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GERMANY FINALLY COMMITS TO A400M BUY

The Airbus Military Company has long been waiting to hear the words, "Germany and France intend together to strengthen their capabilities in the area of military air transport. They have therefore, like the United Kingdom, taken the decision to acquire the Airbus A400M as their future military transport aircraft." The declaration announced at the summit meeting on 9 June in Mainz takes the project, which has had a bumpy ride over the last decade, a significant step closer towards being realised as all seven partner countries are now on board.

Five nations committed to the A400M at a meeting of the steering committee at the end of March and then on 16 May the United Kingdom came out in favour of the European solution, leaving Germany the only nation still uncommitted. A German decision was held back by voices within the defence ministry which had long been in favour of a derivative of the Russian/Ukrainian Antonov An-70 to be developed by AirTruck.

But in the end, Rudolf Scharping had no choice. A common solution took priority, and there was no chance to convince the other nations of the Antonov. It is only understandable that Russia and the Ukraine are upset about the decision. The desire expressed in Mainz that the industries participating in the A400M programme should "seek opportunities for industrial co-operation with Russia and Ukraine" is little consolation.

After all, Airbus Military does not have the slightest interest in putting work their way, even if it is politely stressed that such a possibility exists in principle. Besides, Airbus argues, any such collaboration must not be at the expense of either time or costs, nor must it pose any risk, and these are precisely the areas in which the An-70 solution has been perceived as weakest up to now.

The A400M has finally seen off the competition, even the Americans. However, it could be some time until a development and production contract is signed. The words, "The actual launch conditions for this programme can be concluded with our other partners over the summer," which featured in the Mainz declaration, may well turn out to be pious hope, for there are a large number of points which need to be settled.

One major issue is the number of units to be built. Germany and France are talking of "an operational requirement for 75 and 50 aircraft" respectively, but the figure for the German Air force seems somewhat on the high side. At any rate SPD budgetary expert Volker Kröning was quick to point out that 40 aircraft would be quite sufficient. When it came to commenting in the Handelsblatt on the defence ministry's demand for separate funding for the programme, Kröning was somewhat reserved. "That question is not currently being asked."

As far as costs are concerned, Airbus Military is confident of being able to keep to a unit price of around $80 million even if the unit numbers are closer to the 200 mark than the 288 originally envisaged. In any case, the business case for the new airlifter is now given and Airbus Military is continuing to assume that the A400M will be flying 51 months after award of contract, with first deliveries within 71 months, even if these are only in the baseline configuration.

The company's internal preparations have reached an advanced stage, including wind tunnel testing, design improvements and allocation of workshares. Even the problematic issue of Dasa's involvement on the wing appears to have been satisfactorily resolved: BAE Systems will remain responsible for the integration work, while the carbonfibre panels, flaps and ailerons will be built in Airbus's north German factories.

However, one critical issue remains unresolved, namely the choice of powerplant. Rolls-Royce and Turboprop International (Snecma, MTU, ITP and Fiat Avio) have both delivered fully compliant tenders, but there is political pressure for them to produce a joint solution.

Talks are under way between the companies, but apparently they are proving arduous because each of them wants the joint proposal to be based around its own core engine (BR700 and M88, respectively). Airbus Military has made it clear that a joint bid must be submitted by the end of June and it must not entail any additional development risk. No doubt there will be more on this subject in the next issue.

From page 32 of FLUG REVUE 8/2000