The remaining four are the subject of negotiations over how many customized features should be slotted in and when, with France, Germany and Britain seen at the center of the debate.Īirbus met buyer nations this week and several weeks of negotiations lie ahead, sources in two capitals said.Īlthough some of the plane's advanced defenses will be later than planned, European defense sources say buyers have been assured it can tackle shoulder-held weapons held by non-state actors that are one of the region's pressing threats. The group appears certain it can deliver 13 of those planes, leaving 10 to deliver for the rest of the year. Investigators are looking into a possible accidental data wipe.Īnkara is negotiating with other A400M buyers to see whether it could get a replacement aircraft by swapping deliveries as it steps up its military role in the region, defense sources said.Īlthough production is back to normal, a clampdown on some testing after the crash led to new development delays of up to three months, erasing the remaining "buffer," they said.Įven though the destroyed plane was insured, some analysts expect Airbus to take a further modest provision on the A400M with its results on Friday, adding to 4.76 billion euros of charges already generated by Europe's biggest defense project.Īirbus declined any comment ahead of the results.Ī senior executive told Reuters in comments published this week that Airbus was confident of meeting the upper end of its revised production goal of 13 to 17 planes this year, following the accident, but declined further comment. Some of the state-of-the-art systems designed to warn of threats such as missiles or hostile radar are more difficult than expected to develop, handing buyers a choice between taking planes or waiting for upgrades, European defense sources said.īut after years of political disputes and technical problems, a new military-aircraft management at Airbus Group (PA: AIR) is working flat out to rebuild trust worn down by delays and overruns that are typical of large defense projects.Īn internal audit and regular updates appear to be paying off, people close to the talks said, with fewer visible signs of tensions that have led to costly stand-offs in the past.Ī new setback came with the fatal crash of a plane being prepared for delivery to Turkey in May. Malaysia is so far the only export customer. Other core buyers include Belgium, Britain, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey. The troop and cargo lifter was developed at a cost of 20 billion euros ($22 billion) for seven European NATO nations and is already in service with French forces in Mali.
PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus Group has told buyer nations of the A400M transporter aircraft that it cannot deliver all of its high-tech defenses according to plan, casting a shadow over some of its military uses as Europe battles growing instability on its borders. People are silhouetted past a logo of the Airbus Group during the Airbus annual news conference in Colomiers
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