It all started in 2004 in Lindenberg, Bavaria, with a single machine of the type Droop+Rein FOGS. This developed into one of the most powerful partnerships in the field of landing gear manufacturing. At EMO 2025, this collaboration was visible: Starrag presented a fully assembled nose landing gear of the Airbus A350 – manufactured by Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH, machined on a Droop+Rein machining center from Bielefeld.
Landing gear partnership at eye level
The exhibited piece represents the joint path of two world market leaders – one at the system level, the other in machine engineering. It is a partnership at eye level, based on technical understanding, long-term thinking, and a global perspective. 'The trust that Liebherr-Aerospace has placed in us for two decades is both a commitment and an incentive,' emphasizes Heiko Quack, Director Sales Large Projects. 'Together, we have developed processes that are considered benchmarks worldwide – especially when it comes to safety-critical components.'
For over 20 years, the two companies have been working closely together to efficiently, reliably, and with maximum manufacturing depth produce one of the most demanding components in the aerospace industry – the aircraft landing gear. Starrag provides the machining technology, Liebherr the system solution.
At the Lindenberg site, Liebherr-Aerospace operates one of the most modern landing gear manufacturing sites in Europe. Here, four Droop+Rein FOGS machining centers are connected – complemented by robotic tool systems, laser measurement, and integrated automation. The decision for the first Droop+Rein FOGS machine was made back in 2004 because its concept – originally developed for tool and mold making – was ideally transferable to the complex outer contour and tolerance requirements of landing gear parts.
The philosophy: as many work steps as possible in one setup.
Nose landing gear: reliable partner of the main landing gear
The exhibited nose landing gear is smaller than the main landing gear but fulfills central tasks: it enables directional changes during taxiing, absorbs high impact forces during landing, and functions under all climatic conditions. For the long version A350-1000 with a takeoff weight of 308 tons, the system was redesigned. Liebherr was able to draw on its decades of experience.
Such demanding systems are no longer only created in-house but in a global manufacturing network: by 2022, in addition to the four Droop+Rein machines in Lindenberg, nine more machines were installed in Europe and Asia. This was made possible by the close technological cooperation with Starrag: The Bielefeld machines not only provide the necessary precision but also the basis for a globally standardized manufacturing approach – tailored to the requirements of safety-critical components and their high repeat accuracy.
Reliability from the start: over 95 percent availability
'Since the first installations, we have been working with a contractually guaranteed availability of over 95 percent,' emphasizes Heiko Quack, Director Sales Large Projects. 'This reliability is an important prerequisite for stable series processes and thus for the trust of our partners.' This also applies to the machining centers from the very beginning – they are still in operation today and consistently achieve this high availability.
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