Coronavirus: Defence Firm Airbus Turns Research Centre Into Ventilator Assembly Line

Defence firm Airbus has transformed its research and development facility in north Wales into an assembly line to produce medical ventilators for the NHS.

More than 550 employees at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Cymru in Broughton are working "around the clock" to produce at least 15,000 ventilators for the health service amid the coronavirus crisis.

The firm is working as part of the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium, involving manufacturers from a number of different sectors.

Airbus is helping to build 1,500 Penlon Prima ESO2 ventilators each week.

The firm said the kit is a simplified version of an existing model and the first new ventilator approved by the UK medical regulator in the fight against COVID-19. 

Airbus is making around 50% of the parts of each finished ventilator, while parts are also being produced by Ford in Dagenham and McLaren in Surrey.

WATCH: Timelapse of Airbus preparing the AMRC Cymru so it can make ventilator parts for the NHS.

Governments around the world are trying to boost their number of ventilators as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with some patients suffering from lung failure.

Airbus is the biggest supplier of large aircraft to the Royal Air Force and is also a leading provider of military satellite communications and cyber-security contracts.

Its UK operations generate around £6 billion of turnover annually, making it the country's largest aerospace company.

In February, the company announced it would cut more than 2,300 jobs before the end of 2021, including hundreds in the UK. 

Cover image: Airbus employees at AMRC Cymru help build ventilators for the NHS (Picture: Airbus).