https://issuesinsights.com/2022/11/09/airbus-still-does-business-with-putins-russia-but-also-wants-u-s-defense-contracts/
One thing made clear by Vladmir Putin’s war against Ukraine is how out of touch his calculations were regarding Ukraine’s ability to fight, the strength of his forces, and the willingness of the international community to push back against his unhinged brutality.
That last point might be the most surprising of all given the lack of a similar response to Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea and other aggressions in recent times. Countries — including famously neutral Switzerland — and an impressive number of private companies joined in sanctions and/or took similar steps that have hurt Putin’s ability to impose more pain on the Ukrainian people.
French aerospace giant Airbus is one of the more notable exceptions to the laudable private-sector efforts.
Instead, Airbus is ignoring sanctions on Russia and has gone as far as to successfully pressure the European Union to exempt it from sanctions. Interestingly, their position comes at a time when they are simultaneously attempting to expand their contracting work with the U.S. Defense Department.
Airbus needs titanium to manufacture planes. Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used for aircraft. Titanium’s density is 60% that of steel, so it is lightweight but also strong and resists corrosion. Airbus gets about half of the titanium it uses from Russia.
After Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Airbus continued dealing with Moscow, even going so far as to stockpile more Russian titanium while other plane makers balked at the same chance.