Tue, Dec 01, 2009
Long-Delayed Airlifter To Won't Enter Service Until 2013
Airbus' long-delayed A400M military transport will make its
first test flight during the week beginning December 7, "weather
permitting", the European aircraft manufacturer said Friday.
The A400M was to replace aging military cargo carriers in
several European air forces, but its development has been dogged by
a series of serious technical problems and its in service date has
been pushed from 2009 to 2013.
Defense News reports that some governments have begun to tire of
waiting for Airbus to resolve the issues, and French and German
officials have given the firm until the end of the year to prove
that the project remains viable. "Ground tests of the first A400M
are progressing satisfactorily at our facility. This allows us to
anticipate a first flight in the week 50, weather permitting," said
Airbus military chairman and managing director Domingo Urena.
When the $28 billion A400M project began, it was hoped that a
first test flight would be held in 2008 and that air forces would
have had the airframe in service by the end of this year. There is
now little hope that the first production models will be delivered
by 2012, and none is expected on the world's battlefield airstrips
until 2013. The delays have cost millions and forced Airbus to
renegotiate contracts with several customers. South Africa has
dropped its order entirely and Britain has mulled switching is
business to U.S. manufacturers.
Seven European countries - Belgium, Britain, France, Germany,
Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey - have ordered 180 planes between
them, in most cases to replace aging Transall and C-130 Hercules
transports.
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