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Sridhar

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EADS: USAF can buy 118 A400Ms with savings from C-130, C-5 retirements
By Stephen Trimble


EADS North America has offered a plan for the US Air Force to purchase 118 Airbus A400Ms using savings from retiring most Lockheed Martin C-130Hs and all C-5As.
The EADS proposal was submitted last year to the Air Mobility Command (AMC) upon their request, says Neil F. Smith, director of A400M programme for EADS NA.
The concept proposes to stand-up about eight squadrons of A400Ms within the US mobility force structure, Smith says. "We get a very good reception" at AMC, Smith says.
EADS has been seeking to introduce the A400M in the US market for several years, arguing that the increasing size of ground vehicles has out-grown the box size of Lockheed's C-130. The A400M features a 3.96m (13ft) cabin diameter, versus the C-130 family's 2.74m-wide cargo bay.
The size difference would allow the army to load an armoured Stryker vehicle on the A400M, Smith says.
In response, a Lockheed executive challenged EADS' assumptions about the cost of the A400M, especially with the programme currently in negotiations with European governments over a reportedly $7 billion cost overrun.
"I think that's the ultimate in fuzzy math," says Jim Grant, Lockheed vice president of business development for air mobility and special operations programmes.
Despite the ongoing uncertainty about the programme's financing, EADS plans to continue making a big push in the US market. One of the programme's test aircraft could even travel to the US in early 2011 for a marketing tour, the company says.
EADS NA also believes it will need to partner with a major US prime contractor to be successful with the A400M proposal. The company has already partnered with Northrop to offer the KC-45 tanker and with Lockheed with the AS645 helicopter. EADS also would even consider partnering with Boeing to bring the A400M into the US market, Smith says.
Another concept under review is to bring the Europrop consortium's TP400 engine manufacturing into the US market, as well. Smith noted that Rolls-Royce, a member of the Europrop consortium, has established an engine manufacturing plant in Richmond, Virginia, with extra capacity. That production facility could be used as a domestic source for TP400 production.



http://www.flightglobal.com/article...10254,10255,10256,10257,10349,10829,11394.htm
 

Sridhar

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A400M deal in the offing?

24 February 2010


Europe's €20bn Airbus A400M military transport project may yet find a resolution with European governments reportedly having struck a deal with Airbus parent EADS to salvage the badly struggling programme. According to reports, partner nations may agree to pay 10 per cent more for the price of each aircraft and help EADS recover development losses incurred on the programme.
The transport aircraft, which is also Europe's largest joint development of a military project, is $5bn over budget and four years behind schedule. EADS regrets having signed a fixed cost contract with partner nations that left it bleeding badly as the development programme of the aircraft, primarily the engine, went completely out of gear.
Late last year, Airbus parent company, EADS, threatened to abandon the project as partner nations were unwilling to share losses to the extent that it expected them to.
However, it is now believed that a deal may be announced as soon as Thursday.
Details being made available now would suggest that Britain, along with six other European partner nations, agree to a 10 per cent price hike that will allow EADS to raise about €2bn (£1.75bn). Over and above this raise, another €1.5bn is expected to be made available to EADS in loan guarantees.
If agreeable to EADS, it would help rescue the project and save as many as 10,000 European jobs.
EADS has already written off €2.4bn in losses.

http://www.domainb.com/defence/general/20100224_A400M_deal.html
 

Sridhar

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Airbus happy with the progress of A-400M military transport aircraft

05 March 2010 8ak Akshay Kumar: Airbus Military, a subsidiary of EADS created for the management of the troubled Airbus A400M project, has said that the company was happy with the progress of the development of its first military transport aircraft. “Considering that the contract (to manufacture A-400M) was signed in May 2003, the first flight within six years is a tremendous achievement and since then seven flights over 30 hours have been achieved, which is a phenomenal achievement,” said Peter Scoffham, Airbus Military vice-president of defence capability marketing.
Contradicting the media reports that the delivery of four aircrafts to Malaysia, for which the contract had been signed in 2005, was delayed and the delivery will not take place before 2016, Scoffham said that the Airbus was all set to honour its commitment to Malaysia and the delivery of the aircraft would take place as per schedule in 2013.
The £18billion Airbus project for developing its first military transport aircraft A400M has been in troubled waters due to rising costs and delays, which led to South Africa cancelling its orders last year. However, after its successful maiden flight in December 2010, the seven partner nations, which include Germany and United Kingdom, were hopeful of the successful development of the aircraft. However, talks of scrapping the project are doing the rounds after the company proposed a 20% hike in unit cost of the aircraft, which stands at US$161 million as of now.
The military aircraft is powered by Europrop International’s TP400D turboprop engine. The aircraft is able to fly as high as 40,000 feet, and is capable of low-altitude manoeuvres as well as landings on short, unprepared runways. It also doubles as an in-air refuelling vehicle. The A400M can carry two attack helicopters or 116 soldiers. The aircraft has a cruising speed of 780km/hr and has a range of 3,298 km with max pay load.


http://www.8ak.in/8ak_india_defence...ircraft-says-senior-company-representati.html
 

Sridhar

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A400M may earn 250-400 export orders: France
08 March 2010


Paris: Striking a positive note ahead of a likely final settlement with EADS over the contentious A400M military transport programme, French defence minister Herve Morin said Monday that the EADS and the seven partner nations that make up the consortium backing the A400M programme estimate that there is a potential export demand of between 250-400 aircraft for the plane.
A400M. Image:AirbusMorin was speaking at a press conference where he briefed the media about the agreement in principle between EADS and the seven NATO countries--Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey--on revised terms for the initial 2003 contract under which the seven partner nations had contracted to purchase 180 planes for euro 20 billion.
This fixed price contract ran into trouble with cost overruns resulting from development problems of a futuristic turbo-prop engine. The aircraft has made its debut flight but EADS served notice to partner nations that it could no longer meet its obligations under the existing contract as it was just not viable and would very likely cause collapse of the company itself. Partner nations have scurried to meet EADs demands, at least part way, and are now scheduled to finalise new terms of agreement by the end of the month.
Morin said defence ministers from other countries had expressed interest in acquiring the A400M, which can carry heavier loads than the Lockheed-Martin C130J Super Hercules and is more versatile than Boeing's larger C-17 Globemaster III.

Morin also revealed that there is an agreement among the seven governments not to reduce their orders by more than 10 aircraft. He said the UK had already indicated it wants to reduce its order numbers by two or three planes.

http://www.domainb.com/aero/mil_avi/mil_aircraft/20100308_export_orders.html
 

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Bailout saves Airbus military plane

[video]http://www.youtube.com/v/znj62BF5egM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0[/video]
The troubled Airbus A400 military aircraft has received a $5bn lifeline from European nations buying the plane.

The heavy lift transport plane is already four years behind schedule and nearly $10bn over budget.

The fate of the aircraft has been closely watched in the French city of Toulouse, home to Airbus headquarters where a quarter of all jobs depend on the aircraft giant.

Al Jazeera's David Chater reports.


http://nosint.blogspot.com/2010/03/bailout-saves-airbus-military-plane.html
 

Armand2REP

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A400M Cost Overrun Set at 10%
By pierre tran
Published: 8 Mar 2010 11:45


PARIS - An agreement by customer nations to provide 3.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion) of financial support for the A400M represents a 10 percent cost overrun on the airlifter program, with Britain expected to cancel two or three aircraft, French Defense Minister Hervé Morin said March 8.

The prospective cut in orders by London is smaller than expected, with previous estimates going to six fewer units than the original 25 planes purchased, because of the cost overrun.
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As part of the overall pact, Britain is expected to cancel "two or three aircraft," Morin told a press conference on the A400M agreement reached March 5. Those prospective cancellations came under the agreement which limits the maximum cancellations to 10, he said.

No other country has signaled an intention to cancel, he said.

A 10 percent overrun was "extremely reasonable," given that many arms programs run over budget, Morin said, citing the Eurofighter Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter programs.

That 10 percent figure comprises the funding that each of the seven clients will contribute on a pro rata basis based on the number of aircraft ordered, he said.

For France, the extra cost will be 550 million euros, based on the 5.5 billion euros budgeted for acquisition, he said. The overall base figure for France rises to 7 billion euros when the development costs are included, he said.

Under the agreement reached March 8, the countries will accept a 2 billion euro increase over the contract price and contribute 1.5 billion euros in export levy facilities.

The 10 percent overrun funded by the customers compares with EADS' own estimate of around 25 percent excess on the program budget.

EADS had asked the customers to pay 24.39 billion euros, that is 5.2 billion extra on the original contract price of 19.19 billion agreed in 2003, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCooper prepared for the contract agency OCCAR.

EADS is due to report a 2009 net and operating loss when it publishes results March 9.

Under the agreement reached, the customers waived 1.2 billion euros of penalties for delays and will speed up pre-delivery payments between 2010 and 2014 to ensure a "minimum treasury" for EADS. The exact amount of those payments remained to be negotiated, along with a clause covering cost inflation on materials for industry, said the procurement chief, Laurent Collet-Billon of the Direction Générale pour l'Armement (DGA).

France would contribute 400 million euros of the total 1.5 billion of export levy facilities, Morin said. The countries would be repaid from future export sales, which Morin estimated at 300 units over the next 20 years. The export levy facilities fall outside the contract terms.

EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois said last June before the Paris Airshow the company was making the A400M at a loss and would only make money on export orders.

The overall agreement also provides for a staged delivery of capabilities, with an initial operating capability of the basic transport mission, followed by air drop, aerial refuelling and finally low-level flight and automatic terrain following, with a year needed for each new capability.

France will get its first aircraft delivered in 2013, seven units by 2014, 35 in 2020 and the last in 2024.

As a stop-gap measure, France will buy eight Casa CN235 light transport aircraft and extend the life of Transall planes to 2018.

The cost of buying a mix of C-130Js and C-17s as interim solutions would have been 15 percent more costly than buying the A400M aircraft at the higher price, Morin said.

Belgium, Britain, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey ordered 180 of the A400M in 2003 under a fixed-price commercial contract with Airbus covering development and production.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4529774&c=EUR&s=AIR
 

Sridhar

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First A400M ferried from Seville to Toulouse
09-03-10
The first A400M is flying today from Seville to Toulouse following a test flight performed in the Seville area.

This flight is the tenth performed by A400M MSN1 since its first flight on 11th December 2009. In total and until yesterday the aircraft has logged 39 hours of flight test. Very poor weather in Seville prevented the aircraft from performing more flights, as the sensors installed on the turboprop blades for the initial flight test campaigns, are sensitive to humidity.
During the initial testing, MSN1 has flown at the type’s maximum operating speed of 300kt (555km/hr), maximum Mach number of M0.72, down to the stall warning, and at an altitude of more than 30,000ft. It has operated extensively in both direct and normal control laws, and in different configurations.
The first A400M is equipped with heavy test instrumentation, as is the second aircraft which was handed over to Flight Test on 6th March and is due to fly in the next few weeks. MSN 3 is undergoing final production ground tests before engine installation. The aircraft is due to fly by the middle of this year. Sections for MSN 4 have arrived in Seville for final assembly, with the main fuselage due to leave Bremen and be flown to Seville at the end of this week. MSN 4 is to fly in the second half of this year.
While MSN 1 and 2 are fitted with heavy test instrumentation, MSN 3 and 4 will have medium test instrumentation. The fifth aircraft, MSN6, which is the first built to production standards, is going to be fitted with light test instrumentation only. The five aircraft will perform a planned 3,700 flight-hours before first delivery of the A400M in late 2012. Trials with MSN1, 3 and 6 will be performed in Toulouse, while those with MSN 2 and 4 will be done in Seville, providing greater flexibility and taking advantage of best weather conditions where available.
About the A400M
The A400M is an all-new military airlifter designed to meet the needs of the world’s Armed Forces in the 21st Century. Thanks to its most advanced technologies, it is able to fly higher, faster and further, while retaining high maneuverability, low speed, and short, soft and rough airfield capabilities. It combines both tactical and strategic/logistic missions. With its cargo hold specifically designed to carry the outsize equipment needed today for both military and humanitarian disaster relief missions, it can bring this material quickly and directly to where it is most needed. Conceived to be highly reliable, dependable, and with a great survivability, the multipurpose A400M can do more with less, implying smaller fleets and less investment from the operator. The A400M is the most cost efficient and versatile airlifter ever conceived and absolutely unique in its capabilities.


http://www.airbusmilitary.com/Press...ferried-from-Seville-to-Toulouse/Default.aspx
 

Armand2REP

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Airbus A400M presentation

[video=dailymotion;x7td3p]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7td3p_airbus-a400m-presentation_tech[/video]
 

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Second A400M takes off
By Craig Hoyle

A second A400M has joined Airbus Military’s operational flight test fleet, and taken the delayed type past the 70 flight hour mark.

Piloted by Michel Gagneux, Karl-Heinz Mai and with three flight test engineers aboard, aircraft MSN002 completed a 4h 50min debut sorties from Seville, Spain on 8 April. Carrying heavy flight-test instrumentation, the aircraft got airborne with a take-off weight of 128t; 13t below the A400M’s expected maximum.

“The crew confirmed that the aircraft and its four Europrop International TP400D engines performed in line with expectations,” Airbus Military says.



© Airbus Military

“Having MSN002 join the flying programme will help us accelerate the rate of progress in building flight hours,” says head of flight operations Fernando Alonso.

The first of five flight test aircraft, MSN001, has now flown 15 times and spent over 66h in the air. The platform made its 3h 45min debut flight on 11 December last year and was recently moved to Toulouse, France.

MSN003 should fly “by the beginning of the summer”, according to the European manufacturer, with the fourth aircraft to follow suit around year-end.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/04/09/340463/picture-second-a400m-takes-off.html
 

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France, UK to agree joint A400M support deal

France and the UK have agreed to pursue a joint contract for the full in-service support of their future inventories of A400M transports, Airbus Military has revealed.

Now in negotiation, the performance-based deal has been in discussion for more than three years, says Richard Thompson, the company's senior vice-president customer services.

"The philosophy for the in-service support will be very similar for both nations, moving from traditional product support to helping with urgent operational requirements, upgrades and role changes," he says. Airbus will guarantee spares availability under the incentivised contract, and also provide heavy maintenance work "right up to the frontline".

Thompson says Airbus will "quickly aim for civil-type dispatch reliability rates" with the A400M, and cites a goal of around 98%. "It's a fairly tough target, but we're confident we can make it," he says. The company will also guarantee the maximum number of "down hours" that an individual aircraft will require for maintenance per year, and is targeting a figure half that for Boeing's C-17 strategic transport.

France has ordered 50 A400Ms and the UK 25, although the latter has signalled its intention to reduce its offtake by up to three.

Airbus is meanwhile waiting for Germany's BWB procurement agency to reopen the process to select an in-service support provider for its A400Ms. This was earlier postponed as a result of programme delays that will see the German air force's first of up to 60 transports accepted in 2013, rather than later this year.

"We are still in regular discussions, and await a new procurement process," Thompson says. This could be conducted as a competitive deal or under a sole-source agreement, he adds.

Berlin is thought likely to acquire its own spares for the aircraft, although Thompson says it could instead opt to pool resources with France and the UK, and potentially with additional operators such as Spain and Turkey. "If you pool there are economies of scale," he notes, "but if you go a separate way you're going to pay more."

Thompson says securing such logistics deals on the A400M will contribute to Airbus's "Vision 2020" target to boost its current support activities from 10% of its overall business to around 25% within the next 10 years.

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...nce-uk-to-agree-joint-a400m-support-deal.html
 

Armand2REP

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A400M at ILA Berlin 2010

 
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Germany Confirms A400M Agreement

FRANKFURT — Germany will take only 53 of the 60 Airbus Military A400Ms originally on order, German government sources indicated on Oct. 25.

A400M customers continue to chip away at the commitment of 180 units that was negotiated as part of a general settlement reached in March. With the U.K. planning to cut its commitment by three aircraft, the total program now totals 170 aircraft.

French avionics specialist Thales will have to cover possible additional expenses for flight management system (FMS) changes, according to the sources. But a German defense ministry letter to leading Bundestag defense committee members says that industry has to come to a final agreement on the FMS matter.

Defense State Secretary Thomas Kossendey writes in the statement obtained by AVIATION WEEK that implementation of the March 31 heads-of-terms deal with the A400M nations turned out to be more challenging than expected. In his view, that is mainly due to the lengthy search for a compromise on the industry side and reworked planning for the FMS.

But the letter concludes that "significant progress has been made" since then, and negotiations on Oct. 1 "should finally have led to a breakthrough. After tough negotiations so far, an agreement with regards to critical aspects, particularly the financial ones, could be found according to the view of the nations." Kossendey refers to talks involving the nations, the Occar arms procurement agency and Airbus Military.

An EADS official did not confirm the letter or any of the details, but said he was confident a deal could be reached before the end of the year.

The defense ministry believes that changes and additions to the 2003 industrial contract and further negotiations on the FMS will take the remainder of October. The German defense committee could then deal with the altered terms at a December meeting, according to the letter.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gene...many Confirms A400M Agreement&channel=defense
 

Sridhar

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European buyer nations reached agreement on a 3.5 billion euro bailout to Airbus A400M military transporter

Tim Hepher, TOULOUSE, France - 08.11.2010
European buyer nations reached a final agreement on Thursday on a 3.5 billion euro bailout to rescue the troubled Airbus A400M military transporter, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said.

The agreement lifts a two-year cloud over the future of Europe's largest defence project and some 10,000 jobs threatened by delays and cost overruns.

"The A400M is an emblematic programme which Europe could not abandon," Morin told a news conference.

"Giving it up would have meant Europe saying it wanted to be dependent on the United States in the 21st century (in the strategic area of military transport)," he added.

The A400M was ordered in 2003 to meet a shortfall in military and humanitarian airlift. The European buyers include Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.

By reducing dependence on U.S. makers Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the project was conceived as a pillar of European defence ambitions.

But delays in making the West's largest turbo-prop engines put the A400M back four years to 2013 and sent costs soaring.

Buyers hammered out a provisional funding deal in March, following the discovery of 7.6 billion euros in excess costs. Taxpayers will end up bearing just under half of this. But finalising the accord took longer than expected amid pressure on defence budgets and a raft of disagreements over technical aspects of the 20-billion-euro aircraft programme.

Buyers will take a total of 170 planes instead of 180 planned when the project was launched. Britain will cut its order by three planes to 22 and Germany by seven to 53.

The deal calls for a price increase per plane of 11 million euros for a total price hike of just under 2 billion euros. A further 1.5 billion will come as credits against future exports.

Each buyer nation must adopt the accord, which EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois said he hoped would happen by end-year.

Gallois said there were no significant changes from terms agreed in March, and the agreement would have no further financial impact on EADS. Some government payments may, however, arrive more slowly than initially expected, Airbus said.

LAST-MINUTE SNAGS

Morin, whose political future is uncertain ahead of a government reshuffle later in November, toured the aircraft pursued by cameras before disappearing into a private meeting area while a scheduled news conference was delayed by an hour.The politically delicate accord nearly dissolved at the last minute, delegates said, as new objections surfaced over support costs and a pricing mechanism for the plane. Delegates said Morin intervened with his mobile phone to prevent what could be his last chance to oversee an agreement slipping away as he took charge of the final lap of talks.

It was the second time the centrist politician has worked his cellphone to dig the A400M out of a rut after he brokered a deal between a roomful of ministers and Louis Gallois, at the other end of the line, to prevent Britain walking out in 2009.

A separate financial dispute between French supplier Thales and Airbus over responsibility for carrying the risk linked to a delayed navigation system was resolved. It was not immediately clear how this would affect Thales's finances.

The talks came to a head at a sensitive time as governments slash spending on defence and other areas while bailing out the A400M, which France and Britain say is needed in Afghanistan.

Besides Morin, who is seen as keen to keep a high profile ahead of the reshuffle and a possible presidential run in 2012, other ministers stayed away from the final session of talks, and plans for a joint briefing were dropped and flags folded away.

"This aircraft remains excellent value for money compared with the possible costs of buying off the shelf," Morin said, before adding for Gallois's benefit: "Still quite expensive".

Each aircraft will cost just under 120 million euros, which analysts say is about mid-way between the competing Lockheed C-130 prop plane and the Boeing C-17 jet transporter.

Source Reuters - Balkans.com

http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=78620
 

pmaitra

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pmaitra

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I see more resemblance with a C-17 than Soviet aircraft.
True. The T-Tail empennage of the A-400 looks more like that of the C-17 than the Il-76. However, the wings of A-400, thanks to it's propellers, looks more similar to the An-70.

N.B.: Overall, A-400, C-17, Il-76, An-70, all look very similar.
 
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pmaitra

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Personally, I like the aircraft, except it's landing gear. They seem short and the belly is almost touching the runway. Ditto with the An-70 and C-17.

Can the A-400 do what Il-62 can? If it cannot, then, ummm, not sure why this is even a military aircraft. See the video below:
 
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Armand2REP

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Official price of A400M signed in this weeks negotiations are €118 million ($161m). Not a bad price for a tactical and strategic airlifter in one. You can buy 3 A400Ms for the price of 1 C-17.
 

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