EADS is crafting plans to reorganize its defense and space portfolio, putting both units under one division. This was confirmed by the European group's chief strategic officer last Tuesday.

According to Marwan Lahoud, Chief Strategy and Marketing Office of EADS, "There could be disposals and acquisitions as part of the move to a single defense-space division... but we have to give it time and let the new team establish itself. After that we will announce a few things.

EADS is the parent of aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It had announced last July that it would be combining its defense and space subsidiaries and then rebrand itself using the planemaker name commencing on January 1. According to its announcement, the said restructuring would be completed by July 2014.

Just last year, Lahoud attempted to merge with Britain's BAE Systems to create the world's largest arms manufacturer. He acknowledged that EADS itself is seeking to surpass rival Boeing, focusing specifically on commercial aerospace.

He said at the sidelines of a French defense industry summit in France, "Our aim is to be the number one in aerospace in the world. There is no point in pretending, the development and growth are on the civil side."