize business jet by the three main world regulatory agencies: ANAC, the FAA, and EASA. The first Praetor 600 was delivered in June to an undisclosed European customer.

Embraer Defense & Security and ELTA Systems Ltd (ELTA), a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), signed at the 53rd International Paris Air Show a Strategic Cooperation Agreement to introduce the P600 AEW (Airborne Early Warning). In this cooperation, Embraer is to provide the air platform, ground support, communications systems and aircraft integration while ELTA is to provide the AEW radar, SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) and other electronic systems and system integration.

Embraer Services & Support announced at the Paris Air Show a contract with Azul Linhas Áereas Brasileiras, S.A. for a long-term Flight Hour Pool Program agreement for the carrier’s brand new fleet of Embraer E195-E2 jets. The Company also announced pool maintenance and parts agreements with Helvetic Airways, from Switzerland, and Aurigny Air Services, from the Guernsey Island. During the MRO Americas event, in early April, Embraer also announced support contracts with Air Botswana, Binter, from Spain, and Mauritania Airlines.

Airbus Closes In On Air France Jetliner Deal

July 20, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON (Reuters) – Airbus is close to a deal worth billions of dollars to sell dozens of A320neo-family and smaller A220 aircraft to Air France as the French network carries out a keenly awaited renewal of its medium-haul fleet, industry sources said.

The deal could include as many as 50-70 Canadian-designed A220 jets, formerly known as CSeries, to replace Air France’s ageing fleet of roughly 50 A318 and A319 aircraft, they said.

Air France is also expected to pick the A320neo family to replace approximately 40 earlier versions of the Airbus A320 that are up to 18 years old.

A spokeswoman for Franco-Dutch parent Air France-KLM said: “Air France is pursuing work on its medium-haul fleet renewal. No decision has been taken at this stage.”

Airbus declined to comment on the deal, which is expected to be formally discussed at an end-month Air France-KLM board meeting.

The expected deal marks a rebound for Airbus after rival Boeing poached part of the fleet of British Airways owner IAG at last month’s Paris Airshow.

That deal caught Airbus off guard, though in the longer term sources say it may also have eased the European planemaker’s anxieties over the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX following the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March.

Airbus privately hopes the MAX will survive the crisis to avoid a costly race to develop all-new aircraft and to ease the prospect of a radical change in certification rules.

The anticipated Air France deal also illustrates Airbus’s recent deliberate effort to boost A220 sales by packaging deals together with its benchmark A320, industry sources said.

Airbus bought the loss-making A220 programme from Canada’s Bombardier last year and immediately began offering it to customers that already have other Airbus aircraft, allowing it to juggle prices and ancillary services across the fleet.

Air France-KLM, formed from a merger of French and Dutch flag carriers in 2004, continues to operate a mixed fleet between its two main national networks.

KLM last month provisionally became the first major European customer for the newly certified E195-E2 offered by A220 rival Embraer of Brazil, whose commercial aerospace arm is being acquired by Boeing.

KLM signed a letter of intent for 15 of the upgraded aircraft and options for another 20.

The Dutch carrier and Franco-Dutch low-cost subsidiary Transavia both operate the Boeing 737 family.

(Additional reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Geert de Clercq and Luke Baker)

Airbus Pulls Anniversary Book Over Fraud Probe Concerns

July 12, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus has halted sales of a new book that the planemaker had commissioned for its 50th anniversary to avoid hampering the manufacturer’s attempts to win a settlement in a bribery probe, two people familiar with the matter said.

The move is the latest sign of tension in Airbus as it nears the climax of a roughly $400 million, four-year internal probe carried out in support of an Anglo-French investigation into the use of intermediaries to win jetliner and other deals.

Airbus has already fired more than 100 people over ethics and compliance issues as its probe has progressed.

The book, “Airbus: The First 50 Years”, written by former New York Times journalist Nicola Clark, charts the rise of Airbus against challenging odds to become a European rival to Boeing and has a chapter focusing on the probe.

Sources said Airbus hoped to present its findings to the UK Serious Fraud Office and France’s PNF police by the end of the year. By doing so, they said it would seek more leniency under a system of prosecution agreements that allows for heavy fines rather than charges that might bar it from public contracts.

The two people said Airbus halted the book’s sales because it was concerned its official links to the publication could hamper talks with the authorities or discussions over other litigation as it seeks a fresh start under new management.

Airbus confirmed it had decided not to go ahead with the commissioned book, but denied any link to the bribery probe. It declined comment on the progress of the investigation itself.

“We continue to co-operate in full with the ongoing investigation,” an Airbus spokesman said. “The investigation and the book are two separate topics”.

Clark told Reuters she was “deeply disappointed with the very belated decision by Airbus to withdraw (the book)”.

UK-based publisher Urbane Publications declined to comment.

The book stems from an unusual initiative launched in 2016 under which Airbus granted Clark unprecedented access and full independence to give an unvarnished account of 50 years of industrial co-operation just as Europe’s political unity wavers.

It was published on Amazon’s Kindle service on May 29, half a century after Airbus was launched at a meeting of Franco-German founders including Roger Beteille, who died last month.

The book was quickly withdrawn from online sale and plans to distribute already-printed copies at the Paris Airshow in June were scrapped at the last minute, casting confusion over the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

But copies have been circulating and a review was published by Leeham News, a website covering the aviation industry.

Airbus said the version seen by the public was a draft. “The draft wasn’t consistent with our ambition for celebrating 50 years of pioneering progress,” the Airbus spokesman said.

Clark said Airbus had not described the book as a draft before notifying her of the decision to withdraw it.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Edmund Blair)

FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A350-1000 performs during the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris

Embraer Delivers its First New Praetor 600 Business Jet

July 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

São José dos Campos, Brazil, June 28, 2019 – Embraer announced today the first delivery of its new Praetor 600 super-midsize business jet to an undisclosed European customer. The delivery ceremony was held at the company’s production facility in São José dos Campos, Brazil, where the first Praetor 600 rolled off the hybrid assembly line that also produces the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500. Assembly of the Praetor 600 will soon also occur at Embraer’s production facility in Melbourne, Florida, where the company has produced more than 360 Phenom and Legacy aircraft since 2011.

“We are thrilled to deliver the first Praetor 600 and we are confident that our customer will be fascinated with the most disruptive and technologically advanced super-midsize business jet to enter the market,” said Michael Amalfitano, President & CEO, Embraer Executive Jets. “The Praetor 600 is certain to create a new value experience for our customers and help them outperform in their business and personal endeavors.”

Announced at NBAA-BACE in October 2018, where it also made its debut, the Praetor 600 was certified in April 2019, just six months after its announcement, becoming the only super-midsize business jet to be certified since 2014.

“The Praetor 600 unleashes the full potential of its platform through industry-leading design, engineering and technology that was yet unseen in the medium cabin class,” said Daniel Moczydlower, Executive Vice President, Embraer Engineering and Technology. “With Embraer’s fourth-generation fly-by-wire technology and more than 25 patented innovations in the interior design and architecture, the Praetor 600 will ensure an industry-exclusive customer experience and raise their expectations of business jets.”

Leading the way, the Praetor 600 is an aircraft of many firsts, including the first super-midsize jet with full fly-by-wire technology, which powers turbulence reduction that not only makes every flight the smoothest but also the most efficient possible.

The Praetor 600 is now the farthest-flying super-midsize jet, able to make nonstop flights between Dubai and London, Paris and New York, São Paulo and Miami. With four passengers and NBAA IFR Reserves, the Praetor 600 has an intercontinental range of 4,018 nautical miles (7,441 km), with the highest payload capacity in its class, and at Mach 0.80, its range is 3,719 nm (6,887 km).

About the Praetor 600

The Praetor 600 is the most disruptive and technologically advanced aircraft to enter the super-midsize category, delivering the ultimate customer experience with an unparalleled combination of performance, comfort and technology. The Praetor 600 will be the farthest-flying super-midsize business jet, which allows nonstop flights between London and New York. With four passengers and NBAA IFR Reserves, the Praetor 600 will have an intercontinental range of 4,018 nautical miles (7,441 km), with the highest payload capacity in its class, and at Mach 0.80, its range is 3,719 nm (6,887 km).

Air France and KLM to Swap Boeing and Airbus Orders

June 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS, June 28 (Reuters) – Air France-KLM said its separate Air France and KLM airline units would be swapping over some remaining orders from Boeing and Airbus, in a move which Air France KLM said would help its fleet run more efficiently.

The swap means that in the 2021-2023 timeframe, the six remaining Boeing 787 ordered for Air France will be transferred to KLM, and the current 7 Airbus A350-900s on order for KLM will be transferred to Air France.

“This is the first step towards harmonizing and simplifying the Air France-KLM Group fleet at its two major airlines,” said Air France KLM CEO Benjamin Smith.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Michel Rose)

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