French Officials Urging Partners To Dig A Little Deeper

French Defense Minister Herve Morin said Thursday that an additional $2 billion will be needed to complete the A400M, Airbus' troubled military airlifter.  The request comes on the heels of $2.7 billion recently pumped into the project by the 7 partner nations.

The international news service AFP reports that Airbus' parent company EADS has sought $8.7 billion from Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey, but they have imposed a three-week deadline on the company to reach a deal to get the beleaguered aircraft into production. Airbus is currently flight-testing the A400M in Spain.

Morin told reporters following a meeting with his counterparts in Istanbul "I have the prime minister's agreement for France to extend a refundable advance of 400 million Euros." The French hope the other partner nations will make similar contributions. Airbus has threatened to scuttle the project entirely if it is not able to secure additional money from the partner nations.

Between them, the seven nations have ordered 180 or the heavy airlifters worth about $28 billion. Airbus has been conducting meetings with its partners in conjunction with a NATO meeting going on in Istanbul. Thursday, a spokesman for the German defence ministry said there had been "substantial progress" in talks over the A400M, with "a broad agreement on delivery times and technical parameters."

FMI: www.airbus.com