EADS CEO sees more defense industry consolidation

The chief executive of European aerospace firm EADS , Tom Enders, said on Thursday he believed more consolidation would take place in the defense industry.

"I think there will be more consolidation happening, but we had one prominent example last year where industry tried to provide some meaningful consolidation and politics interfered," Enders said, speaking at the European Defense Agency's annual conference.

He was referring to last year's failed $45 billion merger between EADS and Britain's BAE Systems . The deal, which would have created a European defense and aerospace giant, collapsed in the face of political obstacles.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; editing by Rex Merrifield)