A400M programme

[buglerbilly]

UPDATE 5-Deadline challenged as Airbus A400M partners meet

Thu Jan 14, 2010 3:00pm ESTRelated NewsUPDATE 3-Now or never on A400M rescue, says Airbus

* Germany rebuffs Airbus deadline, decision seen in Feb

* Spain and France want to keep A400M project afloat

* Airbus: Difficult to continue without gov't contribution (Adds German defense minister)

By Tim Hepher and Adrian Croft

PARIS/LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Buyers looked set to ignore an end-of-January deadline from Airbus for a deal to bail out its A400M troop plane, after Germany refused to be "pushed" but sought to allay fears that the troubled project would fail.

Representatives of seven countries that ordered the European heavy airlifter were due to meet in London on Thursday evening.

But in an apparent snub to the European planemaker, delegates said Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA) was not invited to the talks and a decision might not be made before early February.

"We are not expecting any concrete decisions today," a source briefed on the talks said. Barring a surprise breakthrough, no statement was expected afterward .

The A400M, a powerful turbo-prop, was designed to transport troops and heavy equipment to remote areas such as Afghanistan.

But its future has been threatened by an 11 billion euro or 55 percent blow-out in development and production costs, overshadowing a successful maiden flight carried out last month.

EADS wants to split the bill almost evenly with the nations involved in Europe's largest arms project -- France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey. That would see nations picking up a 5 billion euro overrun in production costs.

EADS is offering to shoulder up to 6 billion euros in potential extra development costs, of which 2.4 billion euros has already been written off its balance sheet and spent.

France said on Wednesday it would agree to contribute, but Germany has so far refused to allow Airbus to budge from a fixed 20 billion euro development contract which it signed in 2003.

Asked what he expected from Thursday's meeting, Germany's defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told Reuters: "That contracts are honored."

Speaking in Munich, Guttenberg added it is important that the buyer nations present a united front.

With investors clamoring for clarity, EADS called on Tuesday for a funding deal by Jan. 31 and ruled out extending a "standstill agreement" which allows negotiations until then.

Airbus also disclosed contingency plans to axe the project, something military analysts say could derail Europe's efforts to deepen economic union into the costly world of defense.

Germany -- the top buyer with 60 planes on order and severely critical of EADS over the spike in costs -- rejected the deadline.

"We are trying to find a solution -- on the basis of the contract which has been agreed and which is valid -- and also on the understanding that we do not want to be held to ransom or be pushed into taking some steps," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said on Wednesday.

Any deal must be "justified in terms of the project and also in terms of our expectations on the financial burden," he said.

"SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION"

Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders insisted Airbus, spending 100-150 million a month to keep the A400M afloat, would need government help to prevent the problem from damaging its core airliner business.

"Without a very significant contribution of governments it will be very, very hard to continue the project," he told reporters on a trip to Tokyo.

Natixis Securities analyst Olivier Brochet said the figures being bounced around make it impossible to determine a value for EADS, which has a market capitalization of 11.5 billion euros.

"The situation strikes us as being very unhealthy indeed and fraught with risks," he said in a note advising investors to stay clear until the year-long budget stand-off was resolved.

Under a formula first agreed between EADS and Britain last year, countries facing budget problems would avoid having to find new cash by reducing the number of planes they receive under the original budget -- effectively paying more per plane.

Some 40 out of 180 planes on order would be deferred to a second tranche, for which funds would be needed only after 2020.

Spain, where the A400M is assembled, and France, the second-largest customer after Germany, are said to support the plan.

"It is impossible that we should not be capable of successfully completing this program," Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon told journalists in Brussels.

French Defense Minister Herve Morin told parliament a final decision would likely be reached on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting in Istanbul on Feb. 4 and 5.

He said later that France would be sympathetic to a funding deal.

"The idea of bearing some of the cost overruns is not a source of concern, because I think that this project is a magnificent project," Morin told radio station RFI.

(Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold, Anna Holzer, Julien Toyer, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Michael Watson, David Cowell and Gerald E. McCormick)

[buglerbilly]

UPDATE 2-A400M partners agree to seek funding deal

Fri Jan 15, 2010 8:55am

* Agreement to discuss money eases chill in negotiations

Stocks | Mergers & Acquisitions | Bonds | Global Markets

* Germany says countries have joint position on A400M

* EADS says ready to find acceptable solution to cost spike

By Tim Hepher and Gernot Heller

PARIS/BERLIN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Partners in the Airbus A400M military plane pledged on Friday to seek an "acceptable" deal over a massive cost blow-out that threatens the future of Europe's largest arms project, easing a chill in negotiations.

Germany, which has so far opposed moves to provide increased European government help for the delayed troop transporter, said buyers were committed to sticking with the project "but not at any price" and signalled talks with Airbus in coming days.

EADS shares were up 1.3 percent to 14.4 euros by 1342 GMT.

The A400M is Europe's attempt to build a home-grown troop and heavy equipment transporter for global military and humanitarian missions by seven NATO countries -- Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey.

Its future has been threatened by an 11 billion euros ($16 billion) or 55 percent surge in combined development and production costs, overshadowing a successful maiden flight last month. [ID:nGEE5BA0E6]

Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA) said it was ready to negotiate an "acceptable" funding deal at a meeting of junior defence ministers which it expected to be invited to next week.

The move follows a meeting of buyers in London on Thursday and marks a possible thaw in negotiations after EADS complained it had been left out of crucial meetings and set a Jan. 31 deadline for an agreement to avoid scrapping the plane.

But there was no immediate indication how far either side was prepared to compromise and some sources close to the negotiations suggested it may take the involvement of European leaders, notably French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to clinch a final accord.

"The talks continue at working level with strong involvement of the ministries concerned. The French would like to see the whole issue treated at top level, but that's not the case yet," an aide to one European leader told Reuters.

PRICE HIKE

France said this week it was ready to contribute to a funding deal and suggested one could be finalised on the sidelines of an informal NATO meeting in Istanbul on Feb 4-5.

That meeting takes place shortly after an international leaders' conference on Afghanistan in London on Jan 28 where A400M buyer nations could also conduct any necessary side talks.

A similar deadlock over the future of the next phase of the Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet was lifted after Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown intervened last year.

A German spokesman said buyers had hammered out a joint position and agreed on Thursday to invite Airbus to talks on an "acceptable" solution by the end of January.

The planemaker's efforts to impose a deadline had initially rankled with Berlin which said it would not be held to ransom.

Germany is the largest A400M customer with 60 out of 180 planes on order.

Berlin has so far rejected a proposal by EADS that would see the seven launch nations pay up indirectly for an overrun in production costs, pegged by sources at 5.2 billion euros, but it is widely assumed it would be willing to do a deal on its terms.

To avoid triggering unpopular spending decisions during the economic crisis, the proposal being discussed would not involve new taxpayer money in the short run. It would instead engineer a 25 percent price hike per plane by delivering correspondingly fewer planes under the original budget 20 billion euros budget.

In return, industry sources say EADS has offered to shoulder up to 6 billion euros in development "risk," of which 2.4 billion euros has already been provisioned in its accounts.

This so-called tranche approach would leave some 40 of the 180 planes in budget limbo until after 2020 when nations could either put up more money or leave Airbus to try to export them. ($1=.6931 euros) (Additional reporting by Paul Carrel; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

[buglerbilly]

DATE:18/01/10

SOURCE:Flight InternationalHigh stakes as A400M nations decide: stick or twist?

By Murdo Morrison

As a game of poker, the stakes do not get higher. With just one A400M having flown, EADS has threatened to scrap the airlifter unless its seven European launch customers can agree by 31 January to stump up funds to keep the programme on track.

Barring a surprise consensus from governments during meetings in London late last week, its act of brinkmanship could go to the wire.

The European aerospace group - parent of the aircraft's manufacturer Airbus Military - has been complaining for over a year that it cannot afford to continue developing the A400M without a fresh injection from governments to help cover the additional costs of building the aircraft. EADS has already written off €2.4 billion ($3.4 billion) to cover losses from the project, and says it cannot risk any more of its cash.

In a "'who-blinks-first" stratagem, EADS chief executive Louis Gallois last week defied warnings from a series of ministers in customer nations that more taxpayer money would not be used to bale out a programme that is more than two years behind schedule, by stating: "We cannot continue beyond the end of January without knowing where we are going financially."

Speaking in Seville, Spain, Gallois said the company is spending between €100 million and €150 million a month on the A400M. "I am sending a message of urgency to governments. We are ready to negotiate at any time."

He also repeated a previous assertion that EADS had made a "mistake in accepting a fixed-price contract on a programme with huge technical challenges and an unrealistic schedule". However, there were "responsibilities on both sides" for the delay, he said.

"It was the nations who pushed the production sharing between countries, including some choices with [the Europrop International TP400-D6] engines," he added. "We must find a solution for sharing the burden with them. If we want to protect the capacity of the group, we can't add losses to losses without clear limits."

Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus, which now has direct responsibility for Airbus Military's business, raised the stakes further, stating: "We cannot continue without a significant financial contribution from our customers. The A400M as it is set up today will put the whole of Airbus in jeopardy, and I will not go down that road."

Gallois stopped short of detailing what EADS might do if an agreement is not secured by the end of the month. "Can you leave us room to negotiate with our customers?" he said.

Pressure on defence budgets as a result of rising deficits has added to frustration over delayed deliveries among A400M customers, which include France, Germany, Spain and the UK.

Politicians in all these countries have warned that taxpayers ought not to have to fund the rising costs of the programme. Deliveries should have started in October 2009, but are now not expected until around December 2012.

European defence ministers were scheduled to meet representatives from the OCCAR procurement agency in London to discuss the latest proposals to save the project, with reports having suggested that EADS could require in the region of an additional €6 billion to deliver on the A400M, above its original €20 billion contract with the nations.

Previously one of the fiercest critics of the troubled project, the UK government appears to have adopted a more conciliatory position than that voiced by its previous defence secretary John Hutton, who last year said that no additional funds would be provided.

Current defence secretary Bob Ainsworth told Flight International that the UK needs the A400M, and described the ongoing contractual disquiet as a sign of "tough love".

Additional reporting by Craig Hoyle in London

[JKM Mk2]

Frankly, I don't think it is assential to the RAF to get the A400. They seem to be doing quite well with what they have (C-130J & C-17). In the end I think they'll go with that combo if the a400 prograsm starts to spiral out of control as seems to be happening at present. The A400 is a nice looking aircraft but basically it is looking more important to the French & German than the British IMHO and cost problems are starting to put it out of contention with the RAF.

Hey, this's my first post in the new forum!!

Cheers
JKLM

[Marc 1]

Frankly, I don't think it is assential to the RAF to get the A400. They seem to be doing quite well with what they have (C-130J & C-17). In the end I think they'll go with that combo if the a400 prograsm starts to spiral out of control as seems to be happening at present. The A400 is a nice looking aircraft but basically it is looking more important to the French & German than the British IMHO and cost problems are starting to put it out of contention with the RAF.

Hey, this's my first post in the new forum!!

Cheers


JKLM


Except the FRES candidates are too heavy for the C130. They'd possibly need more C17's, and definately replacements for the overworked C130K's.

[Gubler, A.]

Except the FRES candidates are too heavy for the C130. They'd possibly need more C17's, and definately replacements for the overworked C130K's.

But tactical airlifters hardly ever carry armoured fighting vehicles. Its a great furphy promoted by salespeople that they actually do. Since the C-130 doesn't have a mission to carry AFVs it is unlikely its replacement - be it A400M or ? - will have to carry AFVs.

[Milne Bay]

So the world can get by without the A400M?
It would appear that there is a lot of national pride tied up in this programme - from the French in particular.
In reality everyone could buy off the shelf from Lockheed, Boeing and Antonov and 99% 0f their transport needs would be met.
Of course this would be a very different kettle of fish politically.
MB

[Gubler, A.]

So the world can get by without the A400M?

The world could get by without the C-130 too.. The C-17 has left both for dead...

But the payload range of the A400M is very, very good. Much better than the C-130. But you just don't need it to fly tanks around. That just doesn't happen.

[Marc 1]

But tactical airlifters hardly ever carry armoured fighting vehicles.

True, its a very poor use of scarce resources, but wasn't that the main reason for the increased payload of the C-17 over the C141's they replaced - during Desert Shield, the septics were feeling a tad vulnerable as the only AFV they had worthy of taking on a T-72 was the M1 and that could only be carried by the few airworthy troublesome C-5's? Hence the C-17's can take an M1 just in case armour needs to be moved in a hurry (of course they could also now field the Stryker 105's).


Its a great furphy promoted by salespeople that they actually do. Since the C-130 doesn't have a mission to carry AFVs it is unlikely its replacement - be it A400M or ? - will have to carry AFVs.

But I think it is a requirement of the tender:

The British Ministry of Defence decided to pursue a replacement, with a specification that it could be airlifted by Airbus A400M and smaller C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The new "Future Rapid Effect System" project was established on May 5, 2004, with an assessment period of two years.[5]

Since then, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has been researching electrically charged armour, with the view of ultimately integrating it into the FRES design.[6] Plans for FRES vehicles to be carried by C-130 have also been dropped for being unworkable.[7]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Rapid_Effect_System

[JimWH]

So far as I understand it Marc, it's an argument frequently used by air forces in order to avoid having to explain the full reasoning to politicians. The advantages of the C-17 are in every domain: cargo box dimensions, payload, range, serviceability; but explaining all of that would take more time than most people could be arsed to put in. Hence the quick and dirty explanation of the armoured fighting vehicles: it's not wrong (they do need a big cargo box and payload), but it's not the type of capability which is likely to be useful operationally.

[buglerbilly]

FACTBOX-Auditors blast EADS management over A400M

UPDATE 3-Auditor blasts EADS over A400M

Wed, Jan 20 2010

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V.

A report blaming Airbus (EAD.PA) managers for huge cost overruns on the delayed A400M military transporter turned up the heat on the planemaker in a row over who will foot the bill. [ID:nLDE60J0JB]

Following are some key findings from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) audit:

- PWC said it found no evidence that robust systems had been established to monitor costs booked to the A400M programme against the actual value delivered. There is no mechanism to understand how advanced the programme is.

- The budgeting process of Airbus parent EADS has consistently and significantly underestimated the costs of the A400M and concluded the current process has limited value.

- The total anticipated cost overruns for A400M are 11.2 billion euros. This can be cut by 3.6 billion euros through management changes, leaving a realistic anticipation of an expected loss of 7.6 billion euros.

- Processes and management will require significant improvement in order to deliver cost savings.

- The main cost driver and reasons for cost overruns were the technical complexity of the aircraft and the numerous design changes.

- Assuming a loss of no more than 7.6 billion euros, EADS is likely to suffer a credit rating downgrade but should still be able to access funding.

- Cancelling the contract would have more severe implications for EADS than continuing with it due to a more adverse credit rating impact and the likelihood that funding sources would be restricted. It also noted the market has not factored a cancellation into its assessment of EADS.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by David Cowell)

[Marc 1]

The advantages of the C-17 are in every domain: cargo box dimensions, payload, range, serviceability; but explaining all of that would take more time than most people could be arsed to put in.

Gotcha on the utility of using airlifters to transport armour. And I acknowledge the C-17 is superior in virtually every respect compared to the A400, that's not the point of this program though - it's a 'euro prestige' thing, and a jobs creation program for EADS and the euopean countries involved (sheltered workshop). Logic doesn't really come into it. I get the feeling that even if this thing's total payload capability proved to be a payload of one canary at a maximum range of 20km, it would still be purchased (can't lose face) but then quietly shelved a few years later. Kind of reminds me of some of those British designs that didn't exactly rock the aeronautical world like the Blackburn Beverley.

There's a lot of bluster and posturing from both sides now on this aircraft - but it will be built - loss of face is one reason, and to cancel the program now would aparently cost more than continuing anyway (as per above). Just a few thoughts.

[buglerbilly]

What a load of bollox Marc...........

IF you think Euro projects are going to be built to save face you are sadly mistaken indeed. A400M was designed to meet needs C-130J never could. The truth is that Europe and the USA should have tied up a JV project and various attempts were made but the hoary question of who would lead and what proprietary rights resulted caused such JV thoughts to crash repeatedly.

EADS sure as shit doesn't have a microcosm of the power it deludes itself into believing it has.

The Euro's want the A400M to meet needs. IF it fails and gets cancelled then Germany in particular will be in a tough spot but to be honest nothing a bunch of C17's and a few lighter transports couldn't cure.

The ideal combo for most if not all Western Airforces is to have both C17 and A400M in operation together.

[buglerbilly]

Airbus, buyers adjourn "tough" A400M talks

Brian Rohan and Sabine Siebold

BERLIN

Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:33pm EST

BERLIN (Reuters) - Airbus and seven European NATO nations adjourned crucial talks over the troubled A400M military transporter plane until Friday and a source close to the talks said they remained far apart on a possible rescue package.

Recriminations over apparent lack of progress erupted after the first of what could be many sessions in coming weeks, as another source reported little movement and a senior industry official accused nations of ignoring Airbus's "serious" plight.

The A400M aircraft has been derailed by technical problems and soaring costs, sparking testy exchanges between Germany -- its biggest projected buyer -- and Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA).

Germany has so far rejected calls from EADS for buyers of the heavily delayed troop and cargo plane to absorb 5 billion euros ($7.10 billion) of extra costs, but France and Spain back giving some support and most diplomats expect a compromise.

"The talks are difficult. But they will continue tomorrow. The goal of all participants is to find a solution by the end of January," an EADS spokesman said.

A German government spokesman confirmed that talks would resume on Friday but declined further comment.

"Negotiations are very tough and very complicated," a source close to the talks told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

"They have started to negotiate but what is being demanded and what is on offer are still miles apart," the source added.

German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told a newspaper earlier his government's patience would only stretch so far on the 20 billion euro defense project, Europe's largest.

"Our readiness to compromise in relation to cost developments and the necessary performance parameters is limited," Guttenberg was quoted in the Bayernkurier as saying.

He added that industry alone bore responsibility for risks related to the plane's development and production.

But speaking after Thursday's opening session, a senior industry official told Reuters, "Nations have yet to understand how serious the situation is for the EADS group."

Most sources declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.

The discussions were held in Guttenberg's ministry and began on Thursday afternoon as snow engulfed the German capital.

EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois and Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders put the company's case for extra support to build 180 troop carriers for seven European NATO countries -- Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey.

Britain and France have said the aircraft are urgently needed in Afghanistan, but the first expected deliveries have been pushed back to 2013 from 2009.

Germany is the biggest client with 60 planes on order.

FUNDING WORRY

Airbus came under pressure on the eve of the talks when a leaked audit report commissioned by buyers blasted a host of alleged management failings and poor controls.

But in a warning that could raise alarm bells in Paris and Berlin, the report also said EADS could be forced to raise fresh capital if the seven fail to agree a price increase for the plane and costs continue to increase.

Although very much a last resort, any talk of a capital increase tends to distract EADS and could strain a two-year truce between France and Germany over control of Europe's largest aerospace group in its tenth anniversary year.

France and Germany jealously guard equal control over a company forged from a marriage of strategic aerospace assets but often roiled by cross-border tensions.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to streamline the group in 2007, marking the start of a period of relative tranquility under Gallois.

The French government owns 15 percent of EADS, media group Lagardere (LAGA.PA) owns 7.5 percent and German car firm Daimler (DAIGn.DE) owns 22.5 percent in a three-way shareholder pact.

But the holdings are tightly packed and increasingly difficult to adjust in the wake of sales by the two industrial backers, neither of whom is considered willing to invest more.

The French government's holding is capped at 15 percent, meaning a refinancing could reopen a debate about EADS's future that neither Paris nor Berlin is anxious to address.

"If EADS assumed all of the cost overrun, there might have to be a capital increase at some point," said Christophe Menard, an aerospace analyst at Bryan, Garnier & Co in Paris.

"That presents a much more complex problem for French and German governments. It is not only an A400M story, it is something with indirect consequences, very delicate. This might encourage a few people to change position in the negotiations."

EADS shares fell 2.8 percent to 14.4 euros, valuing the maker of planes, rockets and helicopters at 11.7 billion euros.

La Tribune newspaper said in its Friday edition EADS was prepared to pay 800 million euros toward the cost overruns.

(Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers, Dave Graham, Tim Hepher; Writing by Erik Kirschbaum, Tim Hepher, Editing by David Cowell and Sharon Lindores, Gary Hill)

($1=.7040 Euro)

[buglerbilly]

DATE:21/01/10

SOURCE:Flight InternationalPICTURES: UK tests load capacity of A400M

By Craig Hoyle

The UK has conducted trial equipment loading work using a full-scale mock-up of the Airbus Military A400M's cargo hold, with the process having demonstrated how the type could carry two of the British Army's new armoured vehicle types.

Performed recently, the work involved a 20t Ridgeback 6 x 6 patrol vehicle and a Panther command and liaison vehicle weighing 6.3t. "There is room and payload left for either two cargo pallets on the ramp, 48 passengers and two pallets of baggage, or a Land Rover loaded to the ramp," the Ministry of Defence says.


© Crown Copyright

The two vehicles had a combined weight of over 26t

The A400M is required to have a useful cargo capacity of at least 32t under the terms of a seven-nation development and production contract signed in 2003. The UK is to receive 25 of the aircraft to replace its Lockheed Martin C-130Ks.


© Crown Copyright

The Ridgeback vehicle's 20t weight exceeds the C-130's cargo capacity

Airbus's fourth test aircraft, MSN004, will be the first A400M to have a production-representative cargo bay. Scheduled to fly for the first time in January 2011, it will be used for tasks including the development of cargo operations and procedures, with the work to be performed in Bremen, Germany.

[Marc 1]

What a load of bollox Marc...........

IF you think Euro projects are going to be built to save face you are sadly mistaken indeed. A400M was designed to meet needs C-130J never could. The truth is that Europe and the USA should have tied up a JV project and various attempts were made but the hoary question of who would lead and what proprietary rights resulted caused such JV thoughts to crash repeatedly.

EADS sure as shit doesn't have a microcosm of the power it deludes itself into believing it has.

The Euro's want the A400M to meet needs. IF it fails and gets cancelled then Germany in particular will be in a tough spot but to be honest nothing a bunch of C17's and a few lighter transports couldn't cure.

The ideal combo for most if not all Western Airforces is to have both C17 and A400M in operation together.

Bug,

FWIW I largely agree with what you have said. My attempt a sarcasm above didn't convey my postion on the aircraft. I have defended the aircraft on other fora because it will be an excellent growth successor to the C-130's. BUT I do believe that it is somewhat of a protected species - other nations could have taken similar steps to the UK and bought C-17's (how many do the UK have now 9 or 11 including orders?), and augmented with newbuild C-130's, and cancelled the program years ago (as you pointed out). In hindsight (and that's virtually what we have today) that would have been the smartest option, allowing direct interoperability with the US and other possible future coalition forces such as Australia. As the C-17 could easily have covered the A400's role, and therefore it's not a crucial or 'irreplaceable' program. I believe the reason the A400 was not cancelled is that it involved workforces in what 5 different EU countries and intergovernmental relations between the same (hence protected species). If the Seasprite had been locally built in conjunction with a number of other countries with thousands of local jobs on the line- I wonder if it would still have been scrapped?

The decision has been taken to proceed with the aircraft I believe (the newspaper reports are largely there to give 'joe public' the feeling that the government is being stern with EADS, and EADS is protecting its shareholders interests), it just remains a question of when and how many will eventually be procured out of the original orders. There'd be a lot to recommend a two tier system of A400 and say C27 for most of the european airforces (or even us if we hadn't bought C-17's)- that would cover 95% of their inter and intratheatre transport issues.

I don't have a defence insiders view - that's the feel I have gotten from reading the articles posted.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Flight Test Programme Progresses Strongly

(Source: Airbus Military; dated Jan. 20, web-posted Jan. 25, 2010)

Following a series of three flights on consecutive days the Airbus Military A400M airlifter MSN1 has now completed a total of seven flights and clocked up 30hr 20min block time.

Taking advantage of improving weather the aircraft flew every day from 14-16 January, making excellent progress in exploring more extreme areas of the flight envelope, precisely calibrating the air data collection equipment, and beginning specific assessments of the aircraft systems.

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.

Chief Test Pilot Military Ed Strongman, who is one of five pilots to have flown the aircraft, said: “We have performed some very interesting flights and collected a lot of good data. The aircraft is a delight to fly and there have really been no significant problems at all.”

MSN1 is now spending 3-4 weeks in the hangar undergoing modifications in light of the test data and experience so far and will return to flight in the second half of February. Aircraft MSN2 will join the flight programme in early spring and MSN3 will fly around the middle of the year. An eventual five prototypes will perform a planned 3,700 flight-hours before first delivery of the A400M in late 2012.

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 manoeuvrability, 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.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

UK stalls over A400M loan proposal

By Peggy Hollinger in Paris, Sylvia Pfeifer in London and,Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin

Published: February 6 2010 02:00 | Last updated: February 6 2010 02:00

The UK holds the key to rescuing one of Europe's biggest defence programmes, after three government customers for the troubled A400M military transport aircraft backed proposals to offer EADS

€1.5bn ($2bn) in repayable loans to help meet heavy cost overruns.

Germany and Spain have welcomed a French proposal that government customers could provide repayable loans to break the deadlock over who should pay the excess costs of the A400M. The programme, managed by EADS's Airbus subsidiary, is running four years behind schedule and some €11bn over its initial €20bn estimate.

However, the UK, one of the four major customers for the heavy-lift transport aircraft, is leading opposition to a loan package, which would come in addition to the €2bn in cash that the seven government customers have already put on the table. At least two other countries are also understood to be against the loan proposal.

London's reluctance to join the scheme could make it more difficult for its European partners to secure their own finance ministry backing for a loan package. "We need the British on board because we cannot have just three of the major states shouldering the burden for the rest," said one German official.

If successful, however, the proposal could go a long way to resolving the long-running dispute over a fixed-price contract that EADS admits it should never have signed. The group has asked for an extra €4.4bn to cover the costs of the project.

If the loan package is accepted, the gap between EADS and its customers would be roughly €900m. The company will have to pick up a significant portion of this, while compromises such as deferring aircraft orders could help to resolve outstanding financing issues, according to government officials. EADS, which has already taken a €2.4bn hit on the programme, said yesterday a "significant gap" still remained before agreement could be reached.

Talks continued throughout the day yesterday between EADS and officials from the seven nation states that have contracted to buy the 180 aircraft.

But the French proposal has encouraged many of those involved in negotiations that have so far lasted almost a year. The advantage of the repayable loan proposal, said one French official, was that not all governments would have to participate. Moreover, as the loan would not be part of the renegotiated contract, it would not have to be agreed unanimously by all seven client states. The UK government said yesterday: "The UK remains committed to the A400, but not at any cost. We regard the contract re-negotiations as the best means to determine the way forward."

Additional reporting by Alex Barker in London

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.

[buglerbilly]

France brushes off demand for A400M deadline

France brushes off EADS' plea for a decision this week on troubled Airbus military plane

Interesting that the French have taken this stance after yesterday's reports about the Brits...........

By Jamey Keaten and Emma Vandore, Associated Press Writers , On Monday February 8, 2010, 12:17 pm EST

PARIS (AP) -- France on Monday brushed off defense contractor EADS' demand for a decision on financing for the troubled A400M military transport plane by the end of the week, saying that setting a deadline is not helpful for discussions.

"I have learned never to fix a timetable," said Laurent Collet-Billon, head of the France's arms procurement agency in a press conference.

EADS CEO Louis Gallois on Saturday said Airbus' parent company and its shareholders Daimler AG and Lagardere SA need a decision this week so they can book EADS' share of the cost overruns in their 2009 financial results, rather than carrying over uncertainty into the first quarter. EADS is due to report on March 9.

Collet-Billon said the seven nations have agreed to commit an extra euro2 billion ($2.74 billion) in funding, and France is proposing that governments make available an extra euro1.5 billion in reimbursable loans.

He blamed "severe shortcomings" in EADS' management of the program, which is almost four years behind schedule.

EADS has reduced its demand for extra funding to euro4.5 billion -- but the government proposal still falls euro1 billion short.

German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said last week that there is "no agreement on figures, nor on the breakdown."

An official from the German defense ministry, who declined to be named in line with government policy, said Monday that no date has been set for a new round of talks, but that a meeting this week seems likely.

A spokesman for Britain's defense ministry said negotiations continue, and Britain continues to support the program "but not at any cost."

The four-engine turboprop military plane had its maiden flight in December. The price tag for the 180 planes ordered was fixed at almost euro20 billion in the initial contract in 2003. Germany is the biggest costumer with 60 aircraft ordered, and France wants 50.

The A400M is seen as occupying an important niche market between the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, which carries only half the payload, and Boeing's C-17 Globemaster III, which is larger, costlier, and less tactically versatile.

Associated Press writers Juergen Baetz in Berlin and Bob Barr in London contributed to this report.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:17/02/10

SOURCE:Flight InternationalEADS: letter from A400M nations an 'important step'

By Craig Hoyle

EADS has broken its silence over the progress made during protracted negotiations with the seven European launch customers for its Airbus Military A400M transport, after what it describes as "unsolicited press reports" about the project.

In a statement released on 17 February, the company says: "EADS confirms that it has received a letter from the customer nations of the A400M programme, summarising the status of the negotiations and proposing a number of changes to the initial contract."

The document does not represent a draft proposal for a new contract, it continues, and adds that "the company wishes to get further clarification on several items, and certain points are left open for later discussion".

Its statement describes the letter as representing "an important step towards convergence", but it fails to provide any specifics on possible areas of compromise between the manufacturer and its customers in brokering a new contract for the 180-aircraft deal.

Originally worth a fixed €20 billion ($27 billion) for development and production activities, the A400M deal has been at risk since late last year, despite the type having made its delayed first flight on 11 December. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that a solution could hinge on the provision of state loans and changes to aircraft specifications.

EADS plans to make a new provision against the troubled project in its 2009 financial results, but says that for now "it is too early to draw financial conclusions", or "determine the level of the A400M provision it will need to charge".

The company had threatened to halt work on the A400M at the end of last year, and again on 31 January, but is continuing to prepare aircraft MSN001 for its eighth test flight, and to ready second test example MSN002 for its debut sortie.

[tiddles]

I dont think this idea will ever get off the ground but they can live in hope. However with the U.S. Admin pushing to close down the C17 line after export orders are finished & the future of some of the C5 s finite [not sure of the numbers] there may be a bit of a gap ,but how many lifters does the U.S. really need in the future ,I suspect it will be a long time before another operation on the scale of the Iraq or Afghan operation will be tolerated because of possible budgetry restrictions.
Tiddles
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.

[Deks]

Personally I just don't see them being able to get rid of the C-5's.

[Unicorn]

A desperation ploy methinks. EADS must be very very nervous about their airlifters future.

This smacks of desperation especially after the crap thats been thrown at the KC-45 for being a 'foreign' aircraft by the professional xenophobic's and Boeing payroll legislators.

Unicorn

[Chunder]

AMC must have one of the most unfortunate curmudgeons hanging around their neck with the C-17. Sure, great tactical airlifter, The good thing about it is that it is able to lift a MBT into an Austere airbase, the BAD thing about it is that it's designed around the ability to lift a MBT into an austere airbase.

Which equates to a damned expensive way to run airlift if the reality is that MOST of the time you don't need to carry MBT's into Austere airbases, or for that matter heavy vehecles, most of the time into austere airbases.

So the C-5 and any operational improvements over the C-17 surely must be greatly sought after.

Edit from general interest wank factor. There is probably about 5 days difference in runway prep for A-400 as opposed to C-17 if you run off a 2 week prep time for austere airfields in Australian conditions. If other than that you can extrapolate that capability in harsher en/v b/c the 400 adds significant capability to the engineering dept. For a wingspan 2M greater & t/o Distance of 30 M longer than the C-130J. + soft field capability. Which means more engineering equipment on site much faster.

Even if that is not what you want from a core capability standpoint it hits the sweet spot. But you pay a price for it... I think Bug said in the Old T5C there is probably a need for the RAAF to have a few though I don't see it happening!

[JimWH]

Chunder, what the hell are you talking about? C-17 is a smaller aircraft than the C-5 with a smaller cargo box, but very few loads actually require the larger cargo box of the C-5. Similarly, there really aren't all that many super heavy loads (>100 ton) which can't be broken down and carried by smaller strategic airlifters (i.e. C-17).
Arguably C-5M has a place in the USAF TOE because the airframes are available and because there are a few airlift missions in which lifting really large heavy loads is necessary, but the C-17 is a better aircraft in almost every other respect and better suited to most missions.

[Chunder]

Jim, the ability to fit more in the aircraft and be able to fly it into you run of the mil commercial airport. It's not about outsized or heavy loads it's more about efficiency. So why stuff around when (with the upgrade) you have longer legs, costing you less? There are considerations to be made when you design a platform RO-RO around a capacity for heavy airlift into austere airstrips. You don't necessarily need that as the basis of a platform to perform run of the mil operations.

Or have I hit the C-17 fanboi spot? Without being rude (probably hard not to do)

Not saying it's not a great platform with great uses It just seems to me as if C-17 production is treated by politicians/the pentagon as the answer to MOST of the AMC's airlift requirements from a laymans perspective.

One thing about the Hiring of the Antonov's it's not just about having to wait in line for the U.S to come lift your stuff to the Ghan, it's the capacity of the aircraft to shift what you want. The Army doesn't have much outsized equipment, but does have a lot of it. Adiitionally when it's needed the AMC really needs it's capacity, both fleets are operating at high tempo hence why the US charters 124's of it's own b/c the c/5 c/17 fleets can't cope. Which just goes to show it's more about capacity to lift x shit to x location. Granted we are not the U.S but the comment is aimed at Deks comment.

Edit: In a nutshell, the aircraft it is built to replace the starlifter. With Capability enhancements. It comes at a cost for that. If you want to move pallets for instance and had the equipment to do so, what would you use if you wanted them moved to Kabul. C-17 or A-330F ? C-17 isn't called the short bus for nothing by C-5 crews.

[JimWH]

Well, to respond to the C-5 fanboi*, exactly how often is the marginal extra capability of the C-5 actually used? You can pontificate all you like about the extra capability of the C-5M over the C-17 all you want, but unless you can actually show an operational need for that extra capability then it's a wee bit pointless. And the use of Atonovs to fly stuff into A'stan simply shows that the AMC does not have enough heavy lifters rather than that it has a specific need for aircraft with a greater payload/larger cargo box than the C-17.
In reality, what AMC (and indeed most other air forces) need is numbers of strategic lift aircraft, with a small sub-set of that fleet able to carry either super heavy or super large loads. Most of the time what is needed is a cargo box a bit bigger than the C-130s with a better payload-range curve than the Herc. C-17 can comfortably perform that mission, and it can do it with fewer hours of maintenance per flying hour (which from the perspective of fleet management is a big plus). At a press he A-400M may actually fit the bill for what the USAF needs (i.e. something able to carry slightly out-sized loads for further than a Herc) at a significantly lower cost than a smaller fleet of C-5s, although obviously this would rest on the results of an operational analysis using far more complete data than either of us have access to. This doesn't make it an especially likely solution (A400M may well ever meet program specifications, and it is arguable as to whether the USAF would derive a financial benefit compared to other solutions), but it isn't out of the bounds of possibility.

*I'd be really careful bandying around that phrase given the two posts you've just written.

[Chunder]

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2004/January%202004/0104galaxy.aspx

Edit: most assertions made here are from that article.

Edit Re-reading your post - apologies made re fanboi comment. I do have an affinity for what your saying in the last paragraph and data available that either of us have access too. If one considers that the C-17 is in a completely different league to the aircraft it replaced - the 141 with the A400 of slightly greater airlift capacity(Re effin edit) and much greater tactical use . Thats not to say that one should get sign up for it, just trying to point out there previously was a use for that sort of payload.

[JimWH]

So that article basically says that a certain number of C-5M are absolutley necessary, but that the case for a full upgrade of the entire C-5 fleet versus additional C-17 was legitimately debatable. And
the C-17 was the only strategic airlifter “that could use the full range of airfields available in the Iraq theater of operations.” Like Handy, the CRS noted that the outsize equipment that the C-17 can’t carry is becoming “less important” and could travel to theater by ship. and that
AMC is not treating the C-5M and the C-17 as an either-or issue, command officials said.
Do you see why I was a touch p!ssed off with your rant? I don't think anyone doubts that there is a need for the C-5M program, but dismissing the C-17 out of hand is bordering on ridiculous.

Oh yes, as a rule any article in the medical literature that is more than 5 years old is treated with considerable caution: things change. Probably not a bad rule of thumb for an literature in a fast change field of study.

[Chunder]

Jim, AFAIK the whole C-5 vs C-17 debate re upgrade of C-5 is cost effectiveness and a myriad of other pro's and cons. Whether the C-17 can use the full rage of airfields or not in a given theatre is immaterial to the point being made. SO is the fact of the C-5 being able to carry outsize equipment - So does the C-17, whether it does it or not is another thing. That is the clear impression I get from the article. It does not say much about large outsize equipment, but it does allude to capability to lots of equipment in bulk. At the very beginning of of the article it mentions this

Gen. John W. Handy, the commander of US Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command, recalled, “In this last conflict,” there were “many, many times when, frankly, the only way to unclog” Charleston AFB, S.C., Dover AFB, Del., or Ramstein AB, Germany, was “to get the C-5 in there in sufficient numbers ... and, literally, in a weekend, ... clean out all three aerial ports.”

The C-5’s vast volume—the ability to carry 36 standard pallets, and 265,000 pounds of cargo, roughly double that of the newer C-17—is an “astounding capability,” Handy said. He added, “We certainly need to keep [it] at our fingertips for as far as I can see into the future.”
I mean, that is pretty clear It's not saying more are needed it is saying they are needed - Just like the C-17 is, however the point is that the C-17 is not the only available answer. The assumption or play that congressmen on the hill use to justify C-17 production is that the C-5 exists to move heavy, outsize cargo. Just like Justifying filling the vast bulk of airlift requirements with never ending C-17 orders because it can '"use the full range of airfields available in the Iraq theatre of Operations". Neither does AMC not treating the C-5M / C-17 debate as an either or issue, because that isn't the point The point has been AMC has C-5's C-17's and C130's. From a choices option it doesn't have any. It is Heavy strategic lift, Heavy strategic/tactical airlift, and tac airlift. That's not dismissing the C-17 as out of hand. It IS (pending smackdown) dismissing the need for excess amount of heavy tac airlift when plain jane airlift can do (think commercial).

I think that is a heavy, excessive weight hanging around AMC's neck. Want more airlift? Buy C-17's b/c the production line is running dry! (Few political reasons behind that IMO)

C-17 Tonnage - 77.5 Tonne / 18 Pallets
Range 4,482 km
Cost $200m.




A-330F - 475 cubic metres/69 Tonnes/23 Pallets
Range @ 64 Tonnes/7400km
Cost $180.6m - $187.7m

Then there is fuel burn & hence logistics sustainment of the air bridge.

I.E you pay a heavy price for piling up on C-17's with Strategic tactical airlift when the reality is from ODS, OIF & the ghan, that the tac ability is the rope around the neck when you apply the marginal extra capability argument against the commercial option if your willing to can the Ro/Ro and a few bits of specialised equipment that are available at large airports anyhow.

I think it is something that this paper http://www.stormingmedia.us/02/0223/A022363.html looks at.

Airlift aint medical literature, the guy is the commander of the show with operational experience- I would not dismiss him any more than blood pressure that used to be 100 plus your age, any more than a doc can get a blood pressure reading accurate with 100% certainty any rate.

[Chunder]

Point from Airforce times C-17 Vs Charter

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/12/airforce_airbridge_121909/

Widening air bridge to Afghanistan no easy feat

By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Dec 20, 2009 12:33:51 EST

From concrete runways in South Carolina to dirt airstrips in Afghanistan, the 10,000-mile “air bridge” is open.

Now, the work begins to widen it.

In the coming weeks, the Air Force will begin moving 30,000 troops and their gear to Afghanistan, a feat that the head of U.S. Transportation Command said can be accomplished with a mix of Air Force and chartered jets.

The Air Force has done it once already — earlier this year when the U.S. sent 30,000 troops into the war zone.

“You’re talking roughly the same number and the same [amount of] time,” Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb, a veteran airlift pilot who now leads U.S. Transportation Command, said during a meeting with reporters Dec. 9.

As part of the new buildup, the Air Force needs to move at least three Army brigade combat teams of about 3,500 soldiers each.

Delivering one brigade combat team requires 50 to 60 C-17 flights from the U.S. carrying a total of 1,200 tons of essential cargo that is too valuable to send by sea or land, McNabb said.

Troops will be shuttled by chartered jets to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, where about 20 more C-17 flights will take the soldiers into Afghanistan. Most of the teams’ gear will arrive by cargo ship in the port city of Karachi in Pakistan, where it will be loaded onto trucks that will take it across the border.

Airlifted gear will be shipped to East Coast U.S. bases, then sent on C-17s that likely will stop at bases in Germany or Spain for refueling. From Europe, the jets zigzag their way across southern Europe and western Asia, avoiding restricted airspace over Iran and Russia before landing in Afghanistan.

McNabb said all this can be done without activating Air Mobility Command’s Air Guard and Reserve units, as long as land routes into Afghanistan remain open.

About 50 percent of supplies flow into Afghanistan from Pakistan and 30 percent cross into Afghanistan from the north. Harsh winter weather, attacks and political upheavals could close routes.

“If I have to bring it all in by air, you’re talking about a Berlin Airlift equation.” McNabb said, referring to the Air Force’s delivery in the late 1940s of 2.3 million tons of supplies to Berlin to break the Soviet blockade. “We don’t want to do that.”

The Air Force hasn’t seen numbers like that since, although the last troop buildup contributed to increases in fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30. Air Force and civilian planes moved 352,466 tons of cargo for Operation Enduring Freedom, a 10 percent increase over 2008, Air Mobility Command figures show. The airlift mission flew in 108,651 troops and civilians, about a 58 percent boost from the year before.

The ongoing supply mission includes airlifting armored vehicles on C-17s from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., to Afghan bases. Since September, more than 235 Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected all-terrain vehicles, or MATVs, have been delivered to the war zone.

Getting the MATVs into the war zone is faster on a chartered 747-700 than on a C-17, McNabb said, because the chartered aircraft can take five MATVs and fly nonstop from Charleston to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. A C-17, with a maximum payload of three MATVs, must refuel en route.

But unloading MATVs from the chartered aircraft, which doesn’t have a cargo ramp, takes several hours, compared with the 30 minutes — or less — it takes loadmasters to get the vehicles off a C-17. The commercial aircraft also are more expensive at $130,000 per MATV, compared with $78,000 on a C-17. Sending an MATV by sea and land costs roughly $19,000.

The primary airfields in Afghanistan are Bagram in the north, Kandahar Airfield in the south and Camp Bastion Airfield, also in the south adjacent to the Marines’ Camp Leatherneck, supporting up to 14,000 Marines.

The Air Force also flies into smaller airfields such as Mazar-e Sharif in northeastern Afghanistan and is looking to add more airfields, McNabb said.

From those cargo hubs, C-130s can fly gear to forward bases, using small landing fields or airdropping goods.

McNabb said no decision has been made to determine if more C-130s are needed to fly missions inside Afghanistan. In response to the buildup earlier this year, the Air Force based a second C-130 squadron inside Afghanistan.

One of the issues driving the C-130 decision is the ongoing shortage of helicopters, such as CH-47 Chinooks, to reach remote bases and what the new requirements of ground commanders will be to supply outposts.

“If I can provide a C-130 to free up a CH-47, I’m more than glad to do that,” the general said.

[buglerbilly]

EADS Strikes Airbus A400M Finance Deal: Spain

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Published: 24 Feb 2010 11:17

PALMA DE MAJORCA, Spain - European aerospace giant EADS has reached a deal with seven governments over how to share cost overruns for the A400M military plane, Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon said Feb. 24.

"I can tell you with great satisfaction that we have reached an agreement in principle between the seven partner countries and EADS," she told reporters at the arrival of a meeting EU defense ministers in Palma de Majorca.

EADS has threatened to pull the plug on Europe's largest defense project unless the seven NATO countries that ordered 180 of the aircraft for 20 billion euros ($27 billion) stump up more cash to cover cost overruns of about 5.2 billion euros.

Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey have been involved in difficult negotiations in recent months over how to share any additional funding between client states and the European manufacturer.

Chacon refused to give details of the agreement, saying only that some "technical details" that still remained open would be discussed and finalized Feb. 25 by participating ministers at the meeting.

"The success that the plane already was is now a success of European industry," she said.

The seven nations had offered a total of two billion euros in additional financing to cover the cost overrun by reducing the number of aircraft that will be built combined with paying a higher price for the planes.

France then suggested that the seven nations provide EADS with an additional 1.5 billion euros in credit guarantees. It said it was willing to provide 400 million euros in credit guarantees.

Last week EADS said it was ready to put up 800 million euros on top of the 2.4 billion euros that it has already invested in the military carrier built by its subsidiary Airbus. That would still leave a shortfall of 900 million euros.

The A400M is a highly innovative aircraft, which can carry troops, armored vehicles and helicopters. The project is three years behind schedule mainly due to problems with the construction of its huge turbo-prop engines.

The aircraft, built to replace ageing military cargo carriers in several European air forces, carried out its first test flight in Spain in December.

With a list price of about 100 million euros, the A400M can fly as high as 40,000 feet (12,000 meters) and can land on short, unprepared runways.

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), which faces stiff competition from its arch rival US aerospace giant Boeing, designed the plane to compete with, and eventually to replace, existing transporters such as the Boeing C17 and Lockheed Martin C130J Hercules.

The A400M was first agreed in 2003 by the seven nations.

The maiden flight was first scheduled for 2008 and air forces were to take their first deliveries at the end of 2009. The first deliveries are now not expected until at least early 2013.

South Africa dropped its order in November - a move which stunned Airbus - because the agreed cost of $1.2 billion five years ago had grown to $6.1 billion.

[McDethWivFries]

EADS has threatened to pull the plug on Europe's largest defense project unless the seven NATO countries that ordered 180 of the aircraft for 20 billion euros ($27 billion) stump up more cash to cover cost overruns of about 5.2 billion euros

I wonder if they did end up pulling the plug if those same Govt's could actually sue EADS and win? I mean I've seen cases (well read about them) where the contractor has sued a Govt for pulling out of a contract but never the other way round.

[buglerbilly]

EADS A400M Transport Plane Project Gets Funds Boost

Air Force News — By Agence France-Presse on February 25, 2010 at 7:48 am

Palma De Majorca, Spain: Europe's largest defence project was back on track Wednesday after Spain said aerospace giant EADS had reached a deal over costs for the long-delayed A400M military transport plane.

"I can tell you with great satisfaction that we have reached an agreement in principle between the seven partner countries and EADS," Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon told reporters on the sidelines of informal EU talks.

EADS had threatened to pull the plug on the project unless the seven NATO countries that ordered 180 of the aircraft for 20 billion euros (27 billion US dollars) stump up more cash to cover cost overruns of about 5.2 billion euros.

Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey have been involved in difficult negotiations in recent months over how to share any additional funding between client states and the European manufacturer.

Chacon refused to give details of the deal, saying only that some "technical details" that still remained open would be discussed and finalised on Thursday by EU defence ministers at at their informal talks in Palma de Majorca.

"The negotiations have advanced very favourably. The success that the plane already was is now a success of European industry," she said.

Contacted at its headquarters in Paris, a spokesman for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) said he could not immediately comment on news of the agreement.

A spokesman for the German defence ministry in Berlin said there had so far been no "written response" from the aeronautics industry to the proposals made by the seven partner nations last week.

"Such a response is a preamble to any advance" on this issue, he added.

The seven nations had offered a total of two billion euros in additional financing to cover the cost overrun by reducing the number of aircraft that will be built combined with paying a higher price for the planes.

France then suggested that the seven nations provide EADS with an additional 1.5 billion euros in credit guarantees. It said it was willing to provide 400 million euros itself in credit guarantees.

Last week EADS said it was ready to put up 800 million euros on top of the 2.4 billion euros that it has already invested in the military carrier built by its subsidiary Airbus. That would still leave a shortfall of 900 million euros.

The A400M is a highly innovative aircraft, which can carry troops, armoured vehicles and helicopters. The project is three years behind schedule mainly due to problems with the construction of its huge turbo-prop engines.

The aircraft, built to replace ageing military cargo carriers in several European air forces, carried out its first test flight in Spain in December.

With a list price of about 100 million euros, the A400M can fly as high as 40,000 feet (12,000 metres) and can land on short, unprepared runways.

It has four 11,000 horsepower turbo-props that are the most powerful ever made outside Russia and can carry two attack helicopters or 116 soldiers.

EADS, which faces stiff competition from its arch rival US aerospace giant Boeing, designed the plane to compete with, and eventually to replace, existing transporters such as the Boeing C17 and Lockheed Martin C130J Hercules.

The A400M was first agreed in 2003 by the seven nations.

The maiden flight was first scheduled for 2008 and air forces were to take their first deliveries at the end of 2009. The first deliveries are now not expected until at least early 2013.

South Africa dropped its order in November -- a move which stunned Airbus -- because the agreed cost of 1.2 billion dollars five years ago had grown to 6.1 billion dollars.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:26/02/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.comOCCAR: 'Significant progress' made in talks to save A400M

By Craig Hoyle

All seven European partners involved in the Airbus Military A400M programme have agreed in principle to continue with the development effort, according to the OCCAR procurement agency responsible for resolving a long-running contractual crisis with EADS.

“Defence ministers consider that significant progress has been achieved during the negotiations with industry. Nations have made an offer to the industry and after having received a letter in response from EADS, it will be evaluated,” the multinational agency says.

“The A400M is the most ambitious military procurement programme in Europe and represents a cornerstone of the European technological base and a significant enabler for the common European security and defence policy,” it adds.

Talks to save the A400M project have been running since August 2009, with these focused on factors including “adjustments to the programme and delivery schedule and [aircraft] specification to meet operational needs”, says OCCAR.

Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK are scheduled to receive a total of 180 A400Ms under the terms of their €20 billion ($27.3 billion) fixed-price development and production contract signed in May 2003.

EADS has requested a new contract and more money in order to complete the project, which has been the subject of development delays.

[buglerbilly]

UPDATE 2-Spain in bid to move Airbus jobs from UK -sources

Thu Mar 4, 2010 4:38pm EST

* Written proposal would see key equipment moved from UK

* Move highlights tension over jobs ahead of UK election

* Partners to finalise A400M bailout after heavy losses (Adds analyst quote, background, paragraphs 17-21)

By Tim Hepher

PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - Spain and Britain are heading for a clash over the location of hundreds of aviation jobs as European governments complete a bailout for the delayed Airbus A400M military plane, people familiar with the matter said.

Spain is putting increasing pressure on the UK to surrender high-skilled production jobs if it fails to contribute its full share of a 3.5-billion-euro ($4.8 billion) aid package assembled by seven nations to rescue Europe's largest defence project.

In a written proposal, Spain has suggested relocating jobs, tools and machinery from Filton, near Bristol, to Spain if the UK weakens its commitment to the troop plane, the sources said.

Technical problems have pushed the heavy airlifter billions of euros over budget and delayed delivery by about four years.

The proposal was put forward as Britain wavered in recent weeks over its share of a top-up package of loans to Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA), to be provided alongside international aid of 2 billion euros to combat cost overruns, the sources said.

Britain is expected to take part in a bailout which buyer nations agreed in principle last week, but it has yet to agree on what form the extra financial boost should take.

"The (Spanish) suggestion is as a result of the British not wanting to join in the same type of solution that other buyers have selected," a person familiar with the matter said.

The sources, who asked not to be identified, said Spain had aired options including shifting work on the plane's advanced composite wings to Spain if Britain blocked part of the deal.

Under the most sensitive option, Madrid would agree to pay for the cost of transferring the massive jigs, or cradles used to hold the wings in place during production, out of Britain.

Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) declined comment. An EADS spokesman said he was unaware of the proposal and declined further comment, as did a Spanish industry ministry spokesman.

A spokeswoman for Britain's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, which oversees the aerospace industry, said: "Negotiations on the A400M are ongoing. We continue to work with colleagues in the MoD on the way forward."

Officials in the project will meet in Berlin on Friday.

The wrangle over jobs comes as Britain prepares for elections expected on May 6, with employment high on the list of voter concerns. The A400M wings plant employs 800 of 5,000 workers at Filton, which celebrates its centenary this year.

"I am advised (Spain) have put in a bid saying 'give it to us and we'll pick up the cost'," said a UK political source who had been briefed on discussions and asked not to be identified.

Asked about the bid, a senior European diplomat involved in A400M talks said he had "heard something in that direction."

Britain says it wants the A400M but not at any price. It has ordered 25 out of 180 bought by seven nations. Other buyers are Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey.

Defence expert Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, called the manoeuvre "unprecedented" but said Britain had left the door open to intruders by neglecting its industry.

"Even if there is backtracking, the damage has been done and it lessens the chances of another (defence) partnership of this kind in Europe," said Wheeldon, a past critic of the A400M.

UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, a former European Union trade chief, announced a package of support for high-tech manufacturing including aviation last year and has spoken up for "industrial activism" -- while warning against protectionism.

Sensitivities over competition from European workers caused a strike at a French-owned refinery in Lincolnshire a year ago.

The new tussle emerged as President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a drive to halt a decline in French industry. [ID:nLDE6231HF]

INDUSTRIAL JIGSAW

Aviation experts say moving equipment on a large scale from Filton to Spain would only likely happen if Britain pulled out of the A400M completely -- something widely seen as unlikely.

But the seemingly audacious job grab highlights Spain's long-term ambitions to expand its high-tech aerospace industry as a magnet for investment. It is likely to face competition from Germany for any future re-allocation of composites work.

The A400M is the first Airbus plane with wings largely made from carbon fibre and has the largest composite wings designed for a military plane. Such technology is expected to be crucial for the next generation of civil jets in the next decade.

Aerospace is a strategic sector for the Spanish government as it looks for ways to curb the highest unemployment in the EU. Among proposals for jobs creation presented to parliament on March 1 is a bid to strengthen the supply chain over 2010-2014.

Spain and Britain helped found Airbus four decades ago along with France and Germany. Airbus is now fully owned by EADS, which is controlled by French, German and Spanish interests.

Airbus parts are made across Europe and assembled in one location, which in the case of the A400M is Seville, Spain.

Partners routinely haggle over their share of the industrial jigsaw in future projects. But the so-called "workshare" has never previously been reallocated once a project is underway. (Additional reporting by Julien Toyer and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter and Tim Dobbyn)

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M: The Bailout Package

Posted by Robert Wall at 3/5/2010 11:16 AM CST

After a year of talks, we now have the agreement between EADS and A400M-buying governments on how to cover the multi-billion euro cost overrun on the formerly 20 billion euro military transport program.

Under the terms just announced, governments will put in another 3.5 billion euros, at least. Most of that, 2 billion euros, is a direct adjustment to the scope of the contract. Another 1.5 billion is effectively treated as money made available now that would be recouped as A400M export contracts are booked. Presumably if exports don't cover the total, it is money simply lost to the taxpayer.

Governments will also provide accelerated pre-delivery payments through 2014. That will help EADS's cash flow at a time the company also needs financial resources for various other efforts, including the increasing development bill associated with the A350 twin-widebody.

EADS is having to take another earnings charge, although the 1.8 billion euros to be booked when earnings are released next week is less than expected.

There are still some issues to be worked out, but the big issues now appear settled.

[buglerbilly]

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 Airbus A400M military transporter prepares for take off Dec. 11 in Seville, Spain. The troubled plane, which has faced severe cost overruns and technical problems, has finally carried out its first test flight. (BERTRAND GUAY / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)

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.

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.

[buglerbilly]

A400M: Agreement on the Financing of Additional Costs

(Source: French Ministry of Defence; issued March 8, 2010)

(Issued in French only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)

"I always thought that the program was emblematic for Europeans, for the European defense industry and for our armed forces. That is why I am committed to save the program,” French Defence Minister Hervé Morin told the press during a March 8 conference on the A400M held at the Hotel de Brienne.

The customer countries of the program to develop the new A400M military transport aircraft on Friday, March 5, finalized the negotiations on the financing of additional costs, and the associated developmental delay.

The continuation of the program had been decided a few months earlier by the defense ministers of the countries concerned, on July 24, 2009 at Le Castellet, southern France. Since then, the issue of financing the additional costs was the subject of discussions between the countries involved in this project and the manufacturer, EADS.

"The agreement setting out agreed changes to the original contract will be signed within the next few days by OCCAR (Organization for Joint Cooperation in Armaments, representing the client states) and Airbus Military," the minister said. The addendum to the contract should be finalized within one to two months, and the new contract signed by next June.

Financially, this agreement includes several decisions:

-- The nations have waived penalties for the delays on the original schedule, for an amount of about 1.2 billion euros;
-- A new schedule for pre-delivery payments, spread out between 2010 and 2014, was agreed to maintain a minimum cash flow for the manufacturer, and enable it to continue the program without difficulty;
-- A price increase of about 10% (2 billion euros), shared between the client countries in proportion to the number of aircraft ordered, was also recognised;
--Finally, the client nations will provide an interest-bearing, refundable advance of EUR 1.5 billion to the manufacturer. This is, in fact, an investment in future exports of the aircraft.

As regards France, the order of 50 aircraft is maintained. The first aircraft will be delivered in early 2013. Seven additional aircraft will arrive by the end of 2014, and another 35 by 2020. The last delivery is scheduled for 2024.

The delay in the delivery of the A400M, of about 4 to 5 years, will be offset by the continued employment of certain Transall aircraft, by the purchase of 8 CASA light cargo aircraft as well as leases in the field of strategic lift.

In total, changes to the program will cost France an additional 550 million euros. The total cost will increase to 22 billion euros for all countries involved in the project.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

The No. 1 A400M Comes to France for the Continuation of its Flight Test Programme

(Source: Airbus; issued March 9, 2010)

Airbus Military's first A400M arrived today in Toulouse, France, where the multi-role airlifter will continue its flight test programme.

Touching down at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport following an evaluation flight performed in the Seville region of Spain, the aircraft was welcomed by Airbus Military head Domingo Urena-Raso.

This new-generation transport is built by Airbus Military in Seville, where the aircraft made its first takeoff on 11 December and has since logged more than 40 hours of flight test activity.

In testing performed to date, the no. 1 aircraft has flown at the A400M's maximum operating speed of 300 kt. (555 km/hr), achieved the maximum Mach number of M0.72, and reached an altitude of more than 30,000 ft. It has operated extensively in both the direct and normal control laws of its fly-by-wire flight control system.

The first A400M is equipped with heavy test instrumentation, as is the no. 2 aircraft - which was handed over to Airbus Military's flight test department at Seville on 6 March, and is due to fly in the coming weeks.

A third A400M is undergoing final production ground tests before engine installation, with its maiden takeoff planned for mid-year from Seville. Sections for a fourth aircraft are arriving in Seville for final assembly, enabling it to join the flight test programme in the second half of this year.

Five aircraft will be used in the A400M's flight test and certification programme, logging a planned 3,700 flight-hours before the start-up of deliveries in late 2012. Trials with three of these aircraft will be performed from Toulouse, while the two others will be operated from Seville - providing greater flexibility and taking advantage of the best weather conditions where available.

The A400M is designed to meet the 21st century airlift needs of the world's armed forces. Its use of advanced technologies enables the aircraft to perform both tactical and strategic/logistic missions, combining high speed and long-range flight capabilities with the ability to deliver payloads to short, soft and rough airfields. The A400M's large cargo hold is specifically designed to carry outsized equipment needed for both military and humanitarian disaster relief missions, and the airlifter can bring this material quickly and directly to where it is needed most. (ends)

First A400M Ferried from Seville to Toulouse

(Source: Airbus Military; issued March 9, 2010)

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.

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.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

After tanker flop, Airbus pushes transporter in US

By JAMEY KEATEN (AP) – 11 hours ago

PARIS — Unbowed in its push into the lucrative U.S. defense market, Airbus said Monday it is aiming to sell about 210 of its much delayed A400M military airlifters to the United States.

The comments from Domingo Urena, chief of Airbus Military, come as parent company EADS still smarts from a move last week by U.S. partner Northrop Grumman Corp. to pull out of their combined bid for a massive $35 billion contract to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.

Northrop explained it didn't think it could win, and EADS said it couldn't bid alone. The move has all but ensured Airbus' U.S. rival Boeing of victory — and prompted protests by French and EU leaders of alleged American protectionism.

Speaking to reporters Monday in Paris, Urena focused on the A400M and said Airbus Military hopes to sell 500 of the planes to countries not in the original program over the next three decades — including 210 in the United States.

Marketing promotion for the A400M will rev up in the second half of this year, Urena said, and "for us, the United States is a key country."

"It's out of the question that we don't go over to compete in the United States, insofar as the Americans give us the opportunity to do it," he said.

Urena said it's too early to tell whether he would seek a partner to help sell the transporter in the United States, but would not rule out the option.

"It is clear that in the American market, if we have an American partner, in effect that gives us an opening," he said.

Urena hinted that Airbus could seek to ally with Northrop on the A400M: "Northrop Grumman is among the companies of reference in defense in the United States — but it's not the only one."

The ambition for U.S. sales for the A400M shows Airbus will press on in the U.S. despite homegrown competition for military airlifters, notably from Lockheed Martin's C-130 and Boeing's C-17.

Urena declined to provide an export catalog price for the A400M but said it would be "competitive."

Seven original customer nations for the A400M — Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey — have ordered a total of 180 planes. Malaysia has another four on order.

Urena said France, Britain and Germany — which has the largest single order, for 60 planes — will receive the A400Ms first as they roll off the production line.

Airbus expects to start delivering the A400Ms sometime after December 2012 — or three years after its first flight, which was on Dec. 11. Four are expected to be completed this year.

The plane got a lifeline on March 5, when EADS and the seven customer states reached a new financing accord to pay for more than euro5.2 billion in cost overruns.

The A400M is four years behind schedule in part because of technical glitches last year. It still faces "challenges" on issues including its propulsion systems, Urena said.

As for the refueling tanker, Urena estimated the potential market outside the United States was for 250 planes — "and we're going to continue to fight" to win market share elsewhere.

EADS North America and Northrop had done "intense" work to win the tanker, but "there are things we could have done better," Urena said without elaborating.

The European Union has noted a trade imbalance between the United States and the 27-nation bloc on defense equipment. In 2008, the U.S. exported $5 billion worth of defense materials while importing only $2.2 billion from the European side, it said.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M export schedule

Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 3/16/2010 4:47 PM CDT

For the next few months Airbus Military will concentrate on ensuring that the A400Ms flight testing is ramped up: it is somewhat behind schedule because Seville, in southern Spain, where the final assembly line for the A400M is, has suffered its worst winter rains in 75 years (there's even been snow) and sensors to check that the first aircraft is flying as its conceptors designed it to are very sensitive to humidity!

“But the second plane will be able to fly in any type of weather!” Domingo Ureña-Raso, Airbus Military CEO remarked over a breakfast with journalists on Monday.

“We are dedicating the first half of this year to ensuring the supply for our seven customer nations,” he said, “but we are preparing our export campaigns which we will launch during the second semester.” Would Airbus Military have the time to build aircraft for export in its busy schedule to deliver the 180 aircraft it has to deliver to the seven nations? I wondered.

“We could export some of the aircraft originally scheduled for delivery to some of these seven nations,” he responded. “It is not forbidden and our seven clients are just as interested in exporting these as we are.” Obviously, because Airbus Military will pay an export levy to the seven nations to reimburse the loan it has been given by them. So, basically, the faster the aircraft are exported, the quicker the loan will be reimbursed.

And yes, despite recent disappointments over the infamous US Air Force tanker contract, Airbus Military will be touting the A400M in the United States. Perhaps the USAir Force could just use the A400M as its tanker aircraft. After all, it does have refuelling capacity.

By 2016 Airbus Military plans to be producing two aircraft a month “although we can push this to two and a half if necessary,” Ureña-Raso said. In 2013 it will build four aircraft; in 2014 it will make eight and in 2015 it will ramp up so that it can be producing 24 a year by 2016.

Oh, yes, and for those of our readers who like to know about prices, comparisons etc:

Airbus Military says that it would take 22 C-130Js to do the same job in tons delivered x distance flown as 10 A400Ms. The 22 C-30Js would cost about 60% more than the 10 A400Ms. Alternatively you could have a combined fleet of 12 C-130Js + 2 C-17s to do the same job as the 10 A400Ms. In that case your combined fleet would cost 25% more than the A400Ms.

[buglerbilly]

Second Airbus Military A400M Runs All Four Engines

(Source: Airbus Military; issued March 18, 2010)

The second Airbus Military A400M, known as MSN2, has run all four of its Europrop International (EPI) TP400 turboprop engines in a series of trials after being handed over for flight test.

The aircraft is expected to taxi for the first time shortly and to make its maiden flight from Seville, Spain in a few weeks, joining MSN1 in the sky.

MSN2 will remain based at Seville during the flight-test campaign.

A video of the engine-run can be seen at:

http://www.airbusmilitary.com/Multimedia/VideoGallery.aspx

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 manoeuvrability, 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.
[Jeez I wish people wouldn't say BS like this.............]

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

U.K. Announcement To Provide Details On A400M, Tornado Deal

By andrew chuter

Published: 28 Mar 2010 17:02

The British government is expected to provide details March 29 on the deal it struck to continue as part of the A400M airlifter project, in what is likely to be the last major defense equipment program announcement before the Labour Party calls a general election.


The British government will not have a large sum to pay in the wake of the A400M agreement, a Labour Party minister says. (FILE / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)

Britain's contribution to the increase - the seven partner nations agreed to pay prime contractor EADS an additional 2 billion euros toward the cost of the much-delayed airlifter program - will be minimal, Quentin Davis, the defence procurement minister, told Defense News.

The Ministry of Defence announcement is also expected to include news of a major Tornado strike aircraft support deal for engine company Rolls-Royce and other contracts related to the Royal Air Force.

The Airbus partner nations have been negotiating for months with EADS over a financial rescue package for the aircraft, which is years late and hugely over budget.

The sides agreed earlier this month on a revised financial and delivery schedule that involved both sides in putting up more cash to complete the program.

Britain's contribution will involve a minimal cost increase and a reduced delivery of up to three aircraft from the original order for 25.

Davis said the recent deal was achieved "without any degradation to technical specifications of concern to us."

Davis said that at one stage the U.K. was looking at having to reduce its order to 19 aircraft. Now the minimum order, which is still subject to negotiation, will be 22.

The defence procurement minister said delivery of aircraft to the RAF would get underway in earnest in 2014. Davis said he was hoping for a "Christmas present" of an aircraft to be delivered in late 2013.

The announcement, expected via a statement to Parliament by Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, is the third in series of contract awards released by the government in a week.

The government is expected to call an election for May 6 in the next few days. At that point, election rules call for a cessation in contract awards.

Some analyst here say the rash of orders is a result of the MoD trying to clear the decks ahead of the contract halt being introduced, while others say the government is trying to improve what is believed to be a poor record in providing equipment for the military.

Recent days have seen a raft of deals, including General Dynamics UK named as supplier of a new generation of armored vehicles for the British Army; and BAE System awarded an assessment phase deal for a new fleet of frigates for the Royal Navy.

The expected A400M and Tornado announcements could be joined by news of other contracts, including word on the first batch of additional Chinook helicopters the MoD has been negotiating to purchase for several months.

Davis said the first batch would cover 10 Chinooks of an eventual order for up to 24 helicopters to boost the RAF's fleet of twin-rotor machines.

[buglerbilly]

DGA: A400M Contract Mods Expected in June

By pierre tran

Published: 29 Mar 2010 16:36

PARIS - Modifications to the contract for the A400M military transport aircraft are expected to be signed in June, said the head of the French Direction Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) procurement office.

"The changes to the contract, which could be signed in June 2010, will fix the details," said minutes of a hearing given by Laurent Collet-Billon to a parliamentary defense committee March 24. Collet-Billon was referring to details of French program payments under a 3.5 billion euro ($4.7 billion) package of financial support agreed to by the seven launch customers.

The extra 10 percent cost overrun accepted - 550 million euros excluding tax - will not disrupt the current six-year military budget law, while France's 400 million euro contribution to the export levy facility will come from the general budget, not the Defense Ministry's, he said.

To maintain the integrity of the present defense budget, deliveries of the A400M were delayed and the French Air Force will only have 35 units in 2020, he said.

"The extra financial load will appear after 2020 and will be staggered over several years, in line with the new delivery timetable for aircraft," Collet-Billon said. "The annual financial flows will be known when the payment plan for the 2010-2014 period is known."

The customer countries have agreed to speed up predelivery payment to prime contractor Airbus Military in the 2010-14 period to help the company's cash flow.

The airlift needs are urgent as the aging fleet of transports - 51 Transall C-160s, 14 C-130Hs and 19 Casa CN-235s - can only meet 25 percent of the freight target set by the white paper on defense and national security, Collet-Billon said.

Collet-Billon said EADS and its Airbus Military subsidiary was responsible for the difficulties, which caused an "existential crisis" for the program, seen as the spearhead of European defense industrial capability.

"As to the responsibility, I consider that the contractor holds the prime responsibility as it was the company which wanted to use a commercial contract and which was incapable of keeping its commitments," he said. "The company was caught with problems on the A380 superjumbo and was unable to apply resources for both programs," he said.

EADS needed to address problems in its management, Collet-Billon said.

"There is clearly a problem of organization and industrial management," he said. "EADS and Airbus have drawn conclusions on organization but they have to work harder on their capacity to manage programs," he said. "I think EADS has to make a very big effort to improve its management culture."

The DGA would avoid commercial programs in the future as they failed to give government a clear appreciation of program progress, he said.

Collet-Billon played down prospects of sales of the A400M to the United States, floated by EADS.

"All these factors lead one to expect exports of 200 to 300 aircraft," he said. "EADS estimates beyond these forecasts, exports to the United States are equally possible but the current context should invite a measure of prudence," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to raise concerns over alleged American protectionism in the U.S. Air Force tanker contest at a meeting with Barack Obama in the White House on March 30.

The test flight program has shown the A400M is sound, he said.

"What we can say today is that the aircraft is well designed and well advanced: The first test flights have been conclusive. The aircraft has already reached maximum speed."

France is in talks with Britain and Spain on a common maintenance program, as Germany has opted to go its own way, but the DGA was ready to talk to the German authorities, he said.

On the A330 multirole tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft, Committee Chairman Jean-Claude Viollet said he had been told each year that a decision would be taken in the year for the last three years and he was still waiting. The lack of a tanker capability would have implications for the airborne component of the nuclear deterrent, he said.

"As to the MRTT, we will launch the program very soon," Collet-Billon said. Various options were under study and the first aircraft would be delivered in 2015, he said.

Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey ordered in 2003 180 A400M airlifters but technical difficulties have meant the program is three to four years late.

[buglerbilly]

Germany Weighs ‘Slight’ Reduction in A400M Orders (Update1)

By Benedikt Kammel and Helene Fouquet

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Germany may make a “slight” cut in its order of 60 A400M military transporters and take delivery of the planes without their ability to perform automated low- flight maneuvers, a defense ministry official said.

The seven partner nations that ordered the plane agreed with European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. to cut their combined order by as many as 10 planes from a total of 180. The U.K. defense ministry said yesterday that it will cut its order of 25 planes to as few as 22. France intends to stick with its order for 50 planes, French defense ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said today by telephone.

France expects to get its first A400M in 2013 and receive 35 by 2020, with the remaining 15 coming by 2024, Teisseire said. Germany will get its first A400M in 2014, with the U.K., the third-largest customer, getting the first one in 2015. Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey, will follow.

[buglerbilly]

France Orders 8 CN-235 Transports Pending A400M Deliveries

By pierre tran

Published: 1 Apr 2010 12:49

Paris - France's Direction Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) has ordered eight Casa CN-235 transport aircraft for 225 million euros ($305 million) as a stopgap measure pending delivery of the larger A400M airlifter, the procurement office said April 1.

"In line with the decision of the Ministry of Defense taken at the end of last year at a ministerial investment committee, the Direction Générale pour l'Armement has ordered 8 light transport aircraft of the Casa CN-235 type," the DGA said in a statement The contract, signed March 25, includes initial service support from EADS Casa, with deliveries to the French Air Force scheduled between 2011 and 2013.

The eight new aircraft will join the 19 CN-235 planes in service and allow missions to be better distributed among the Transall C-160, Hercules C-130 and Casa CN-235s flown by the Air Force.

DGA chief Laurent Collet-Billion told a parliamentary hearing March 24 that the present fleet of aging transports met only about 25 percent of the cargo mission set out in the white paper on defense and national security. Some aircraft are more than 40 years old and are costly to maintain.

A major concern of the service is the difficulty in maintaining pilot skills and flight hours with the present fleet.

The twin-engine propeller Casa CN-235 performs logistical supply and parachute drops. The plane has a range of 3,500 kilometers and carries 5 tons of cargo or 40 passengers.

A first delivery of the A400M aircraft in its basic cargo-carrying configuration is due in 2013, with an expected entry into service the following year.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M: MSN2 Joins Flight Test Program (with video)

Posted by Robert Wall at 4/9/2010 3:09 AM CDT

The second A400M, MSN2, has now joined the flight test program. The aircraft missed the March target, but on April 8 completed a 4-hr, 50-min. flight from Seville, Spain, where the airlifter is assembled.

MSN3 was to join the flight test program next month, but Airbus Military now says that will happen "by the beginning of the summer." The fourth would join by year-end, which is still to plan (at least the flight test plan laid out just in advance of the December 11 first flight).

MSN1 has now logged 66-hr., 30-min of flight testing in 15 flights.

There is an iinteresting point to note in the Airbus Military release about yesterday's flight, specifically the statement that:"The crew confirmed that the aircraft and its four Europrop International TP400D turboprop engines performed in line with
expectations." There was a sensor anomaly on MSN1's first flight, which caused the crew to throttle back power on one engine, something Airbus Military initially tried to brush under the carpet.

Here's a video Airbus Military has put out on yesterday's event:

[buglerbilly]

A400M Buyers Coping With New Schedule

Apr 13, 2010



By Douglas Barrie and Robert Wall
London

As budget pressures mount in Europe, delays in the Airbus Military A400M are not turning into a windfall for other manufacturers, as the U.K. is signaling it will not buy additional gap-filler airlifters.

There are also mounting indications that it will be months before an agreement between industry and government is converted into a firm contract on the program’s multibillion-euro cost overrun and three years of delays. Germany is awaiting more data on unit cost, a German defense ministry official says, and the U.K.’s ability to sign up is curtailed by the general election campaign now underway. With the prospect of the May 6 vote resulting in a hung Parliament, London’s ability to fully commit to a new program plan may be limited for some time.

The Royal Air Force is not due to receive its first A400M until 2015, and its last C-130Ks are to be retired in 2012, so there were expectations London would augment its airlift capacity rather than let its tactical transport fleet dwindle to 24 Lockheed Martin C-130Js for several years. The Defense Ministry had explored extending the life of a handful of the remaining C-130Ks, as well as the option of leasing or acquiring a small number of additional C-130Js.

However, Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth now says that “we are maximizing tactical airlift capability by investing in a package of enhancement measures to maximize the use of the existing fleet of 24 Hercules C-130J. The completion of a second runway at Bastion, Helmand, in 2010 will also allow us to reduce tactical airlift tasking in theater. Through these investments, the [Defense Ministry] believes it can sustain anticipated intra-theater airlift tasking on current operations until A400M comes into service.”

Ainsworth also told Parliament at the end of last month that the purchase of a seventh C-17, previously announced, will provide more lift capacity. The Defense secretary said this aircraft will join the RAF fleet in March 2011.

The Defense Ministry does admit, however, that “beyond the support to current operations, we will be constrained in the ability to undertake tactical airlift tasks until A400M enters service. Although the small fleet size means that using the full tactical capabilities of the C-17 would lead to significant growth in support costs, it can be employed intra-theater on paved runways.”

The RAF has had to reduce the anticipated service life of some of its C-130Js by three years, to 2027 from 2030, as a result of higher operational utilization in a more demanding environments than anticipated.

And the in-service time line could be further curtailed as the C-130Js shoulder more of the lift burden of the retiring C-130Ks. One of the C-130Ks’ particularly demanding tasks is supporting U.K. special operations forces. The phase-out of the C-130K also is expected to increase maintenance demands on the remaining airlift fleet.

The “package of enhancements” alluded to by Ainsworth may include upgrade work specifically aimed at addressing special operations requirements.

The U.K. is meeting the cost increases of the A400M by reducing the number of aircraft it is buying to 22 from 25.

Germany is assessing whether will cut its A400M buy as well, but the U.K.’s decision to trim its purchase effectively limits the scope of a German reduction. The seven core A400M buying states (Germany, France, the U.K., Turkey, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg) agreed with industry in early March to provide another €2 billion ($2.7 billion) to cover increased program costs. They also agreed they would not reduce their total purchase commitment more than 10 units from the 180 planned airlifter procurement, so as to limit the impact on unit cost. A German defense ministry official says any cut to be made will avoid breaching that threshold.

Berlin is also exploring whether it can find a new funding mechanism that might allow it to buy the full commitment of 60 A400Ms, although the government first wants more information on unit costs. But Germany remains committed to participating in the €1.5-billion loan to industry that will be repaid through royalties on exports of the A400M.

There is less ambiguity in France, which has been pushing most aggressively to keep the A400M program going. Paris on April 1 announced a €225-million order for eight EADS CASA CN-235 airlifters to help provide capacity in the absence of the A400M. Delivery of the aircraft is expected to commence at the end of next year and wrap up by mid-2013, according to the DGA.

The French government has been operating CN-235s since 1993 and maintains a fleet of 19 of the small tactical transports. The newly ordered airlifters should offload work from and stretch the service lives of France’s current Transall C-160, Lockheed Martin C-130 and CN-235 transport fleet.

France will become the first A400M operator when its initial airlifter arrives in early 2013. France is paying roughly €1.3 billion extra for the A400M as a result of the latest agreement to cover cost overruns. That money includes the purchase of the CN-235s and France’s contribution to the industry loan.

Meanwhile, Airbus Military is pressing ahead with the A400M flight-test program. The second airlifter, MSN002, logged a 4-hr., 50-min. first flight on April 8, a month later than planned, in Seville, Spain, where the A400 final assembly site is located. MSN002 is heavily instrumented—but without the optional refueling probe on MSN001—and will be used for performance and engine-certification activities. It will be based in Seville and is scheduled to undergo 1,100 flight-test hours. The five-aircraft flight-test campaign, split between Toulouse and Seville, is planned to last 4,370 hr.

MSN003 should join flight-testing next month. It will be the first with slightly less instrumentation and is slated for 975 flight-test hours.

Photo: Mark Wagner

[buglerbilly]

Airbus Had Not Increased A400M Price When SA Cancelled Deal

(Source: Cramer Engineering news; issued April 14, 2010)

South Africa was facing no increase in the price for the eight Airbus Military A400M military transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft it had on order when it cancelled its participation in the programme late last year.

“There was not even a suggestion from Airbus that the terms of the contract with South Africa would be altered in terms of price,” Airbus Military South African spokesperson Linden Birns told Engineering News Online.

Late last year, South Africa cancelled its order for eight A400Ms “due to extensive cost escalation and the supplier’s failure to deliver the aircraft within the stipulated timeframes", in the words of the South African government’s explanation of the decision.

A few weeks before this decision was announced, then South African defence acquisition, disposals and research and development agency Armscor CEO Sipho Thomo stated that the cost to South Africa of the A400M programme had rocketed from R17 billion to R47 billion.

However, the recent deal between Airbus Military (and its parent group, EADS) and the seven European countries which form the core of the A400M programme, aimed at saving it, will see these States jointly invest a further EUR 3.5-billion in the programme, which will see them acquiring between 170 and 180 A400Ms.

If the same deal were applied to South Africa, assuming the cost increase is the same for each and every aeroplane, it would mean that the programme would have cost this country about another EUR 19.5 million or roughly R200-million per A400M, or something like an additional EUR 156 million or R 1.6-billion in total – a far cry from Thomo’s figure of a R30 billion increase – taking the total cost to R18.6-billion.

As the South African Air Force still needs new transport aircraft, Airbus Military has not given up on the possibility of this country changing its mind. “We still hope that South Africa will rejoin the A400M programme,” said Birns. “We have approached the South African government to open this discussion.”

Despite the South African government’s withdrawal from the A400M, South African companies remain involved in the programme. They are the predominantly State-owned Denel Saab Aerostructures, private-sector Aerosud (both risk-sharing partners), Grintek and Omniples, with South Africa’s defence acquisition, disposals and research and development agency Armscor providing engineering services.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M: Contract Talks Are Slow Going

Posted by Robert Wall at 5/14/2010 10:23 AM CDT

Talks between industry and government to turn an agreement over how to handle the multi-billion-euro A400M cost overrun into a new contract are only progressing slowly.

EADS CFO Hans-Peter Ring says that after intense talks to get to the March deal, all sides decided to take a break. Talks have now resumed, but he acknowledges that while they are progressing, "we are not progressing at the pace we would like."

That's probably no surprise given the experience on other European programs, take your typical pace of negotiations when it comes to hammering out the various tranches of Eurofighter buys.

A400M flight testing also has been going more slowly than hoped, largely because of bad weather. But Airbus's chief of flight testing, Fernando Alonso, points out the moisture-sensitive strain gauges on the TP400D's propellers are about to be shed. That should allow the pace of flight trials to pick up.

What's more, he says the transport's handling is good and that the aircraft is showing very good stall characteristics. Good enough to probably allow the removal of a booster that had been installed in the tail in case the A400M entered a deep stall. The booster would have pushed up the tail to aid recovery.

Flutter testing is next on the agenda.

Meanwhile, the third A400M is due to commence flight trials next month.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Update on A400M Test Flights

Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 5/20/2010 11:56 AM CDT

The first two A400Ms – MSN1 and MSN2 - have now flown 44 times for a total of 165 hours, reported chief test pilot Ed Strongman during a trade media briefing in Seville, southern Spain, yesterday.

Looking like an enthusiastic school-boy, Strongman remarked that “it's easier to fly this airplane than any of our other airplanes.” The flight test program is now moving ahead fast after being delayed a bit over the winter because of the extraordinarily bad weather in both Seville and Toulouse (in southern France). This affected in particular the propeller stress survey as the strain gauges on the propellers are not waterproof “so can't be done in cloud or rain,” he explained.

Strongman said there was “excellent news” from the stalling tests which had been undertaken with a rocket attached to the underbelly of the aircraft just in case they needed to boost the aircraft to regain lift to get out of a stall. They did not need it.

He said the aircraft banked beautifully to 120° although contractually the aircraft does not need to bank at more than 90°. “The aircraft performance and handling are very close to predictions and simulations,” he said noting that it has “outstanding handling characteristics throughout the flight envelope.”

Strongman is not the only pilot at the helm of this aircraft. “Every pilot who flies this has a smile on his face,” he remarked.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:27/05/10

SOURCE:Flight International

France, UK to agree joint A400M support deal

By Craig Hoyle

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".


© Airbus Military

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 Military
The French air force will receive 50 A400M transports from late 2012

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.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:01/06/10

SOURCE:Flight International

ILA: A400M heads for Berlin debut

By Craig Hoyle

Some thought that it would never fly, while others believed that development issues and programme delays would lead to its cancellation. But Airbus Military's A400M will make its long-awaited first public appearance at this month's Berlin air show, with the manufacturer intent on showing its European customers that their continued commitment to its flagship product will be rewarded.

The A400M should have debuted at ILA two years ago under previous plans, but its historic first showing will still be well placed, given Germany's status as the largest single customer for the type.

Berlin's stake in the project accounts for one-third of the 180 aircraft ordered in a May 2003 contract signed by the governments of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK via Europe's OCCAR procurement agency.


Germany has ordered 60 of the 180 A400Ms commissioned at the programme's launch in 2003. Picture: Airbus Military

To replace its air force's Dassault-Breguet C160 Transalls, Germany's 60 A400Ms were originally scheduled to be delivered to Wunstorf air base from this year. However, this schedule has slipped by around three years, so the venerable twin-turboprop will have to soldier on for some time.

Highlighting the nation's programme standing, a German officer also recently became the first non-Airbus pilot to fly an A400M. Drawn from a multinational test team that will support military certification activities, the pilot "was really impressed", says Airbus. Representatives from the European Aviation Safety Agency were due to fly the aircraft for the first time in late May.

German industry is also heavily involved in the A400M project. The aircraft's fuselage is delivered to Airbus's San Pablo final assembly line near Seville, Spain via A300-600 Beluga from Bremen. The nation also hosts the assembly of the aircraft's Europrop International TP400-D6 turboprop engines at MTU Aero Engines' Ludwigsfelde site. Vertical tailplanes are delivered from Stade, while the programme's fatigue test aircraft is in Dresden.

However, the German air force's A400M fleet now appears likely to be reduced slightly as Berlin looks to balance the effects of a major overrun to the previously fixed cost of developing and producing the type.

Agreed at €20 billion ($24 billion), this figure has now been increased by at least €4.3 billion under an in-principle agreement reached by the EADS-led company and its customers on 5 March.

Saving the programme from possible cancellation, the launch nations agreed to pay a combined €2 billion more for their aircraft, waive all liquidated damages linked to the delay and to invest a further €1.5 billion in support of Airbus's efforts to export the A400M. The company has also made its own financial provisions as part of the deal.

CANCELLATION OPTION

As part of the agreement, Airbus offered its customers the option to cancel up to 10 aircraft from the original 180. Germany is believed to be keen on removing seven A400Ms from its order, with the UK having already confirmed its intention to reduce its 25-strong commitment by up to three.

In addition to potentially stripping some aircraft from its order, Berlin has also instructed Airbus Military to abandon some of its unique configuration requirements. These include a sophisticated terrain-following navigation system that was being developed by EADS Defence Electronics uniquely for the German air force.


Germany has deleted a requirement for its A400Ms to have a terrain-following navigation system. Picture: Airbus Military

"We have an agreement with the German customer to stop that one," says Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña. "Every*body understands the economical situation," he adds. "We all need to make efforts, and we opened the door with these [10] aircraft."

Ureña says the company and its customers have shown a "willingness to conclude as soon as possible the formalisation of the agreement. Our target, which we still consider to be feasible, is to have everything ticked, and final approval by the governments before the end of the summer."

Meanwhile, a dispute with engine supplier Europrop over its role in programme delays is being resolved. "We've stopped to claim against each other," Ureña confirms. "Common sense indicated to the two companies to start a process to constructively resolve our problems. We are married for a long time, and divorce is not allowed."

However, relations with Thales are still at a low, and this situation with a major supplier "is the real concern at this moment of the programme", he says.

When Ureña took the helm at Airbus Military in February 2009, the Spanish official was faced with guiding the company through a potentially traumatic integration with Airbus from EADS's Military Transport Aircraft division, while also ensuring that the A400M flew before the end of the year.

With the integration activity having concluded on 1 January, Ureña says the benefits are already evident. "Now, nobody has doubts that we are only one company, as part of Airbus," he says. "We try to share the skills of engineering, production, systems and tools. Our customers are starting to appreciate the value."

With a new contract to place the A400M in a stable position, Ureña says Airbus is committed to "deliver the aircraft fulfilling the guarantees that we have with the customers. The A400M is not capital, it is strategic," he adds.

Ureña says that the European aerospace industry faces a significant near-term challenge, as nations look to reduce their military procurement budgets and place increased support on operations such as those in Afghanistan. However, he believes that positives can still be drawn.

"I am convinced that in difficult times we have more opportunities. It's very easy to make business when everybody has plenty of money," he says.

Airbus has identified a potential market to sell 350-500 more A400Ms to international customers, says senior vice-president commercial Antonio Rodriguez-Barberán. Two potential new air force customers have visited Spain within the last several weeks, but he declines to name them.

Malaysia is the only such buyer for the design, and will receive four. South Africa late last year cancelled its eight-strong order, just weeks before prototype aircraft MSN001 made its first flight on 11 December.

SOUTH AFRICA

Airbus is assessing its long-term ties with South African industry, but with more than €300 million of its own money already invested in local companies it has decided against removing existing work packages. However, it recently rejected one re-bid proposal from Denel Saab Aerostructures.

"We try to engage in dialogue with the customer, and hope that they will reconsider the decision," says Ureña. "Sooner or later, South Africa will need the A400M," he believes.

Ed Strongman, Airbus's chief test pilot military, hopes to encourage wider market interest in the transport by displaying MSN001 at ILA on 8 and 9 June. The company cannot commit to a longer stay to keep momentum with flight testing, but will "demonstrate the full capabilities of the aircraft", he says.

Tests involving MSN001 and MSN002 - both of which carry heavy instrumentation loads weighing around 17t - had reached 165 flight hours and 44 sorties by 20 May.

Recent milestones have included the completion of stall testing without the need to use an emergency booster recovery rocket, which has now been removed from MSN001.

"We approached our first stall with a lot of attention, but it was a piece of cake," says Strongman. The crew encountered buffeting only within around 1° of reaching the stall angle, and the pilots retained full roll control throughout the manoeuvres.

"It's a remarkable aeroplane," he says. "It has as good, or better handling qualities than an A320." He attributes this partly to the A400M's counter-rotating propeller configuration, which adds to its stability under such conditions.

Stall testing was conducted between idle and full power and with forward, centre and aft centre of gravity loadings, and at altitudes between 32,000ft (9,760m) and 10,000ft.

Strongman declines to identify the angles of attack achieved before the stall, but confirms: "The alphas were as predicted, and in some cases higher."

The test team is establishing where limits exist, and the A400M's envelope protection will prevent operational crews from encountering potentially dangerous conditions.

This process also included demonstrating the A400M's impressive maximum lateral roll rate. Airbus is required to certificate its roll protection at 90°, but says it will instead offer 120°. Strongman says the test actually demonstrated an angle of 124° due to an incorrect stick input, but adds that this was still "well within the range of the aeroplane. It was Friday night and it was 8 o'clock, but it was good," he adds.

The aircraft during April underwent testing at Istres in southern France to assess its handling characteristics in ground effect down to just 15ft above the runway. "We were just on the limits of turbulence also, so it was a really good simulation," says Strongman.

Full sideslip and load factors testing have been completed, the aircraft has been operated across its stress range of +2.5g to -1g, and its doors and cargo ramp have been opened in flight at between 120kt (222km/h) and 200kt without affecting handling characteristics.

A maximum altitude of 34,000ft has been achieved, and the A400M was due to be taken to its VD velocity limit, and to perform flutter validation flights in late May. At this point, a major restriction to testing can be lifted, with stress gauges to be removed from the TP400's Ratier-Figeac propeller blades. This will enable the flight test team to fly the A400M through clouds and rain for the first time.

In an unusual parallel with a past programme, Strongman says that during some flight conditions and angles of attack at higher altitudes, the A400M exhibited a slight snaking motion. Experience within Airbus likened the characteristic with the Transall, and adopted the same solution. Strakes added to the main landing gear sponsons now act as vortex generators, and Strongman says the trait has not been encountered on any subsequent flights.

OVERHEATING ISSUE

Other earlier issues from flight testing are in the process of being addressed, such as to fix a landing gear overheating issue. More work will be performed to define braking limits and to perform rejected take-offs. A new high power mode full authority digital engine control software load for the TP400 has also recently been tested on one engine, and will soon be expanded to all stations.

Although flight-test activities got off to a slower than expected start, because of unusually bad weather in Seville and Toulouse over the winter months, MSN001 in mid-May for the first time flew twice in one day.

"The whole process is accelerating," says Strongman, who describes the transport as intuitive and easy to operate.

"Every pilot has a smile on his face, due to the A400M's handling and manoeuvrability," Strongman says.

MORE A400MS POISED TO JOIN FLIGHT TESTING


In late May, MSN003 was in the midst of securing clearance to fly in "early summer". Picture: Airbus Military

With the A400M programme's first two prototype aircraft now being flown regularly in France and Spain, Airbus Military is preparing to double the size of its test fleet within the next six months.

Due to fly in the "early summer", MSN003 was in late May undergoing final clearance tests on the company's San Pablo final assembly line near Seville, and will soon be transferred to its flight-test department at the site.

To be employed for systems testing from Toulouse, the aircraft has several modifications made following the lessons learned in early flight-testing. These include the addition of small strakes on the main landing gear sponsons and a lower auxiliary power unit exhaust chimney.

Aircraft MSN004 is in the general joining stage at San Pablo and was scheduled to undergo power-on for the first time in the last week of May. First flight is planned before the end of the year.

All major components for the remaining flight-test example are in production and final assembly work will start in the third quarter of this year. The first A400M to be built to a series production standard, MSN006 will have weight reduction modifications and other system upgrades.

Parts are also being produced for the programme's first customer aircraft, which should be delivered to the French air force in December 2012. The San Pablo facility is expected to complete 2.5 aircraft a month by 2015, against a peak of three a month.

"Production is working smoothly and we think we are on the way to success," says Rafael Nogueras Cebrero, head of the A400M final assembly line and flight-test centre.

[buglerbilly]

EADS Chief : A400M Contracts May Not Be Signed Till Autumn

Agence France-Presse

Published: 1 Jun 2010 16:27

AMSTERDAM - The head of European aerospace group EADS said Tuesday that contracts with clients for the A400M military transporter may not be finalized for several months.

"If it can be done for the summer, that would be best, otherwise it will be in the autumn," Louis Gallois told AFP following a shareholders' assembly at EADS headquarters in Amsterdam.

The aerospace boss said in a weekend interview he hoped to secure contracts for the A400M in the next month, but seemed to temper his comments Tuesday.

"I said I was hoping for the start of the summer, but it doesn't all depend on me. There is no specific calendar," he said.

"We have to reach an agreement between all seven countries."

The client countries for the Airbus transporter are France, Germany, Spain, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey.

The seven states, after tense negotiations in the face of production difficulties with the A400M, reached an agreement in March with EADS on sharing out 5.2 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in cost over-runs.

The first A400M, manufactured by EADS aircraft unit Airbus, is expected to be delivered to France in early 2013.

Gallois said in the weekend interview that tests flights were "going well" but that there remained "real technical challenges" to overcome.

Answering a shareholder question, Gallois also said that EADS could possibly deliver five Tiger combat helicopters to Germany by the end of the year.

Germany has ordered 80 of the helicopters from Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, but Berlin last month slammed "serious defects" in the 11 models that have been delivered so far.

Eurocopter has said it is working on the defects and would hand over a first two helicopters to Germany for intensive tests in June and July.

"If the trials are successful, we will deliver five helicopters by the end of the year," Gallois said.

Germany has said its military "urgently" needs the combat-ready aircraft in Afghanistan, where it has deployed about 4,300 troops.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:09/06/10

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

ILA: Airbus Military close to signing final A400M contract

By Murdo Morrison

Airbus Military says it expects to sign a final agreement with seven European governments over A400M deliveries by the end of the month.

It will spell out how many of the original 180 transports ordered will be dropped as part of the revised contract negotiated early this year, which allowed for 10 aircraft to be axed.

Germany is expected to cut its original order for 60 aircraft by seven, with the UK likely to lose up to three of its 25. Airbus Military chief executive Domingo Ureña acknowledged at the show yesterday that it would be difficult to keep the orderbook at 180 aircraft because of fiscal pressures facing customer governments.


© Billypix

[buglerbilly]

DATE:10/06/10
SOURCE:Flight Daily NewsILA: Lockheed touts C-130J's role alongside A400M
By Craig Hoyle

Lockheed Martin is seeing strong and long-term interest in its C-130J tactical transport from the US government and military operators around the world.

"Our primary focus at this point is the USA, plus the Middle East and Asian markets," says Jim Grant, the company's vice-president customer engagement, air mobility and special operations programmes.

Additional opportunities also exist in Europe and Africa, where he believes the "J" could serve as a complement to Airbus Military's A400M. "The C-130J is very attractive for those countries which are buying the A400M as a strategic transport type," he adds.

A complement to A400M? My how times have changed................:speechless


© Canadian air force

Lockheed has received orders for 288 C-130Js and delivered 195 of these so far. An opportunity to push this total to the 300 mark stands following the United Arab Emirates' previous selection of 12 aircraft. "We are still in negotiation with the customer, and are cautiously optimistic that we'll reach closure in the near future," says Grant.

South Africa, which late last year cancelled its order for eight A400Ms, could also be a potential future customer, he believes. "The South Africans appear to want a tiered solution. From all the indications we have there is considerable interest in an aircraft with the capabilities of the C-130J." Airbus Military also says that the nation could revive its interest in its product.

A recently delivered example assigned to the US Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein air base is on static display at the show.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:22/06/10

SOURCE:Flight International

EADS pitches A400M, C-295 to Australia

By Leithen Francis

EADS, which is preparing to start deliveries of air tankers to the Royal Australian Air Force, has also been busy promoting its Airbus Military A400M and C-295 in Australia.

The A400M would be useful to Australia because "it is twice the size of the Lockheed Martin C-130 and carries twice the weight", says EADS corporate vice-president of international development for Asia Pacific and South America Christian Duhain.

"It is a stronger aircraft and can take off from rugged airfields," he adds.

EADS has also been putting forward the C-295 to meet the military's requirement for fixed-wing short take-off and landing aircraft. The requirement has come about because late last year the air force retired its last de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou transports.

Some of the Caribou's roles will be fulfilled by utility helicopters, but the Australian Defence Force has said publicly that it will also need fixed-wing aircraft.

This procurement will come under the Department of Defence's Project 8000 phase two, which calls for "first pass" approval in the 2010-11 to 2011-12 fiscal year and a decision in either 2012-13 or 2014-15.

As an interim solution, the service has been relying on Beechcraft King Air 350s.

While EADS may be hoping Australia can become the A400M's second export customer outside Europe, it is continuing to work to deliver five Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transports to the air force.


© Airbus Military

Duhain says the programme's first two aircraft are supporting test activities in Spain, and will be delivered by the end of the year. These were modified by Airbus Military and Qantas Defence Services, respectively, with the latter to also prepare the remaining three examples.

"We are trying to make Australia part of our global supply chain," says Duhain, who notes that EADS's Eurocopter subsidiary also owns Australian Aerospace in Brisbane. The company assembles the Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter for the Australian Army.

"Our approach is not about offsets: rather our approach is long term," he says.

Duhain confirms that there may be an opportunity for Australian Aerospace to make helicopters for export customers.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:09/07/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

PICTURE: Third A400M takes to the air

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military has enjoyed two notable firsts in its A400M programme, with the debut flight of development aircraft MSN003 having been achieved while its first two aircraft were also airborne.

Flown from the company's San Pablo final assembly site near Seville, Spain, MSN003 took off at 13:57 local time with a crew of five, including experimental test pilots Tony Flynn and Francois Barre.

"The addition of MSN3 to the fleet is great news, and will let us push ahead even more rapidly with the flying programme," says Airbus head of flight operations Fernando Alonso.


© Airbus Military

As of 9 July, the A400M test fleet had logged 100 test flights and a combined 400 flight hours, the EADS company says. This represents continued steady progress since last month's Berlin air show, where MSN001 made its show debut after around 250h had been amassed by the fleet.

Airbus Military will have five test aircraft available by mid-2011, with these required to fly a combined total of 3,700h during development testing of the A400M. The transport is expected to enter service around late 2012, following a delivery delay of around three years.

Carrying a medium instrumentation load, MSN003 will be dedicated to tasks including proving the A400M's autopilot and navigation systems. The aircraft will be assigned to test duties conducted from Airbus's Toulouse site in France.

MSN001 will arrive in the UK on 16 July ahead of its weekend participation in the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The aircraft will then take part in the daily flying display at the Farnborough air show from 19-22 July.

[buglerbilly]

Sisulu: We Want Our Money Back (excerpt)

(Source: Independent Online (South Africa); published July 11, 2010)

Seven months after South Africa cancelled an order for eight A400M heavy-lift freight planes, Airbus Military is yet to pay back the R2.9 billion deposit and the arms company is keen to get a deal back on the table.

It has threatened to pull out of an industrial partnership - investments offsets that include creation of jobs in exchange for an arms deal - putting at risk hundreds of jobs and an estimated R1 billion in investment.

It also made a cut-throat counter-offer of four planes at a cost lower than the 2005 deal, despite that a four-year delay is likely to push up the price.

In documents leaked to Weekend Argus, Airbus made its terms clear. "Termination by Armscor of the South Africa acquisition contract leads to automatic termination of the (2005) Letter of Understanding.

"As a consequence Airbus has no further obligation with respect to the industrial participation of this programme."

It said it may be forced to relocate the R2.3bn work packages to other participating countries.

The government maintains that its legal reading of the deal did not suggest any conditions between the acquisition of a fleet and the industrial partnership, despite a plea by Denel CEO Talib Sadik, in a letter to Armscor in January, for a reassessment of the government's cancellation of the Airbus contract, given the "adverse consequences" to Denel should the plug be pulled.

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu cancelled the deal in November due to the delay and cost escalations, which the government estimated could balloon from the original R17bn to about R30bn. (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full article on the IOL website

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=181&art_id=vn20100711082255893C832067

-ends-

[Deks]

I don't presume to know how the contract reads, but it's a bit rich to bail on the contract and still expect the industrial benefits.

[buglerbilly]

Heaps more on this from DefenceWeb a South African website...............

Is Airbus "blackmailing" SA on the A400M?

Written by defenceWeb

Monday, 12 July 2010 09:28



A South African Sunday newspaper is claiming Airbus Military is “blackmailing” the country by not paying back a R2.9 billion deposit for eight A400M strategic transport aircraft and threatening to pull out of industrial partnerships related to the buy worth R2.3 billion. But the company denies this.

The Weekend Argus on its front page also stated that Airbus has “made a cut-throat counter-offer of four planes at a cost lower than the 2005 deal, despite that a four-year delay is likely to push up the price. … The new discount offer sets the total price, without the first two years' maintenance costs, at about R4.3 billion for the four planes, and states that the deposit already covers two- thirds of the full price.” The article was also published in the Sunday Independent and posted on the Independent Online website.

“In documents leaked to Weekend Argus, Airbus made its terms clear,” the paper says: “Termination by Armscor of the South Africa acquisition contract leads to automatic termination of the (2005) Letter of Understanding. As a consequence Airbus has no further obligation with respect to the industrial participation of this programme." It reportedly added it may be forced to relocate the R2.3 billion work packages to other participating countries.

The paper says government maintains that its legal reading of the deal did not suggest any conditions between the acquisition of a fleet and the industrial partnership, despite a plea by Denel CEO Talib Sadik, in a letter to Armscor in January, for a reassessment of the government's cancellation of the Airbus contract, given the "adverse consequences" to Denel should the plug be pulled.

Cost conundrum

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu cancelled the deal in November due to the delay and cost escalations, which the government estimated could balloon from the original R17 billion to about R30 billion, the Weekend Argus said. The cost of the A400M project has long been contentious.

The South African Air Force in 2005 said the cost of the aircraft was €837 million (then about R9.6 billion, although a South African Air Force press insisted it was R7 438 200 001.88). In October last year then Armscor CE Sipho Thomo told Parliament the cost had escalated from R17 billion to R47 billion. Sisulu and Airbus denied the R47 billion figure but no-one has ever explained where the R17 billion figure came from. It is also not clear were the Weekend Argus found the R30 billion figure. The paper continues SA had given Airbus a January deadline to repay the deposit.

The Weekend Argus further states Airbus Military chairman [sic, correctly managing director] Domingo Urena Raso suggested in a letter to SA that the impact of South Africa's cancellation could be "severe" and could include:

•The loss of industrial investment of R990 million.
•Future sales of R4.8 billion.
•The loss of 160 direct skilled, and other, jobs.
•The loss to Airbus of R1 billion of investments in the SA aerospace industry.

Since the letter, for which the Weekend Argus gives no date, Airbus has cancelled one of the three "work packages" that went to parastatal Denel SAAB Aerostructures ( DSA). The paper says government has pumped more than R673 million into DSA and the company itself invested R400 million, while Aerosud, a private company, has doubled its capacity to accommodate the deal. Speaking through the defence ministry, Armscor said its stance was still that "the money must come back". "Any other negotiations will happen subsequently," it stated.

Both Denel and DSA indicated that they remained "hopeful" that Airbus would not pull the plug.

Airbus responds

Airbus Military's SA spokesman, Linden Birns, denied that there were hostile negotiations, but confirmed to the paper their threat to pull the offsets. "Obviously, if the doors are closed and another tender is not coming up... we would have to review the (industrial partnership) programme," he said.

Birns indicated that since the letter was written in mid-February, Airbus had entered into a dialogue with Armscor and that the CE of Airbus – Sipho Mkwanazi – would seek a meeting with Sisulu soon to understand the circumstances around the "sudden cancellation" and "the way forward".

“There was and is no blackmail,” he told defenceWeb in an emailed response. “The letter that Sunday Independent referred to was written in mid-February. Things have moved on since then. The letter was addressed to Mr JS (Sipho) Mkwanazi, Acting CEO, Armscor. It was not addressed to Minister Sisulu.

“Far from being hostile, the letter responds to Armscor’s letter of November 5 2009 and provides an assessment of the investments made by SA and Airbus Military in the South African industry, the contractual obligations underpinning these and the industrial and military operational impacts of South Africa’s decision to terminate its A400M contract (this decision was announced by SA Govt [sic], without any discussion with other contract parties or with affected organisations and businesses).

“The letter included an Annex containing a revised proposal for Armscor’s consideration. This was in response to Armscor, which, last October, raised the possibility of a reduced order.

“Nowhere in this letter or in any other correspondence with Armscor – the party nominated by Govt to manage its A400M contract – has a gun been put to its head or any threat issued to the effect that SA must accept the revised proposal, or else...,” Birns said.

“Over the past two decades, Airbus, Airbus Military and South Africa have cultivated a set of close partnerships in the country’s aeronautical, air transport, research & technology, academia and industrial communities. It is in this spirit that Airbus CEO, Tom Enders, and Airbus Military Managing Director, Domingo Urena, said they hoped that SA Govt will be open to discussions once the Soccer World Cup – which has been a pressing issue for the country – was over.”

He continues that Airbus Military and Armscor began discussions “a few weeks ago” on unwinding the A400M contract. “This is a legal process that has to be followed.” Meanwhile, he says, Airbus Military has been in discussion with its SA industrial partners. “In the meantime, local design engineering and manufacturing of A400M components continues.”

Fallout

Sisulu has repeatedly indicated that while South Africa "badly" needed heavy-lift capability to fulfil its African peace missions, any future acquisition would go through rigorous and proper needs and tendering processes. Asked for comment on the Airbus threat, she stuck to her guns. "The government position is very clear. We have withdrawn. We want our money back. Instead of threatening, they should concentrate on finalising the termination of the contract," her spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya said. Mabaya rejected any suggestion that the minister would meet individual arms companies, effectively slamming the door in the face of Airbus.

The Weekend Argus continued it is not clear what steps the government is considering to protect the aerospace industry. Ismail Dockrat, chief executive of DSA, was confident that the tone of discussions with Airbus had changed and indicated retention of the work packages and the 650 jobs at the company.

The opposition Democratic Alliance party says it believes that Parliament must now step in to ensure that there is a "clean" acquisition process for any new aircraft purchased. “The fact is that this country cannot afford to be dragged down by another strategic defence package-style corruption scandal,” Sisulu's shadow, David Maynier, said.

“The original acquisition of transport aircraft ran into trouble in part because the acquisition process was not properly followed. The defence department reportedly did not obtain the necessary exemptions from national treasury to deviate from the standard tender process. This resulted in R2.9 billion being identified as 'irregular expenditure' in the 2008/2009 audit of the special defence account,” Maynier said.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Debut at Farnborough Highlights Project's Economic Importance to UK

(Source: ADS; issued July 16, 2010)

A|D|S, the UK's AeroSpace, Defence and Security trade organisation today (Friday) highlighted the vital importance of the A400M pan-European military aircraft programme to the UK aerospace industry, especially the small and medium-sized businesses in the supply chain.

This comes ahead of the aircraft's arrival for the first time in the UK today for the Royal International Air Tattoo and ahead of next week's Farnborough International Airshow (19 - 25 July).

As well as delivering new, cutting-edge technology for the armed forces of the UK and other nations, the A400M programme secures vital expertise in the British aerospace industry that will also deliver a crucial economic contribution from the civil aerospace market. The A400M project provides the 'bridge' between work on the current generation of civil aircraft and the next for the UK industry on areas such as wing manufacture where the country leads the world.

Forecasts predict that 25,000 new passenger and freighter aircraft worth US $3.1 trillion will be delivered between 2009 and 2028. The UK currently has a 17 per cent share of that market which over the same timescale would be worth $527 billion (approximately £352 billion).

If the UK Government were to cancel or scale back its orders for the aircraft it would not only imperil the UK's work share on the A400M but also on all future Airbus civil aircraft, putting hundreds of billions of pounds worth of business at more risk. In essence a narrow, short-term saving in the defence budget would cost the country countless times more in lost business across both civil and military aerospace.

Ian Godden, Chairman of A|D|S, said:


"The A400M deserves the support of the UK Government given the economic benefits it delivers to the UK alongside the military and engineering capabilities it safeguards for Britain. With its cutting edge use of composite technology and application of the latest lean and efficient manufacturing techniques, the A400M firmly positions Airbus in the UK and the UK aerospace sector at the forefront of this high technology industry. It is also crucial in bridging our industry to the next generation of civil aircraft programmes that will be highly-lucrative to the UK providing nothing is done to jeopardise it by short-term thinking within Government.

"The A400M will deliver urgently-needed capability to the RAF and other air forces as well as sustained, high-quality, employment from Airbus at Filton and for other companies across the UK supply chain. It will also deliver a large scale reduction in the environmental impact of the UK's military transport aircraft, conforming to the Ministry of Defence's own sustainable procurement priorities. Alongside the engineering excellence being delivered by Airbus in the UK on the A400M programme thousands of people employed within small and medium-sized enterprises also depend on the aircraft for their future livelihoods."

About the A400M:

* The wings are made by Airbus in the UK at Filton and are the first-ever wing for an Airbus-built aircraft constructed largely from composite materials (carbon fibre reinforced plastic, CFRP). They are the largest composite military wings ever made.

* In local terms the engineering, design and manufacture of the wings for the A400M employs around 900 people at Filton (in design engineering and manufacturing). Many of these jobs will involve training to acquire the new skills needed to design and assemble wings built both in metal and composites.

* The A400M is crucial for the UK Ministry of Defence's sustainable procurement programme delivering a major reduction in carbon dioxide emissions over other comparable aircraft.

* The A400M is Europe's largest collaborative military project. The RAF is to buy 22 to partially replace the Hercules fleet. The approximate cost of one A400M aircraft is ?110million.

* Across the UK the huge number of livelihoods already supported by Airbus work will grow as the A400M gathers pace. Airbus in the UK - the Airbus Wing & Pylon Centre of Excellence - at Filton, Bristol, is responsible for the overall design, management, and assembly of the A400M wing. Airbus in the UK has invested over ?200 million in the A400M infrastructure.

* In addition to setting new standards in the military transport environment, the A400M is also significant in the broader security context. The A400M is an important step towards the modernisation and inter-operability of European forces, to the development of a joint European defence and security policy and for the maintenance of a viable European defence industry, breaking the U.S. monopoly in large military transport aircraft.

* After assembly of the wingbox, each wing will be fully equipped with hydraulic, pneumatic, fuel and electrical systems and fitted with moving surfaces. It will then be fully tested before delivery from Filton by Airbus "Beluga" cargo aircraft, to the final assembly line in Seville. The first wing was removed from its assembly jig in Filton in November 2006 and delivered to Spain at the end of the first quarter of 2007. In addition the fuel team at Filton is responsible for the overall definition of the complete fuel system including air-to-air refuelling and fuel tank inert gas protection, technical recommendation for supplier selection, supplier management, and fuel system test and integration.

A400M facts:

* Firm orders for A400M now stand at 181 aircraft; 177 in the original order for seven European NATO nations through OCCAR (i.e. 60 for Germany; 50 for France; 27 for Spain; 22 for the UK; 10 for Turkey; 7 for Belgium and 1 for Luxembourg) plus 4 for Malaysia.

* Airbus in the UK is also responsible for the wing assembly and delivery and its Filton site is seeing over 200 million Euros of investment in A400M infrastructure during the period from 2003-2008.

* A400M will provide a step change in the RAF's strategic and tactical airlift capabilities.

* A400M is central to the modernisation and inter-operability of European forces.

* A400M advances Airbus in the UK's (and the wider UK aerospace sector) leadership in wing and composite technology.

* A400M is a very versatile aircraft able to simultaneously supplement the strategic role currently undertaken by C-17s and surpass the tactical capability provided by the current ageing fleet of C130s.

Summary of the aircraft's capabilities and its flexibility:
* Large cargo hold (340m3 volume, 37 tonnes payload), which can be quickly converted to carry containers, pallets, vehicles, seated troops or casualty evacuation stretchers.

* Long range capability enhanced by a basic capability to be refuelled in the air to reach any part of the world.

* High cruise speed up to Mach 0.72, which is at least 30 per cent faster than the generation of military transport aircraft it will replace.

* Short, soft field performance removing dependence on paved runways with autonomous capability on the ground removing the need for specialist support equipment.

* Rapid Descent and Climb Capabilities ease operations into difficult airfields and the fly-by-wire system provides unmatched protection during violent manoeuvres.

* High Survivability Features (such as flight deck armour, on-board inert gas generation for fuel tanks, dispersed and duplicated aircraft systems and active and passive defence aids) giving excellent protection for crew and troops in hostile environments.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

DATE:18/07/10

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

FARNBOROUGH: Gallois confident of US interest in A400M

By Murdo Morrison

EADS says unprecedented levels of interest in the Airbus Military A400M by the US military community here at the show raises the likelihood of a breakthrough deal in the USA.

Speaking at an EADS media seminar on the eve of the show, Sean O'Keefe, chief executive of EADS North America, said Pentagon chiefs are "very attracted to the versatility" of the European airlifter, which is making its Farnborough debut.

"There is an undeniable gap in airlift capacity from the middle of this decade, which happens to coincide with when A400M production rates accelerate," he says.


[I] © APG Photography

"The number of US defence officials who have requested to see the A400M at Farnborough is at record levels."

However, before EADS looks at exports, it must focus on its domestic market, where a deal to save the long-delayed programme was agreed in March between Airbus Military and its partner goverments, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

Although final details of the refinancing package have to be agreed, EADS chief executive Louis Gallois says the agreement is secure in principle, despite the spending squeeze in most of these countries, and he expects a final contract - originally set for July - by "fall".

"We are in a new climate with budget constraints but we are in intense negotiations within the frame of the agreement settled in March. Nobody is saying to us they will pull out or they will cut in half their order, even if I read this in the newspapers," he says.

Airbus Military's third A400M development aircraft made its first flight on 9 July from the manufacturer's San Pablo final assembly site near Seville, Spain. MSN003's debut pushed the programme through 100 test flights and 400 flight hours since December.

Prior to its arrival at Farnborough, test aircraft MSN001 visited the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire, its future UK home, and the weekend's Royal International Air Tattoo.

Meanwhile, Gallois is confident the KC-X contest between Boeing and EADS to supply a new fleet of tankers for the US Air Force will be "fair". A winner is due to be announced towards the end of the year, after new bids were submitted by both rivals this month.

"We have been very impressed," says Gallois. "The Pentagon is sticking to fair and professional processes."

EADS is targeting $10 billion in US revenues by 2020, up from $1.2 billion today. However, while Gallois says winning the tanker contest would "enhance" the chances of achieving that goal, he believes "we could do it without KC-X".

[buglerbilly]

DATE:19/07/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

FARNBOROUGH: A400M arrives after first photo-call with RAF peers

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military has brought its second A400M development aircraft to the Farnborough air show, atfer first flying the transport to its future UK home at the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire.

During its base visit on 16 July, MSN002 lined up alongside its future RAF peers: the Lockheed Martin C-130J and the Boeing C-17 (below).

It then went on to fly at the Royal International Air Tattoo over the weekend, where Airbus chief test pilot military Ed Strongman says it received great support.





Both images © Airbus Military

Speaking to Flightglobal at Farnborough, Strongman says the three-aircraft test fleet has now logged 415 flight hours and 109 flights since MSN001's debut sortie last December.


© Airbus Military

The A400M will open the flying display at 13:30 local time today, followed by the Airbus A380. Its new 'Grizzly' markings will be revealed this afternoon.

[buglerbilly]

European Airlifter Named for American Bear

Posted by Bradley Peniston | July 19th, 2010

By ANDREW CHUTER, FARNBOROUGH, Britain – Airbus Military will name its A400M airlifter after a North American bear. The European aerospace giant said from now on the aircraft will be known as the Grizzly.


A400M Grizzly on static display at Farnborough. (Defense News photo by M. Scott Mahaskey)

The name has been used by the aircraft’s flight test crew for months and has now been adopted by the company as its official designation.

Airbus said its customers would be free to call it what they want but as far as they are concerned, from now on it’s the A400M Grizzly.

One customer likely to take Airbus up on its invitation to give the airlifter a name of their own is the Royal Air Force.

The British, who are expected to purchase 22 of the aircraft for the Royal Air Force, are said by executives at the show to be less than amused about “Grizzly.”

The bear is renowned for its strength and toughness, attributes the troubled airlifter will be seeking to emulate when it goes into service with a number of Europe’s leading air forces.

The project is billions of euros over budget and years behind schedule. One analyst here wondered whether “white elephant” might have been a more appropriate name.

Well IF that was the case dude, then you need to include virtually EVERY new Airlifter or Fighter or Maritime Surveillance Programme programme in development OR in-service recently.............name ONE that hasn't been over-budget and late?

[buglerbilly]

A400M Ahead of Test Schedule, Maker Says

Posted by Bradley Peniston | July 19th, 2010

By PIERRE TRAN, FARNBOROUGH, Britain – Airbus Military is narrowly ahead of schedule as it concludes the first phase of the flight test program of the A400M airlifter, managing director Domingo Urena said July 19 at the Farnborough air show.


A400M on static display at Farnborough. (Defense News photo by M. Scott Mahaskey)

The A400M — newly dubbed the Grizzly — showed off its maneuverability in a debut flying display on the opening of the air show, as the four-engine plane flew quietly at sharp angles and at low speed above the corporate chalets and exhibition halls.

Urena said he hoped the present detailed negotiations translating the agreement in principle reached in March would lead to a signing of legal contracts by the end of the year.

The talks were not going “as fast as we can imagine,” he told journalists. “We are slightly ahead of our plan.”

The first step was intended to open up the flight envelope of the aircraft, to identify which areas did not work and which needed to be fixed. Three of the test aircraft — MSN 1, 2 and 3 — are now flying; the third took to the air on July 9. The tests were done under normal flight laws and under degraded conditions, and included stalls in mid-flight.

“The flights have shown extremely good handling characteristics and aerodynamics,” he said.

The total of more than 400 hours of flight test and 100 flights have allowed the engineers to freeze the design in the present configuration. Any modifications made between now and the end of the year will be “improvements” to the frozen design.

Asked about the flight management system (FMS), which has contributed to program delays, Urena said he would not point the finger at any major supplier. The test flights were aimed at “de-risking the program” and this applied to the FMS, supplied by Thales.

The FMS was a highly complicated computer system, capable of working in civil and military configurations. The flight program has led Airbus Military to debate how to fix problems and “ongoing discussions with major suppliers,” Urena said.

The flight program has allowed testing of various systems, including the ramp, hydraulics, electronics, and landing gear.

The coming weekend, the aircraft will be tested on an ex-military airbase, landing and taking off on chalk balls, intended to show the impacts on the aircraft as it operates on rough, unprepared strips.

[Chunder]

Thats the first time I have noticed the bulge in the fuselage around the access door... I wonder what that is for?

[buglerbilly]

Thats the first time I have noticed the bulge in the fuselage around the access door... I wonder what that is for?

No real idea, avionics bulge?

[buglerbilly]

DATE:20/07/10

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

FARNBOROUGH: Airbus to start ground debris, tanker work with A400M

By Craig Hoyle

Flight testing with the A400M 'Grizzly' is progressing so well that Airbus Military is preparing to venture into two uncharted areas of the aircraft's performance range.

Airbus's head of flight test Fernando Alonso reveals that development aircraft MSN003 will this weekend undergo preliminary work near Toulouse to assess the effects of manoeuvring the aircraft on the ground with chalk pellets scattered on the runway. The company expects to make the first landing on an unpaved surface late this year.

It will also soon install under-wing hose and drogue refuelling pods, in a process to measure their aerodynamic impact. "It is urgent to clear the configuration flying with the pods, and with the hoses extended," says Alonso. Supporting work was performed during a recent formation flight involving the programme's first two test aircraft.


© APG photography

Airbus's three A400Ms have now logged more than 109 sorties and 415 flight hours, says chief test pilot military Ed Strongman, who also took on-show aircraft MSN002 to the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton transport base in Oxfordshire on 16 July.

Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña says talks continue towards the signing of a new contract with the A400M's seven European launch customers. "The devil is in the detail, and we are in the middle of the detail," he says, while adding: "we're making big progress."

[buglerbilly]

Farnborough Air Show 2010

On site special coverage from the 2010 Farnborough International Air Show

TP Turnaround?

Posted by Robert Wall at 7/21/2010 6:08 AM CDT

Europrop International expects to receive civil type certification for the TP400 turboprop powering the A400M around the end of September or shortly after. And that's not the only bit of good news for the engine consortium that was long one of the biggest headaches for the A400M.

Program officials say the engines now flying are beating the TP400 specific fuel consumption requirement, even if the first full production standard engines have not yet been built. That process is to begin toward the end of the year.
FADEC software development also has been advancing.

But there are still legacy problems to be overcome, including working out the contractual liabilities between EPI and Airbus Military. EPI CEO Nick Durham says talks between the two sides are advancing -- arbitration proceedings are frozen by both sides with no plans to resume them. A partial agreement could be in hand before Airbus Military and governments work out their contractual issues, although the latter likely needs to be in place before a full resolution on the engine front is possible.

[buglerbilly]

Grizzly? Not likely, RAF tells A400M bosses


The Airbus Military A400M aircraft prepares to land at the Farnborough International Airshow 2010 in Farnborough, southern England July 19, 2010.

FARNBOROUGH | Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:02pm BST

FARNBOROUGH England (Reuters) - The Royal Air Force is definitely not amused by the nickname provided by Airbus for its A400M military transporter -- the "Grizzly."

The European planemaker held a baptism ceremony for the bulky troop transporter at the Farnborough Airshow this week, using the moniker invented by the plane's test pilots.

Paw prints were painted over the grounds in a marketing stunt to introduce the "Grizzly" to the global defence industry.

But Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, Britain's top air force officer, delivered a blunt veto from the RAF.

"It's absolutely appalling," he told Reuters.

"It has no provenance, no acceptance and it will enter RAF service with that name over my dead body."

The naming row risks embarrassment for Airbus, which has spent months fending off controversy over delays and billions of euros of cost overruns on Europe's largest defence project.

"The name is only for the prototype aircraft. The nations are free to select whatever name they wish," said Airbus Military spokesman Jaime Perez-Guerra.

Finding agreement on names for pan-European military hardware projects is a notoriously tricky diplomatic exercise.

Britain was accused of being insensitive in the 1990s when it decided to name the four-nation Eurofighter combat jet after an aircraft which bombed Germany in World War II, the Typhoon.

Dalton said Britain had its own proposed name for the A400M, but this would be discussed first with its partners in the project: France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Britain has ordered 25 A400Ms, but is expected to cancel three of them as part of a deal to help absorb cost overruns.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Jon Boyle)

[buglerbilly]

A400M Costing Builders 100M Euros Monthly

Posted by Bradley Peniston | July 23rd, 2010

By PIERRE TRAN, FARNBOROUGH, UK – EADS and Airbus Military must pay hundreds of million of euros to pay for work on the A400M airlifter as long the seven client countries have not signed a financing deal agreed earlier this year, company executives said.


A400M during a demonstration flight at Farnborough International Airshow on July 19. (Defense News photo by M. Scott Mahaskey)

The A400M has been taking part in the flying display each day at the airshow, with the pilot putting the MSN2 test aircraft into steep banking turns above the heads of aerospace executives gathered from all over the world.

Airbus Military managing director Domingo Urena told journalists July 19 at the Farnbrough Airshow that he hoped the agreement in principle on cost overruns could be signed “by the end of the year.”

As long the agreement has not been signed, Airbus Military is not being paid for its work on the A400M, an executive familiar with the situation said.

EADS is spending around 100 million euros ($129 million) a month on the A400M, Chief Executive Louis Gallois said earlier this year.

On that basis, the potential cash outflow could be 600 million euros if the two sides fail to sign by the end of the year.

Gallois told a media seminar July 17 ahead of the airshow that financing of current A400M work is part of current talks.

“We are not keen to fund in the interim,” Gallois said. Each party was trying to interpret the heads of agreement in the most favourable way to its side, he said.

Gallois said he hoped the signing could take place in the fall.

Despite the financial crisis, the overall agreement was still in place, and there was no talk of cancellations exceeding the upper limit of 10 aircraft, Gallois said.

The seven launch customers –Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey – agreed in March to inject a further 3.5 billion euros on top of the initial 19 billion euros to cover cost overruns on the A400M program.

The heads of agreement included accelerated pre-delivery payments between 2010 and 2014, with a new schedule to be set. The agreement required detailed negotiations to allow changes to be made to the original contract.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Gears Up For Unprepared Runway Trials

Jul 23, 2010

By Robert Wall wall@aviationweek.com
FARNBOROUGH

Airbus Military in the next few days expects to commence trials to land the A400M airlifter on unprepared runways, in the first significant step to validate some of the transport’s military performance.

The first step is for the A400M, now christened the Grizzly, to land on a runway near Toulouse, France, with chalk pellets. Those are to show how stones would ricochet and impact the A400M’s fuselage, in advance of real landings in austere environments, says Fernando Alonso, head of flight testing for Airbus.

Actual landings on unprepared surfaces are likely to occur around the end of the year.

Alonso notes that the initial part of the flight test campaign is about to wrap up. Performance is close to what models indicated it would be, he adds. Flutter testing should wrap up next month.

Also ahead are cold and hot weather trials in the coming months to assess the A400M’s ability to handle severe weather conditions. High-altitude takeoffs and landings are in the cards as well.

Alonso hopes to have the first A400M customers fly the airlifter themselves.

[Deks]

I'm not surprised the brits are annoyed at the 'Grizzly' name, it's clearly been done with a view to securing US contracts in future.

[Gubler, A.]

I'm not surprised the brits are annoyed at the 'Grizzly' name, it's clearly been done with a view to securing US contracts in future.

I doubt that very much. This is a nickname given by the flight test crews not some PR flunky or business development guru. They would have called it the Grizzly because it flies like a bear or makes a lot of roaring or whatever. Its a name like Rhino, Viper, etc that has little to do with service history (as expressed by the CAS who is focusing on the important things) or marketing. The Yanks are not going to give a damn about the second part of the name when it starts with “Airbus”…

[buglerbilly]

DATE:26/07/10

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

FARNBOROUGH: A400M engine beating performance requirements

By Craig Hoyle

"Job satisfaction". That phrase was not in widespread use among the men at the helm of Europrop International 12 months ago. But with the European consortium having delivered TP400-D6 engines for Airbus Military's first four A400Ms and seen the turboprop design log more than 1,500 flight hours, the mood has changed.

"It's been a very good year," says EPI president Nick Durham, who points to the aircraft performance being demonstrated at the show using "Grizzly" MSN002. "It couldn't fly like that unless the engines were right, and the crew were satisfied," he says. "That's job satisfaction."

During the flight-test programme conducted so far, the TP400 "is already beating the production-standard requirement significantly," says technical director Martin Maltby. "We are where we need to be, which is great news."

EPI expects to receive civil certification for the 11,000shp (8,200kW) TP400 from mid-September, after performing one remaining test activity on single medium bird ingestion.

The consortium is required to deliver around 200 requests to the European Aviation Safety Agency in support of the certification process, and all but five have now been submitted. It has already approved "the vast number" of these.

"We have achieved the certification standard for the software," says Maltby, who describes the event as "a huge milestone". The propulsion system software required for the A400M is three times more complex than for the Airbus A380, he notes. Military certification activities for the TP400 should conclude around mid-2012, EPI says.

Meanwhile, the company has revealed first details of its proposed "EPI Protect" in-service support model for the TP400.

Vice-president Jacques Desclaux says a response will be submitted in September or October to a bilateral request for quotations issued by France and the UK for an availability-based service. It is also talking with Germany and Turkey about supporting their national requirements.

"The scope of the [TP400] programme is now going towards production and support," Desclaux says.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Wing Passes Critical Test

(Source: Airbus Military; issued Aug. 3, 2010)

The highly advanced all-composite wing of the Airbus Military A400M new airlifter has passed the ultimate-load up-bend test – the critical static test required for certification.

During the test, performed in the presence of two representatives of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the wing was subjected to a load equal to 150% of the maximum bending load (limit load) predicted to be encountered in service.

The wingtips of the full-size A400M static test specimen moved upwards 1.41m (4.6ft) during the test which was completed at Airbus Military's Getafe, Madrid facility on 22nd July.

Senior Vice President A400M Chief Engineer Alain Cassier said: “This successful test represents a major achievement for the A400M programme on its route to certification. We are all delighted to have passed this key milestone in the structural test programme, which further confirms the soundness of the A400M design.”

The A400M wing is assembled at the Airbus plant at Filton, Bristol (UK). The static test programme will continue in Madrid, (Spain) until mid-2011, while full-scale fatigue tests will be conducted on another test specimen in Dresden, (Germany) beginning later this year.

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 manoeuvrability, 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.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

DATE:06/08/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

UK approaches Airbus Military, Thales for A400M training service

By Craig Hoyle

The UK Ministry of Defence has outlined a more than £400 million ($637 million) requirement for a synthetic training service to support operations with its future fleet of Airbus Military A400M transports.

Expected to be contracted under a public-private partnership funding arrangement, the A400M training service deal should run until at least March 2030, according to details released by the UK’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation.

“The UK is seeking the provision of an A400M synthetic training service for all military personnel who will operate, maintain and support the aircraft,” it says in a 3 August notification. This will include pilots, loadmasters and maintainers, plus “aerial despatch and aero-medical personnel, paratroopers and miscellaneous support staff.”

New training premises will be constructed at the Royal Air Force’s main operating base for the A400M at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire as a result of the programme.


© Andrew Linnett/Crown Copyright
The A400M made its first visit to RAF Brize Norton last month

The MoD in mid-July issued an invitation to negotiate to Airbus Military and its selected UK partner, Thales Training and Simulation for the proposed deal. An expression of interest is required by 29 October, with DE&S due to sign a contract in October 2011.

The UK had been due to acquire 25 A400Ms under the European programme’s May 2003 launch contract, but earlier this year signalled its intention to reduce the RAF’s eventual fleet “to at least 22”. The service should receive its first example of the delayed transport in 2014, with the type currently expected to enter operational use in 2015.

France and the UK are pursuing a possible joint support model for their combined fleets of the 37t-capacity airlifter. The former is committed to buying 50 A400Ms, and will be the first nation to field the type.

[buglerbilly]

August 2010 - Grizzlies Reaching 500 Flying Hours

(Source: Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation; issued August 12, 2010)


The three prototypes of the A400M airlifter have logged over 500 flight hours in almost 150 flights since the aircraft’s maiden flight in December 2009. (Airbus Military photo)

During the first week of August the Grizzlies reached 500 flying hours, comprising almost 150 flights since the first flight of MSN (Manufacturer’s Serial Number) 001 past 11 December 2009. MSN001 flew 80 times, MSN002 flew 56 and MSN003, with the first flight being held past 09 July, already flew 11 times.

During this time, the Grizzlies have participated with great success in the Berlin ILA Show (MSN001) and in Farnborough International Airshow (MSN002) where a formal naming ceremony was also held. The three first prototypes are in flight, with the forth aircraft being assembled in Seville, planning for its first flight at the end of the year.

The plan includes five prototypes for test activities. Two crews from Nations have already participated in test flights.

Some spectacular tests were held, as can be seen in the third picture, the aircraft making high-speed runs on a layer of chalk balls (in Francazal, France) used to simulate a rough surface in preparation for rough field trials planned for later this year to ensure that the aircraft and procedures are ready for the real rough fields.

Another important and spectacular test was made in Getafe with the MSN5000, which is the aircraft used for structural tests. The test was called the ultimate-load up-bend test for wings and was completed successfully.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

DATE:31/08/10

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M poised for US market spotlight

By Stephen Trimble

Neil Smith has a tough assignment. For the next several years, the EADS North America director's task is to sell a European-built airlifter to a US military that now acknowledges no shortage of large transport aircraft.

Working under EADS NA vice-president for air force programmes Charles Coolidge, Smith's dogged sales job has been overshadowed in the past few years by the company's more high-profile pursuit of the prized US Air Force KC-X tanker contract.


EADS believes there is scope for the A400M's capabilities in the US military. Picture: Airbus Military

But the US sales push for the Airbus Military A400M "Grizzly" is poised to become the company's primary opportunity for new business in the US market after the KC-X contract is awarded in November.

EADS believes the USAF has a hole in its airlift force structure wide enough to comfortably park an A400M. "There's a near-term gap," Smith says. "There's only one non-developmental solution that's going to be ready in time to fill that gap and it's the A400M."

EADS's corporate leaders have started laying the public foundations for an A400M sales campaign in the US market, with its chief executive Louis Gallois and North American chief executive Sean O'Keefe making the case for a future USAF purchase during the Farnborough air show in July. "The number of US defence officials who have requested to see the A400M at Farnborough is at record levels," O'Keefe said on the eve of the show.


The A400M can carry about twice the weight of the C-130. Picture: Airbus Military

AGGRESSIVE STRATEGY

The remarks are a preview of an aggressive strategy that will gain in momentum over the next 12 months. By early 2012, EADS plans to fly the A400M on a public tour of USAF and US Army bases, providing demonstration flights to pilots and logistics planners and featuring the Grizzly's advertised ability to land on short and rough fields.

Orchestrating the increasingly active EADS NA sales push is Smith, a former USAF logistics planner who managed the service's airlift mission during the Serbian air war in 1999. It was Smith's job to deliver supplies to the airport of Albania's capital Tirana, which became bogged down in an intractable layer of mud.

"The army was taking its vehicles and driving all over the ramps," Smith recalls. "That was a mud hole. Puddles mean nothing and mud means nothing [to military airlifters]. The aircraft go through mud on taxiways. The problem is mud dries, and mud becomes clumps."

Standing between Smith and a signed contract in the US market are several major barriers, not least of which is the USAF's stated determination to reduce its airlift fleet rather than expand with an all-new type.

"We are in an overcapacity situation, so retiring some [aircraft] because we don't need it is okay, but buying more so that we retire more is certainly not the way the department needs to be balancing its business in this airlift system," Alan Estevez, assistant deputy undersecretary of defence for supply chain integration, testified during a hearing on airlift by the Senate on 14 July.

In stark contrast to many global air forces, USAF officials are adamant that the service has too many airlifters. With 111 Lockheed Martin C-5s in inventory, 222 Boeing C-17s on order and up to 430 C-130s in the fleet, persuading the USAF to buy scores more airlifters seems one of Smith's most daunting challenges.

Another factor Smith must overcome is the perception of the A400M as a European-built platform. The outcome of the KC-X competition may expand or contract the limits of the US military's tolerance for equipment designed in another country. But proposing a new aircraft in a market with entrenched competition from US companies has proven problematic.

Finally, Smith faces the perception of the A400M as a poster child of a troubled aerospace development project. After the latest round of schedule delays and cost overruns, Smith's counterparts across the Atlantic Ocean are even now seeking to finalise a new contract with European governments buying A400Ms.

But Smith's sales campaign for the A400M has certain trends in its favour. The US government acknowledges the USAF's immense airlift fleet faces a critical capability gap. Last October, the Government Accountability Office issued a report on the airlift fleet that concludes the USAF is deficient in one area.

"There is a potential future gap in tactical airlift capabilities for transporting medium- weight army equipment that cannot fit on C-130 aircraft," GAO auditors wrote in a November 2009 report on the airlift fleet.

The USAF may have no shortage of airlifers, but does it have the right kind of aircraft?


Lockheed has revealed a glimpse of the C-130XL, which widens the Hercules' cargo box. Picture: Lockheed Martin

EADS NA is not the only defence contractor that sees a need for something different in the USAF inventory. Both major aircraft suppliers to Air Mobility Command have unveiled new versions of airframes currently in production. Last year, Lockheed revealed a glimpse of the C-130XL, which widens the Hercules' cargo box that is now limited to just over 3m (9.9ft) across on the cargo ramp.

Boeing, meanwhile, proposed a C-17B advanced tactical airlifter several years ago, which adds a centreline landing gear and other changes to improve the aircraft's ability to land on the ground rather than a runway. In July, Boeing unveiled a variant of the C-17B proposal. The new concept narrows the C-17 airframe by about 1.3m, making it slightly wider, but still longer than the A400M.


The USAF has 222 Boeing C-17s on order: could it find room for the A400M as well? Picture: Boeing

TACTICAL AIRLIFT MISSION

The idea of a new aircraft for the tactical airlift mission has been around for decades. In the early 1970s, the end of the Vietnam War coincided with the USAF's failure to immediately launch production of a jet-powered, short-take-off-and-landing airlifter to replace the C-130E.

The prototypes of the Boeing YC-15 and McDonnell Douglas YC-14 were abandoned, although the latter's technology was later applied to the much larger C-17.

In the late 1980s, the USAF also pursued the advanced medium STOL transport (AMST), which was also cancelled. The USAF instead encouraged Lockheed to launch the C-130J, an improved version of the C-130 but retaining the same cargo box size introduced in 1954.

In the past decade, however, the US Army's ground mobility equipment has grown larger and wider. While the C-130 could squeeze in an up-armoured Humvee, the Hercules is unable to carry the new class of Stryker and mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles.

"So for a future airlifter you need something with payload and cargo-carrying dimensions to not only transport the thing, but to be able to deliver it directly to combat," Smith says. "You don't want to wait for [the vehicle's] slat armour to come on the next airplane."

The cross-section of the A400M cargo compartment is slightly more than 1m wider than the C-130. The A400M can also carry about twice the weight of the C-130. Its dimensions allow it to carry any military ground vehicle in the US Army inventory up to the size of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Smith says.

Smith thinks the nature of the tactical airlift mission is undergoing a fundamental change. It may no longer be enough to support ground forces using a network of bases centred on runways or even semi-prepared airfields, he says.

"It could be a road. It could be a field. So that's what they're looking for," Smith says. "And that makes you unpredictable. If I have lots of straight road, then I can change where I'm going. If I have a field and it's big I just keep landing on that, and once I eat that up [through repeated landings] I just move over 500ft and eat up that section."

That concept is actually the basis for a future airlifter concept on the drawing boards at Air Mobility Command. Called the Joint Future Theatre Lift (JFTL), the idea has been the subject of an internal debate. Some army officials say they need a vertical take-off capability, but the USAF has favoured an aircraft that can take off from an unimproved surface in 460m.

The USAF is preparing to launch an analysis of alternatives to lay the groundwork for launching a programme of record to develop and build a JFTL. But the timeline for producing an operational product is 15 years away, and will require billions of dollars of new investment even as military budgets are expected to contract. Smith believes that creates the perfect opening for the A400M, which is due to be ready for delivery to the USAF after 2015.

"It's a low-risk, non-developmental option for the United States. People are developing all kinds of stuff [to fill the same gap]. But they're all Powerpoint slides. We're no longer on Powerpoint slides, and we can't lie to you about its capabilities."

The key to Smith's sales pitch is one particular design feature. The A400M should be able to repeatedly land on a surface as soft and rough as a ploughed field, although that has not yet been validated in flight tests. The objective is to land on such a surface carrying a Stryker-sized vehicle. "It's flying what won't fit into a C-130 into places where a C-17 can't land," Smith says. "That's the gap."

Compared with the JFTL concept, the A400M needs nearly twice the distance to take off with a similar cargo load, but Smith thinks that can be set aside. "It may turn out that the [solution for the] near-term gap is good enough for the long term," he says. "If I'm runway independent, does it make any difference if I land in 2,800ft as opposed to 1,500ft? They haven't done the analysis to know that yet."

In February, Smith disclosed that EADS had submitted an unsolicited proposal to the USAF for 118 A400Ms, saying the entire acquisition cost could be financed with yearly operating savings generated from retiring the C-5A fleet and the oldest C-130Hs. A Lockheed executive criticised that strategy as "the ultimate in fuzzy math", noting that at the time EADS was not even publicly commenting on the final cost of the A400M programme.

In theory, the EADS proposal would address the USAF's concerns about growing an airlift fleet the service considers too large.

"AMC is going to have C-5s, C-17s and C-130Js for a long time," Smith says. "We're not telling them to throw that away. But you have a gap, and you have things operating in realms they don't do well in. So you're an inefficient fleet. If you add the A400M to the mix you not only fill the gap, you become more efficient."

Smith declines to comment on specifics about cost, saying the price would depend on quantity and the pace of deliveries. Some US contractors have recently offered fixed-priced deals on other contracts as the Department of Defense has grown more risk averse.

Could EADS offer a fixed-priced A400M deal? "I won't get into that," says Smith. "The original contract we had was a fixed-price contract. Let that be said. But we don't know."

EADS elaborates: "The requirement hasn't been formally developed. It's premature to come up with pricing for the US market."

[buglerbilly]

UK, Germany want 2-3 mths for A400M deal-French min

PARIS, Sept 1 | Wed Sep 1, 2010 12:21pm EDT

PARIS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The UK and Germany want two to three more months to review capacity needs before finalising the contract for EADS (EAD.PA) unit Airbus' A400M military transport aircraft, France's defence minister said on Wednesday.

"The Germans and the British are in the process of reviewing capacity and we need to wait for the end of that task. They are asking us for two to three months more time for reflection before deciding how to conclude things," Herve Morin told Reuters.

EADS reached a deal in March with seven European NATO nations, including Germany, that allows them to cancel up to 10 of the planes they ordered in total.

Britain, which has ordered 25 A400Ms, is expected to cancel three as part of the March deal, leaving the other countries with seven possible cancellations to stay within the contract.

The A400M, which European powers had hoped to use in Afghanistan starting from 2009, is designed to transport soldiers and heavy equipment to combat zones.

But technical problems in developing the West's largest turboprop engines have helped push the 20 billion-euro project years behind schedule and billions of euros over budget.

Morin added that France would take a decision on buying drones in the autumn.

(Reporting by Matthias Blamont; Writing by Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by James Regan)

[buglerbilly]

German Defense Ministry Confirms A400M Agreement

Oct 26, 2010

By Jens Flottau jens@flottau.com
FRANKFURT

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

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 Mar. 31 heads-of-terms deal with the A400M nations turned out to be more challenging than expected. In his view, that’s mainly due to the lengthy search for a compromise on the industry side and a 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.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Video: A400M minimum unstick and rough-strip trials

Posted by Max Kingsley-Jones at 10/27/2010 9:43 AM CDT


awthingswithwings | October 27, 2010
This Airbus video shows the Airbus Military A400M airlfter undertaking preliminary Vmu (Velocity Minimum Unstick) take-off tests at Istres in France. In these tests, the tail of the aircraft is deliberately dragged along the ground to establish the lowest speed at which the aircraft will climb away.

Airbus Military has issued dramatic videos from the A400M’s recent flight-test activity, including preliminary velocity unstick (Vmu) take-off trials and preparations for unpaved runway operations.

The Vmu tests were carried out last month by A400M MSN2 at Istres air base in France and involved take-offs with the tail being deliberately dragged along the ground (with a tail bumper limiting the angle of rotation to 10 degrees) until the aircraft lifted off the runway. This determines the lowest speed at which the aircraft will fly off to help calibrate speeds for the A400M’s airplane flight manual. Further tests are planned with a smaller tail bumper that will allow a slightly higher angle of rotation – to 11.5 or 12 degrees – to determine final Vmu figures.



The unprepared runway trials were undertaken at Francazal near Toulouse, where chalk was laid along the runway to validate the protection kit that will be installed for rough strip operations. This is one of the military-specific tests so far carried out by the A400M flight-test team, and involved the aircraft running through the chalk to confirm that the debris spray pattern was compatible with the kit’s design.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’re ready now to go and do tests on unprepared runways,” says Airbus senior vice president flight and integration test Fernando Alonso.

These will be undertaken in the Spring of next year at calibrated strips somewhere in Europe. “These could be in the UK, Germany or Spain – we’re still discussing which facilities will be used,” says A400M experimental test pilot Ignacio Lombo.

A less spectacular trial in Francazal was the evaluation of ground loads, which involved taxiing the aircraft over calibrated planks on the runway at different speeds. These trials in August were part of the test campaign to validate the A400M’s flight and ground structural loads models for the design office, says Alonso. “The purpose of expediting these tests was to clear the structure for the first production aircraft, MSN7.”


awthingswithwings | October 27, 2010
These trials at Francazal, near Toulouse, in August were to validate the A400M's ground structural loads models.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:28/10/10

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M close to first air drop, refuelling tests, says Airbus

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military is poised to perform its first air-drop assessments with the A400M transport, while long-running contract negotiations with its seven European customers appear to also be making significant progress.

Development aircraft MSN1, which is undergoing artificial ice trials flying from Toulouse, will soon start air-drop tests, says Fernando Alonso, Airbus Military's senior vice-president flight and integration test centre. The process will first involve releasing balls from the transport's cargo ramp and doors, before progressing to dropping instrumented dummies and then paratroops from France and the UK.


© Airbus Military
The A400M could also drop relief supplies during future humanitarian missions

Other planned activities for the A400M for the rest of this year include braking trials at Spain's Moron air base, and completing around five outstanding flutter test flights. "We have done sufficient [tests] to be confident that our predictions are good," Alonso says, with these having already been completed at up to Mach 0.7.

Further work with a tail bumper installed will also prove the A400M's expected maximum take-off angle of around 12°, with 10° having already been demonstrated.

MSN1 is also to be deployed to the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton air base in the UK for up to 10 days to undergo receiver trials behind a Vickers VC10. To involve only dry contacts, the work will de-risk further work to be done using MSN4 next year.


© Airbus Military

Alonso says the priorities for early 2011 are to conduct natural icing trials and make the first series of landings on unprepared runways (artist's impression, above). Cold weather trials will be performed in Sweden and Canada, high-altitude operating tests made in La Paz, Bolivia, and hot weather activities conducted in Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates.

The A400M programme's current three test assets had flown a combined 200 sorties and 672 flight hours by 25 October, with Alonso revealing that the latter is around 100h fewer than planned.

One factor in this shortfall was the need to replace two Europrop International TP400-D6 engines during September: one from each of the programme's Toulouse-based aircraft. One suffered foreign object damage, while the other had an actuator failure due to pollution in its oil system. "EPI was very reactive in isolating the root cause of the problem and fixing it," Alonso says, but each change took two to three weeks to complete.


© Airbus Military
Two replacement TP400 engines had to be delivered to Toulouse from Seville

Nonetheless, he says no major problems have been encountered to date, and Airbus expects to complete certification activities late next year.

Aircraft MSN4 is on track to make its flight debut before year-end, having recently been moved from the final assembly line at San Pablo airport near Seville to receive its hydraulics fluid and fuel. The first structure for programme's remaining development aircraft, MSN6, has also arrived at the site, with the centre wingbox to be followed within the next few weeks by its wings.

Airbus expects to sign a new production contract with Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK before the end of the year. Germany is understood to have agreed to trim its purchase from 60 A400Ms to 53, which when combined with the UK's planned removal of three transports will reduce the European order to 170 aircraft.

[JimWH]

Just in terms of thinking about the RAF's future OOB, I wonder what thought (if any) has been giving to 'Spartanising' the A400M? On current plans the RAF will be getting rid of it's C-130J in 2022*, which is fine in so far as strategic lift goes (7 C-17, 9/14 A330 MRTT, 22 A400M) but does mean that the smallest aircraft the RAF will have for tactical lift is the A400M, which is bloody huge.
Given that in the next couple of years the major sub0systems of the A400M should finally resolve their outstanding issues (particularly the power plant) this should mean that a rapid development of a two engine 'heavy tactical air lifter' should present too great a challenge to the industrial team which cut their teeth on the A400M. It would, of course, be competing for market share against a few other aircraft, but would have the advantage of the 'matched-pair' combination with what by then will be a well established strategic air lifter.
Does the idea have any legs?

*Which in reality means that if in the second half of this decade the fleet is still demonstrated to be necessary they can be kept on.

[buglerbilly]

Possibly but also possibly as an Unmanned Lifter...........?!!! :eek3

[buglerbilly]

A400M Faces Tight Schedule For Certification

Oct 29, 2010

By Max Kingsley-Jones kingsley.jones@aviationweek.com
SEVILLE, Spain



The fourth Airbus Military A400M Grizzly is expected to join the flight-test program before the end of the year as the manufacturer faces an intense flying program in 2011 to keep certification on schedule.

Three of the five development A400Ms are currently flying, and have accumulated 672 hr. of the 2,700 hr. planned for the civil certification program. The fourth should be airborne before the end of the year, says Fernando Alonso, Airbus senior vice president for flight and integration testing.

An unusually severe winter in Seville that disrupted early flying, combined with the loss of two aircraft for much of September for engine changes, has made the test schedule tight but achievable, Alonso says. “We’re not far behind in the flight-test schedule and to date we’ve not found any problem we did not know how to handle. I’m very confident we can [certify] the aircraft at the end of next year as scheduled.”

This will be followed by the military certification effort, with the first customer delivery planned at the end of 2012. Final military approval should follow a year later.

One engine change was the result of foreign object damage and the other was due to an actuator failure. Alonso says that powerplant supplier Europrop International has traced the root cause of the latter to pollution in the hydraulic oil system. He adds that certification testing on the engines has not been completed but “they’re not far away.”

A problem experienced with nacelle cooling on the ground has been fixed by adding vortex generators to the exhaust to prevent hot gases from re-entering the nacelle.

Before the end of the year Airbus will start the paratroop-dropping campaign and aims to fly the first dry air-to-air refueling contacts from RAF Brize Norton in the U.K. with Vickers VC10 tankers.

Recent test milestones include preliminary minimum control speed and velocity minimum unstick (VMU) takeoff trials. Alonso says that the initial VMU trials had a tail skid limiting the angle of rotation to 10 deg., but further tests are planned with a smaller bumper that will allow a slightly higher angle of rotation — to 11.5 or 12 deg. — to determine final VMU figures.

“Because this aircraft has no slats, we did this preliminary test to be sure that there were no anomalies and that the ground effect and co-efficient of lift were as planned,” he says.

The flutter test program has not been completed, with some flights having been postponed while more urgent artificial icing tests were flown to clear the aircraft for natural icing tests in the spring.

Although the aerodynamic configuration has been frozen, Alonso says that tests with increased airbrake deflection values at higher speeds to improve descent capability will be carried out once the loads are cleared.

Initial unprepared runway trials were undertaken at Francazal near Toulouse in July, using chalk to evaluate the A400M’s unpaved runway protection kit. “We’re ready now to go and do tests on unprepared runways,” Alonso says.

These will be undertaken in the spring of next year at calibrated strips, either in the U.K., Germany or Spain.

Ground loads also were evaluated at Francazal in August as part of the test campaign to validate the A400M’s flight and ground structural loads models and clear the structure for the first production aircraft, MSN7.

Airbus is about to start final assembly of MSN6, the final flight-test development aircraft (there will be no MSN5), which will be the first to have a full interior. Due to fly in 2011, it also will be the first fitted with the full production standard TP400s incorporating the actuator fix and will be used to gather specific fuel consumption and cruise performance data, Alonso says.

Cold weather trials will be flown this winter, either in Iqualit, Canada or Sweden. Plans call for flying the hot-and-high campaign in El Ain, Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates and La Paz, Bolivia. These tests are scheduled for spring 2011 when the final FADEC (full authority digital engine control) software and engine modifications are available.

Civil certification also requires Airbus to demonstrate 300 hr. of operations in “a representative environment”, Alonso says. This will take place in the autumn of next year using MSN6 on troop transport, freight and cargo-drop missions.

[buglerbilly]

Bailout for Aerospace Company Due to Unforeseen Development Costs

(Source: Creamer Media Reporter; issued October 28, 2010)

The R181.3-million extra appropriation for predominantly State-owned aerospace company Denel Saab Aerostructures (DSA) revealed on Wednesday in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement relates to contracts the company has with Airbus Military regarding the A400M transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft.

“DSA has contracts for large composite airframe structures for the A400M. It is a complex project. We have met the technical requirements but the cost exceeded expectations,” explained company CEO Ismail Dockrat to Engineering News Online on Thursday.

DSA is a partner in the A400M programme and is responsible for two major work packages.

One of these is for the top shells for the centre fuselage section, which can be thought of as being equivalent to roof panels. The company is producing two top shells for each aircraft – one in front and one behind of the wing box, which joins the wing to the fuselage.

The other work package is for the wing/fuselage fairings, manufactured mainly from composite materials but including aluminium parts. Each such fairing is 15 m long, 7 m wide, and nearly 3 m high.

Clearly, both the centre fuselage top sections and the wing/fuselage fairings are large and important components, without which the aircraft cannot fly.

These work packages do not merely involve manufacturing parts of the aircraft that had been designed elsewhere – to the contrary, they required the detailed design, development and engineering of the components (and of the tooling needed to make these components) by the South African company, as well as their subsequent manufacture.

“The excess costs for the development work on the wing/fuselage fairings and the fuselage top shells had to be covered by our main shareholder – the government,” said Dockrat. “We made a submission to the Treasury on the shortfall.”

DSA is 80%-owned by State-owned defence industrial group Denel, with the other 20% being in the hands of Swedish aerospace group Saab.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

A400M Will Fly VC10 Trials From Toulouse

Nov 2, 2010

By Max Kingsley-Jones kingsley.jones@aviationweek.com
LONDON

Airbus Military has clarified its plans for the A400M’s first dry contact refueling flight-tests, which are due to take place before the end of the year.

The trials will be undertaken with a U.K. Royal Air Force Vickers VC10 tanker, but it will not be operated from the RAF Brize Norton airbase in the U.K., as Airbus previously indicated. The RAF will instead position the aircraft at Toulouse for the trials, according to Airbus.

For the refueling tests, the Cobham-supplied, wing-mounted pods will be installed on A400M MSN1. The A400M will fly a series of dry contact sorties behind the VC10 tanker to help Airbus define the fly-by-wire flight control laws for refueling operations.

[buglerbilly]

Airbus To Ramp Up A400M Test Effort

Nov 4, 2010

By Max Kingsley-Jones, Jens Flottau
Seville, Spain, Frankfurt

Airbus Military remains confident that the A400M *Grizzly’s civil certification program will be completed by the end of next year as engineers recover from several problems that caused testing to slip slightly.

There is also progress on the contractual front, with German government sources indicating that the country will only take 53 of the 60 military transports originally on order. In addition, French avionics specialist Thales will have to cover possible additional expenses for flight management system (FMS) changes, the sources say.

The three A400Ms currently flying have accumulated 672 of the 2,700 hr. planned for the civil certification program. The fourth of five development aircraft recently rolled out of the assembly plant in Seville and should be airborne before year-end, says Fernando Alonso, Airbus senior vice president for flight and integration test.

The first A400M had its maiden flight from Seville in December 2009, but the unusually severe winter meant there was a slow start to the test program. Another disruption occurred when two aircraft were grounded in September for an engine change, one as a result of foreign object damage and the other due to an actuator failure.

“We’re not far behind in the flight-test schedule, and to date we’ve not found any problem we did not know how to handle,” says Alonso. “I’m very confident we can certificate the aircraft at the end of next year as scheduled.”

This will be followed by a period focused on the military certification effort, with the first customer delivery slated for the end of 2012. Final military approval should follow a year later.

Alonso says powerplant supplier Europrop International (EPI) has traced the root cause of the actuator failure suffered by one of the TP400s to pollution in the hydraulic oil system. “EPI was very reactive in finding the cause of the problem, isolating it and fixing it,” he says. “Otherwise we’re progressing quite well with the engines.”

A problem experienced with nacelle cooling on the ground has been fixed by adding vortex generators to the exhaust to prevent hot gases re-entering the nacelle.

Before year-end, Airbus will start the paratroop-dropping campaign and aims to fly the first dry air-to-air refueling contacts. For the refueling tests, the Cobham-supplied, wing-mounted pods will be installed on MSN1. Based at RAF Brize Norton in the U.K., the A400M will fly a series of dry-contact sorties behind RAF Vickers VC10 tankers, says Alonso. These tests will help Airbus define the fly-by-wire flight control law for refueling operations.

MSN3 has already been prepared for the paratroop drops with the installation of cameras to monitor trajectories. Tests will be made from the loading ramp and the aft paratroop doors. “We’ll go progressively, starting off using balls, then dummies, and finally releasing test paratroopers from France and the U.K.”

Recent milestones include preliminary minimum control speed and velocity minimum unstick (Vmu) takeoff trials. The latter were flown last month by MSN2 at Istres air base in France and involved takeoffs with the tail deliberately dragged along the ground until the aircraft lifted off the runway. This determines the minimum speed at which the aircraft will fly to help calibrate speeds for the A400M’s flight manual.

Alonso says the initial trials had a tail skid limiting the angle of rotation to 10 deg., but further tests are planned with a smaller bumper that will allow a slightly higher angle of rotation—to 11.5 or 12 deg.—to determine final Vmu figures. “Because this aircraft has no slats, we did this preliminary test to be sure that there were no anomalies and that the ground effect and coefficient of lift were as planned,” he says.

The flutter-test program has not been completed, with flights up to Vd (design speed) and Mach 0.7. However, testing beyond this value to the design Mach has been postponed while the more urgent artificial icing tests were flown to clear the aircraft for natural icing tests in the spring.

Although the aerodynamic configuration has been frozen, Alonso says tests with increased airbrake deflection values at higher speeds to improve descent capability will be carried out once the loads are cleared.

In July, initial unprepared runway trials were undertaken at Francazal near Toulouse, using chalk to evaluate the A400M’s unpaved-runway-protection kit.

“We’re ready now to go and do tests on unprepared runways,” says Alonso.

These will be undertaken next spring at calibrated unprepared runways in the U.K., Germany or Spain.

Ground loads were also evaluated at Francazal where the aircraft was taxied over calibrated planks on the runway at different speeds. These trials in August were part of the test campaign to validate the A400M’s flight and ground structural loads models for the design office, says Alonso. “The purpose of expediting these tests was to clear the structure for the first production aircraft, MSN7.”

Airbus is about to start final assembly of the fifth and final flight-test development aircraft MSN6 (there will be no MSN5) in Seville. This aircraft, which will be the first to have a full interior, is due to fly in 2011. It will also be the first aircraft fitted with the full production standard TP400s incorporating the actuator fix and will be used to gather specific fuel consumption and cruise performance data, says Alonso.

In early 2011 the final certification phase will begin, and the authorities will be involved in a large proportion of the tests. “I hope by spring we’ll have a complete package of certification-standard equipment,” says Alonso.

The cold-weather trials will be undertaken this winter in Canada or Sweden. The hot-and-high campaign will be conducted in El Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and La Paz, Bolivia, respectively. These tests are scheduled for next spring when the final Fadec (full-authority digital engine control) software and engine modifications are available.

Civil certification also requires Airbus to demonstrate 300 hr. of operations in “a representative environment,” says Alonso. This will take place in the autumn of 2011 using MSN6 on trooping, freighting and cargo-drop missions.

Meanwhile, indications that Germany will cut its A400M acquisition by seven aircraft means that with the three the U.K. is removing from its order, customers have now reduced the maximum number of A400Ms from the original commitment for 180 units that was negotiated as part of a general settlement reached in March.

Negotiations between industry partners are still ongoing. Thales declined to comment on German government information that it had agreed to cover any potential future FMS cost overruns. Also, Airbus Military and EPI still appear some way off an agreement on their respective claims.

EPI is understood to have demanded a €450-million ($621-million) payment, basically to cover expenses already made and that have not been settled by Airbus Military. Egon Behle, CEO of EPI partner MTU Aero Engines, will only confirm that talks are progressing.

Regarding the contract renegotiations, German Defense State Secretary Thomas Kossendey writes in a statement obtained by Aviation Week that implementation of the Mar. 31 heads-of-terms deal with the A400M nations turned out to be more challenging than expected. But it concludes that significant progress has been made “and that 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 between the nations, the Occar arms procurement agency and Airbus Military. EADS says it remains confident a deal can be reached before year-end.

For the preliminary Vmu takeoff trials, the A400M was fitted with a tail skid that limited its rotation angle to 10 deg.

[buglerbilly]

A400M talks eyed as bailout draws close

By Tim Hepher and Elisabeth Pineau

PARIS | Thu Nov 4, 2010 11:19am EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - European buyers of Airbus's (EAD.PA) A400M are to meet in Toulouse on Friday, a French government source said on Thursday, as a long-awaited funding deal to rescue the troubled military transport takes shape.

Seven European countries provisionally agreed in March to pump in 3.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion) to prevent Europe's largest defense program collapsing with the loss of 10,000 jobs after delays and cost overruns at EADS subsidiary Airbus and its suppliers.

Talks to finalize the deal, which could affect how quickly Airbus returns to profit after the delays blew a hole in its 2009 accounts, have taken longer than expected as Britain and Germany grapple with major defense cuts.

Several sources familiar with the negotiations said a deal was close and that the major points of the plan to bail out just under half of Airbus parent EADS's projected losses on the plane had been agreed subject to a handful of technical points.

France has invited the six other core A400M nations -- Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain and Turkey -- to talks at the planemaker's headquarters city of Toulouse in an effort to refresh the political momentum for a final deal.

"There will be a meeting in Toulouse tomorrow, which (French Defense Minister) Herve Morin will attend in view of the importance he has attached to every stage of the negotiations," the French government source said.

Companies involved in the project declined comment.

If the event goes ahead as planned, the meeting will be followed by a 1400 GMT news conference, the source said, adding it was too early to say if a final deal on the entire funding plan would be ready by then. Some ministers may not attend.

Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said in July Airbus should return to profit in 2010 assuming it reached a final deal with European nations over the rescue package.

The EADS unit posted a 1.32 billion-euro loss in 2009 after writing off 1.8 billion in addition to earlier A400M provisions.

Talks have also been slowed by elections in Britain earlier this year. French media say Morin could meanwhile be moved in a reshuffle by conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy this month.

RISK-SHARING HURDLE

The A400M was ordered in 2003 to meet a looming shortfall in military and humanitarian airlift.

By reducing dependence on U.S. makers Boeing Co (BA.N) and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), the 20-billion-euro project was conceived as a pillar of European defense ambitions.

But delays in making the West's largest turbo-prop engines put the A400M back four years to 2013 and sent costs out of control. Buyers say it is urgently needed in Afghanistan.

Two sources close to the discussions said partners had agreed the main points of a proposed funding deal including the number of orders, which should be cut to 170 planes from 180.

Britain has said it will cut its order to 22 planes from 25 and Germany is expected to take 53 planes instead of 60.

The single biggest obstacle left to an accord concerns a battle over who should be responsible for financial risk if an ambitious terrain-following navigation system ordered by Germany for its A400M fleet is not ready on time, several sources said.

The system would allow the transporters and their 37 tonnes of troops or heavy equipment to hug the landscape at low level to evade attack but depends on an elusive leap in technology.

French arms company Thales (TCFP.PA) is at the center of those discussions along with its role in producing the plane's flight management system which is over-budget, the sources said. A Thales sopokesman did not have immediate comment on the talks.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:05/11/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

Airbus welcomes European agreement on A400M

By Craig Hoyle

EADS and Airbus have reported significant progress in their contractual discussions with the seven European buyers for their Airbus Military A400M transport, after a fresh round of talks in France.

“The agreement, finalised today in Toulouse in the presence of the French defence minister Hervé Morin, the national armament directors and other representatives from all customer nations, is the long awaited further detailing of the principle agreement reached in March 2010,” Airbus says.

The discussions also involved Europe’s OCCAR procurement agency, which is responsible for the contract to produce an expected 170 A400Ms for Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK.


© Airbus Military

Airbus says that “while the overall economics of the March agreement remain unchanged, the government payments are now more back-loaded than previously expected”.

The earlier agreement outlined a €2 billion ($2.8 billion) increase in the A400M’s previous €20 billion programme value for the development and production of 180 aircraft, plus provisions for the member nations to invest a further $1.5 billion. The latter sum will be provided under a so-called export levy facility intended to support future international sales efforts. Airbus says a final agreement on the new contract should be reached before the end of this year.

“The A400M flight test programme is making excellent progress and demonstrates the soundness of the product,” says Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña. The company expects to be in a position to launch series production of the type in late 2010, he adds.

[Marc 1]

The single biggest obstacle left to an accord concerns a battle over who should be responsible for financial risk if an ambitious terrain-following navigation system ordered by Germany for its A400M fleet is not ready on time, several sources said.

The system would allow the transporters and their 37 tonnes of troops or heavy equipment to hug the landscape at low level to evade attack but depends on an elusive leap in technology.

Presumably not radar based given that TFR has been around since the 1960's(?). Is it GPS and terrain mapping based or is this some form of optical system?

[Deks]

Good question. I'd have to imagine that TFR would be something that might be potentially detected by an adversary. I suppose some kind of laser/optical system would make the most sense, as otherwise you'd have to have complete faith in the accuracy of your map data - not something that's guaranteed.

[buglerbilly]

Airbus Military A400M drops paratroopers for the first time

08-11-10

The Airbus Military A400M military airlifter has dropped paratroopers for the first time in a successful demonstration of one of its key roles.



Six freefall paratroopers made jumps from aircraft Grizzly Three in separate passes from 6,000ft at the th Fonsorbes drop zone near Toulouse on 4 November.

The paratroopers, two each from the UK armed forces, French armed forces, and the French Centre d'Essais en Vol reported that the aircraft was easier to jump from than other transports. Four of them jumped from the left-hand side door, and two from the ramp.

In an earlier flight water-filled balloons were first dropped from the aircraft and, following the paratroopers, specially instrumented mannequins were dropped using static lines. Further trials are planned for 2011.

The British and French military provided the personnel, with two exiting via the ramp and the rest via the left-hand side door. The side door has a device that deploys when the door opens to improve air flow and make it easier for the jumpers to leave the aircraft.

Airbus Military notes that the trials were proceeded by dropping water-filled balloons.

The tests also involved deploying instrumented mannequins using static lines; static line deployment is generally more interesting from a development test perspective, because, on other programs, that is where there have been surprises in terms of air flow.

Airbus says more trials are planned next year.

[buglerbilly]

The Countries Participating In the A-400 Program Agree to Pursue the Project

(Source: Spanish Government; issued Nov. 5, 2010)

(Issued in Spanish only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)

The seven countries participating in the A400 program (Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey) have, today in the French city of Toulouse, approved a draft amendment to the project’s original contract, which ensures the continued viability of the project and sets new contract terms.

After several months of negotiations between member states and Airbus Military Company, responsible for the development and manufacture of the aircraft, the draft amendment represents a significant effort by the nations to support the program, and includes the acceptance of a new schedule and technical adjustments to ensure delivery of the aircraft.

In this respect the amendment, which must now be ratified by each country, allows an increase in price and introduces a credible mechanism to ensure delivery of the aircraft in successive phases.

[Spanish] State Secretary for Defence Constantino Mendez, emphasized the commitment made by countries participating in the project, and stressed that it is now time for Airbus to fulfill its commitment to the nations.

In this regard, Mendez said that today has taken a step forward in the program A-400, which in Spain means a considerable increase of our military air transport capacity, thus increasing autonomy.

"This way, our troops can travel faster, in less time and better equipped to wherever the government will decide to deploy them.”

Airbus Military, which responsible for developing and manufacturing the aircraft, is part of the international EADS consortium. It is based in Spain and its chief executive is Spanish.

For this reason, the Secretary of State said, this agreement also reaffirms the trust of our European partners in Spanish industry.

(ends)

A400M: “The Renegotiated Contract and Its Financing Have Been Finalized,” Says Hervé Morin

(Source: French Ministry of Defence; issued Nov. 5, 2010)

(Issued in French only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)

Speaking from the EADS facility in Toulouse, Minister of Defence Hervé Morin has just announced that the renegotiated contract on the financing of the A400M has been finalized.”

“I can announce some very, very good news: the conclusion of the agreement o the A400M,” French Defense Minister Hervé Morin said in Toulouse, during a press conference on the A400M program. “The contract has been finalized by the seven participating countries and Airbus Military….and will now go through the ratification process in the seven countries,” he said, adding that “November 5 is a great day for Europe’s defense industry.”

The conclusion of this agreement follows the negotiations among the seven countries on how to share the additional costs caused by the program’s delays. The seven countries participating in the program are Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The program is managed by the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’ARmement (OCCAR).

Since December 2009, three A400M aircraft have been participating in the program’s flight-tests.

(ends)

EADS and Airbus Welcome A400M Agreement with Customer Nations

(Source: EADS; issued Nov. 5, 2010)

EADS and Airbus welcome the conclusion of negotiations with OCCAR and the seven A400M launch customer nations. The agreement, finalised today in Toulouse in the presence of the French Defence Minister Hervé Morin, the national armament directors and other representatives from all customer nations, is the long awaited further detailing of the principle agreement reached in March 2010.

While the overall economics of the March agreement remain unchanged, the government payments are now more back-loaded than previously expected. Negotiations on the export levy facility (ELF) scheme are expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

“The A400M flight test programme is making excellent progress and demonstrates the soundness of the product. We are very proud of the achievements so far and are now moving towards the series production by the end of the year”, said Domingo Ureña, Managing Director of Airbus Military.

BACKGROUND NOTES:

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, while being also able to be used as a tanker plane.

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 the job of three of today’s different aircraft models in a single one. This means smaller fleets and less investment from the operator.

Able to do more with less, the A400M is the most cost efficient and versatile airlifter ever conceived and absolutely unique in its capabilities. The A400M launch customer nations include Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Morin added that the first French aircraft will be delivered in 2013, and seven more in 2014. In total, France will buy 50 aircraft at a cost of 8.4 billion euros, “much less than an off-the-shelf purchase” of existing aircraft unable to fly the same missions,” he added.

The seven countries have agreed to pay an additional 3.5 billion euros, and to waive all penalties for late delivery; unit price will increase by 11 million euros. EADS will take a 1.8 billion euro charge in its 2009 accounts.

Germany will cut its original order for 60 A400Ms by converting seven of the planes originally ordered into options, Reuters reported Nov. 5 quoting a defense ministry spokesman. It has also decided to drop its requirement for a low-altitude assisted flight capability, leading to savings of 670 million euros in its share of program costs.

The UK will only take 22 aircraft instead of the 25 originally planned, the British government announced as part of its defense review released Oct. 20.)
-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Airbus A400M Not Fully Ready Till 2018, FT Deutschland Says

By Chris Malpass - Nov 11, 2010 1:18 PM GMT+0800

The A400M military transport plane being developed by Airbus SAS won’t be available in a fully operational version before 2018, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing documents for the defense committee of the German parliament.

A basic version of the plane will be ready from June 2012 and France, the first country to get the plane, expects delivery to begin in 2013, the newspaper said. Germany will start to take delivery of the first 40 of its 53 planes in November 2014, FTD said.

Planes delivered in the basic version will be upgraded at Airbus’s expense, FTD said. Because first deliveries will be of a basic version, customers will get a rebate of between 2 percent and 16 percent, the newspaper said.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Malpass at cmalpass@bloomberg.net
.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Airbus Boss Fulfills an A400M Wish

Posted by Robert Wall at 11/14/2010 8:07 AM CST

Given the past few days, it is perhaps hardly surprising that Airbus CEO Tom Enders is ready to jump out of an airplane.

After all, his flagship product -- the A380 -- has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons following the failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on Qantas QF32; the company has had to issue a warning about a potential of an electrical that causes display failures as well as uncommanded rudder trim movement and control difficulties on its mainstay A320 family; and, on November 12, the aircraft maker had to concede its newest program, the A350XWB would be late.

So where does Enders turn for some relief? Surprisingly, the A400M, which has long been a headache for the company. But with an agreement with governments largely in hand on how to structure the program going forward (some details remain to be ironed out), the A400M right now is perhaps less of a headache than some other projects.

And, on top of that, Enders has now been able to fulfill a long-held wish, which is to complete a parachute jump out of the A400M airlifter.It is something the Airbus CEO really wanted to get done this year, but some of his own staff actually thought achieving that contractually unimportant but for Enders personally important milestone this year was unlikely.


(Photo: Airbus)

Enders, in the picture above, is joined by nine others, was joined by the Bruno Delannoy, A400M program manager at OCCAR, the European agency nominally managing the program. Both have quite a number of jumps to their name.

The event took place near Seville, Spain, at the La Juliana drop-zone. Seville is the final assembly site for the A400M and one of two flight test centers for the program. The jump took place using MSN3, Airbus says.

[buglerbilly]

Airbus A400M engines close to certification -source

ZHUHAI, China | Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:29pm EST

ZHUHAI, China Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Airbus A400M military plane could receive safety certification for its vast turbo-prop engines within weeks after coping successfully with simulated bird strikes, a source familiar with the project said.

An ingestion test involved shooting medium-sized dead birds at the plane's TP400 propeller engines to ensure they could deal with the hazard in flight. The test was passed this week.

"It was the last physical test we had left to do," the source said, asking not to be named. "Now there are no more technical tests left before certification. It is just a matter of paperwork."

The test was carried out by Belgian company, Techspace Aero.

The A400M has been plagued by problems in developing the largest turbo-prop engines ever designed in the West.

Certification is an important milestone before the new European troop plane can enter service. European nations last week finalised a funding deal pointing to first delivery in 2013. The aircraft itself has not yet been certified.

The source said the certification process for the engines would be completed in a matter of weeks, "hopefuly this year".

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Nick Macfie)

(+331 4949 5452 paris.equities@reuters.com)

[buglerbilly]

A400M to Turn Profit in Long Term: EADS CFO in Paper

November 27, 2010

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - EADS is confident it can sell up to 500 of its Airbus A400M military transporters and that the project will be profitable, the aircraft maker's finance chief told a German newspaper.

"We see a broad global market of 400 to 500 aircraft with good chances for this aircraft to turn profits in the long term," CFO Hans-Peter Ring was quoted as saying on Saturday in an advance copy of an interview to be published in Sunday paper Euro am Sonntag.

European buyer nations reached a final agreement on November 5 on a 3.5 billion euro ($4.64 billion) bailout to rescue the troubled Airbus A400M project.

Ring also told the Sunday paper that EADS would take care to avoid overburdening itself again, as it did when it pursued the A400M, A380 and A350 projects simultaneously.

"We are drawing consequences, for example for the upgrade of our A320 models," Ring said.

The company would make sure that the upgrade does not hamper other projects, he added.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Copyright 2010 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:17/12/10

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

Fourth A400M nears debut, as type approaches 1,000 flight hours

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military should celebrate two further milestones in its A400M programme before the end of this month.

The company recently passed the first anniversary of the start of its flight test campaign involving the European transport. Aircraft MSN1 made its debut sortie from San Pablo airport near Seville, Spain on 11 December 2009.

Operating from San Pablo and Toulouse, France, the company’s now three available aircraft had logged 292 flights and a combined 965h aloft during the programme’s first year of flight activity. Some 200h of this total has been added since early November.


© Airbus Military

Airbus Military expects its fleet to break through the 1,000 flight hour mark before year-end, with the aircraft likely to be joined next week by MSN4, its fourth of an eventual five development aircraft. The last aircraft should fly during 2011.

Rejected take-off trials with MSN4 were due to take place on 16 December, with the process the last to be conducted ahead of its first flight event.

Production deliveries of 170 A400Ms on order for Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK should commence around early 2013, with four also to be delivered to export buyer Malaysia.

[buglerbilly]

Fourth Airbus Military A400M makes first flight

December 20, 2010

The fourth Airbus Military A400M military airlifter has made its first flight - the culmination of a highly successful 2010 which also saw the fleet of Grizzly development aircraft complete just over 1,000 hours flight-time and 300 flights.
Known as Grizzly 4, the aircraft took off from Seville, Spain with a weight of 130 tonnes at 10h18 local time (GMT+1) and landed five hours and ten minutes later.

Experimental Test Pilot Klaus-Dietrich Flade captained the flight, supported by Experimental Test Pilot Christophe Cail. The crew also included Test Flight Engineers José Aragón-Gómez and, Bruno Bigand, and Flight Test Engineers José Casado-Corpas, and Catherine Schneider. Catherine is the first female Flight Test Engineer and test crew member to participate in an A400M first flight.

Grizzly 4 is the fourth of an eventual five aircraft which will conduct the 3,700 hour flight-test programme leading to first delivery in around two years time. It will be primarily dedicated to cargo and air-to-air refuelling operations and carries a medium flight-test instrumentation load.

Airbus Head of Flight Operations Fernando Alonso said: "The on-time first flight of Grizzly 4 highlights what has been an excellent first year of the flight-test programme. We end 2010 fully on schedule and with every expectation of rapidly building flight-hours and hitting our key test objectives in the year ahead. I am particularly proud of the seamless work done by the Airbus and Airbus Military teams in the Seville and Toulouse Flight Test Centres which has been instrumental in this achievement."

The maiden flight of Grizzly 4 followed the completion of a series of milestones in recent months - notably the first paratrooper jumps from the aircraft, which were highly successful and demonstrated the excellent potential of the aircraft for this military operation. Flights with the ramp and doors open have proceeded smoothly.

An extensive programme of flying the aircraft with simulated icing shapes attached to the wings and tail has been completed. These flights were performed by Airbus and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) flight crews and represent the first set of certification tests completed on the A400M.

Preliminary tests of protective kits for rough-field operations have been completed in preparation for next year´s trials.

Flight and ground load testing is complete, as is measurement of cruise performance. All major aircraft systems have been tested and flutter tests throughout the flight envelope are extremely close to completion.

The Europrop International (EPI) TP400 engines have been performing well, with the in-flight relight capability having been successfully demonstrated and ground starts following an overnight cold-soak recently performed. Behaviour of the auxiliary power unit has been excellent, and it has been started as high as 40,000ft.

Following the A400M's maiden flight on 11the December 2009, earlier this year Grizzly 2 and Grizzly 3 made their first flights in respectively April and July and their introduction into the fleet made possible the outstanding demonstrations of the A400M´s handling qualities at the Berlin and Farnborough airshows.

Source: Airbus Military

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M Gets Going

Posted by Robert Wall at 1/12/2011 7:09 AM CST

Today is a big day for Airbus Military, the aircraft maker is starting serial production of the A400M airlifter, says EADS CEO Louis Gallois.

Four of the aircraft are flying already, but what is now going into the build process are aircraft for customer deliveries.

There's more important activity ahead for the program in the coming weeks. A German parliamentary committee is due to review the program on January 19. Once that has happened, EADS hopes a new contract -- negotiated last year to deal with cost and schedule overruns -- will be finalized.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is at Airbus tomorrow -- to give a speech on his country's economic plan -- and Gallois says may get viewing of the A400M (France is slated to be the first operator of the aircraft).

Despite the turmoil the program has gone through, Gallois says there is export interest in the product. However, the priority is now getting aircraft into the hands of customers, so no sales teams are formed, yet, to pursue those markets. Nevertheless, he sees market potential for the A400M of 400-500 airlifters.

[buglerbilly]

German Lawmakers May Defer A400M Decision, Handelsblatt Reports

(Source: Bloomberg; published Jan. 17, 2010)

German lawmakers may defer a decision on funding European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co.’s A400M military-transport plan as they seek more answers about financial-risk estimates, Handelsblatt newspaper reported.

Legislators on the budget committee in Germany’s lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, have sent a list of queries to the Defense Ministry after officials speculated that the 500 million-euro ($663 million) risk estimate tied to the A400M’s funding is too low, the newspaper said.

Free Democratic lawmaker Juergen Koppelin removed the item from the budget committee’s schedule, Handelsblatt said. The committee was due to vote on the funding this week.

Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc have also raised questions about the estimate, the newspaper said.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Major Fatigue Testing of Airbus Military A400M Begins in Dresden

(Source: Airbus Military; issued Jan. 18, 2010)

Major fatigue testing of the Airbus Military A400M has begun on schedule in Dresden in January. The test airframe, known as MSN5001, will be subjected to a punishing regime of loads, 24 hours per day, for an initial four weeks, eventually simulating 160 flights per day.

The first 1,665 simulated flights are required for European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certification of the A400M, but over the next 18 months a total of 25,000 simulated flights will be performed – equating to 2.5 times the A400M´s design-life.

Static testing of another A400M test airframe, MSN5000 was completed in Madrid in September 2010. That airframe continues to be used for further fatigue tests of composite structures which will last until early 2012.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

DATE:18/01/11

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M on track for 2011 certification despite funding issues

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus chief executive Tom Enders says he remains confident that Airbus Military's A400M transport will gain certification by the end of the year, despite reports in the German media that the country's parliament may delay a crucial funding decision.

Responding to questions at Airbus's annual press conference about the report in the Handelsblatt newspaper suggesting that the budget committee in Germany's Bundestag has asked for more information from the defence ministry on costings, Enders says: "Rest assured we are following the approval process in Germany very closely.

"There are six governments waiting for the green light by the German parliament for the go-ahead of this agreement. Germany is the single largest customer of the A400M and I have every reason to believe this can be sorted out in the very near future."


© Airbus Military

Enders hopes that the Bundestag will approve the funding this week, unlocking €3.5 billion ($4.6 billion) from an additional six governments, which was agreed in November 2010, to pay for further development and production costs.

Enders says that the start of series production "is imminent" and that civil certification will take place before the end of the year.

[buglerbilly]

Germany May Pare A400M Acquisition

By ALBRECHT MULLER

Published: 25 Jan 2011 18:01

BONN - The German government has agreed to stay with the troubled A400M airlifter program, but its Air Force might end up with 20 planes fewer than planned.


The German government might reduce its purchase of A400M planes from 60 to 53 and might try to sell 13 of the aircraft, officials say. (FILE / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)

In November, the German purchase was reduced from 60 to 53 planes because of program cost increases. Now, say officials with the coalition government, Germany will try to sell 13 of the aircraft to foreign customers. That would leave just 40 for the Air Force.............EDITED..............

Read more: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5534626&c=EUR&s=AIR

[buglerbilly]

France May Shift Some A350 Loan Money to A400M, Tribune Says

By Andrea Rothman - Feb 3, 2011 4:57 AM GMT+0800

France may to take 450 million euros ($620 million) in financing it intended to give Airbus SAS as development funding for its A350 and use that, instead, as part of an export levy facility for the A400M, La Tribune reported, citing the head of France’s civil aviation bureau.

The French newspaper cited the head of France’s DGAC, without naming him, as saying in a colloquium that to make up for that, some of the A350 loans may now come from loans the government had planned for its aerospace industry generally.

France had earlier pledged 1.4 billion euros in aircraft development loans, the newspaper said, compared with 1.1 billion euros from Germany, 300 million euros from Spain and 340 million pounds from the U.K., though the sums haven’t been discussed publicly since. According to La Tribune, some of the promised development money has begun flowing to Airbus.

Representatives of Airbus and its parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France, at aerothman@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net; .

[buglerbilly]

A400M, KC-390 Will Reshape Transport Market

Feb 4, 2011

By Douglas Royce/Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com

The military transport market will see production of almost 900 new aircraft over the next decade, but the raw numbers obscure major changes in the landscape. Production of the Boeing C-17 could end, leaving the strategic transport market to the Airbus Military A400M, while the Lockheed Martin C-130J will face a challenge for the tactical sector from Embraer’s new KC-390.

In the absence of Congressional funding for more U.S. Air Force aircraft, Boeing has restructured C-17 production to be economic at a lower rate but cannot hope to keep the line going indefinitely on export orders. Forecast International projects the last C-17 will be delivered in 2016, leaving the A400M as the only large Western transport capable of the strategic airlift mission. The A400M program has suffered delays and appeared in danger of cancellation in 2009, but a new commitment by the major customers to complete development means the aircraft will survive.

The ultimate size of the market for the A400M is an open question. Like the C-17, the aircraft is a niche product. The U.S. Air Force developed the C-17 because it needed a large number of heavy transports capable of carrying military vehicles and outsized cargo over intercontinental distances. The aircraft has been purchased in small numbers by other nations, primarily allies of the U.S. who use the C-17 in coalition military operations or disaster relief efforts far from home.

The A400M is smaller and slower than the C-17, but is designed to carry sizeable loads long distances—larger loads over longer ranges than a C-130. European nations and a few countries outside Europe see the A400M as a way of adding strategic lift capability without the cost of acquiring and supporting aircraft as large as the C-17.

The difficulty for Airbus Military is that, while less expensive than a C-17, the A400M is still too costly for all but the most well-heeled of the world’s militaries. Big aircraft need big budgets, and much of the world is cutting defense expenditures and rationalizing or pooling strategic transport capabilities.

The current sweet spot in the transport market is favors smaller aircraft, in the space largely owned by Lockheed Martin’s C-130J. The international replacement market for older model C-130s is expected to grow in coming years, and several manufacturers are developing designs aimed at replacing the large numbers of older C-130s and aging Soviet-era Antonov An-12s expected to be retired by air arms around the world.

Brazilian manufacturer Embraer is developing the KC-390 to meet a 28-aircraft Brazilian air force requirement to replace its C-130s, but is doing so with an eye to expanding its presence in the military aircraft market. The KC-390’s interior dimensions are similar to those of a C-130J-30, but its jet engines will enable it to cruise higher and faster. Embraer and the Brazilian government formally launched the program in April 2009 with a seven-year, $1.37-billion development contract including two prototypes. Since then, Brazil has secured commitments from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Portugal and the Czech Republic to negotiate participation in development and production and place orders for the KC-390. First flight is tentatively scheduled for 2013, with deliveries to begin in 2015.

China’s Harbin, meanwhile, has been working for several years on the Y-9 design, a four-engine turboprop with modern avionics that closely matches the C-130J in size and payload. What is surprising for a country that seems intent on developing a civil airliner business is its reluctance to develop a modern military transport for countries that are largely locked out of the market for Western aircraft, either by cost or for political reasons. The Chinese government is reported to be pushing ahead instead with development of the larger, Il-76-class four-turbofan Y-20 transport. Information on the progress of both programs and on their funding is sketchy.

The joint Russian/Indian Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA), should it move ahead as planned, will replace the Indian Air Force’s fleet of twin-engine An-32s. India is the largest user of the An-32, accounting for almost half of the 200-aircraft fleet. To be jointly developed and produced by United Aircraft and Hindustan Aeronautics, the twin-turbofan MTA will be based on the Il-214 design. But it is not clear whether a large international market exists for an aircraft that essentially occupies the gap between the larger C-130 and smaller twin-turboprop transports like Alenia Aeronautica’s C‑27J and the Airbus Military CN-235/C-295 family.

Meanwhile, Kawasaki is developing the C-2, a twin-turbofan, high-wing transport to fill a long-standing Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) requirement to replace 26 aging Kawasaki C-1A transports and its C-130 fleet. The JASDF plans to acquire about 40-60 C-2s, and at this stage the aircraft remains somewhat of an open question in the airlift market. While the Japanese seem interested in getting into the market for defense-related exports to support its industry, constitutional prohibitions on weapons exports are under debate and are unlikely to be removed in the near term. It is not inconceivable for a civil variant to emerge from the C-2 program, targeted at military customers to circumvent the export ban. The C-2 aircraft is substantially larger than a C-130, however—more comparable to the A400M in size—and will face similar difficulty in lining up enough customers given the limited demand for a large transport.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:08/02/11

SOURCE:Flight International

PICTURE: A400M undergoes Swedish winter trials

By Dominic Perry

Pictured is Airbus Military's second A400M development aircraft undergoing cold weather trials earlier this month in Kiruna, northern Sweden.

The aircraft - Grizzly 2 - experienced temperatures as low as -21ºC as it underwent tests on its powerplants. It was accompanied by an Airbus A340-300 carrying support equipment and the test team.

It will experience further cold weather testing in Kiruna and at other locations this winter and next says Airbus Military.

[Unicorn]

Looks like a fat frakker in that photo, more so than in many others.

[buglerbilly]

Spain Will Quintuple Capabilities with A400M

(Source: Spanish Government Cabinet; issued Feb. 8, 2011)

(Issued in Spanish only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)

The Minister of Defence, Ms. Carme Chacón, today (Feb. 8) visited the Airbus Military facility in Seville, Spain, where the final assembly process of the first production A-400M military transport aircraft is being prepared, and said that when the aircraft enters service it will multiply by five Spanish air transport capabilities.

“Our armed forces will multiply by five their effectiveness in the accomplishment of their missions, for security projection throughput the world and for demonstrating Spaniards’ solidarity to those that most need it,” she said.

Carme Chacon, accompanied by the President of the Andalucía regional government, José Antonio Griñán; the mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirín; and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Jose Jimenez, and other officials, visited the assembly line one of these planes.

So far, four prototypes of the A-400M have already been assembled, and have logged nearly 1,100 flight hours.

In this respect, the minister stressed that the aircraft is meeting all expectations, and emphasized that "Spain acted not only to save the A-400M program, but also to encourage the development of Europe’s aerospace industry."

Chacon added that if this aircraft were available today to the Spanish armed forces, it would take half as long to transport each troop rotation to Lebanon; no stop-overs would be required for flights to Afghanistan; and from Madrid an aircraft could reach anywhere in Latin America with a single in-flight refueling, while carrying up to 32 tons of humanitarian aid in case of need.

Spain will have 27 A-400 aircraft

The first A-400M is due to be delivered to France in 2013. Subsequently another 169 aircraft will be manufactured and delivered to the seven nations participating in the program: Spain, Germany, France, UK, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Less than a decade from now, Spain will operate 27 aircraft of this new model, with which it will replace the air force’s current C-130 Hercules, and whose characteristics make it particularly well-suited for peace-keeping operations, or to ensure the urgent delivery of aid in the wake of natural disasters.

"The A-400 is the military transport aircraft plane that best fits the needs of the 21st century army," said Chacón.

Finally, the defense minister said the A-400 is an example of how to work in Europe in the field of the defense industry, with synergies between civil and military R & D, and stressed that the project has a special relevance for Spain, since it generates 1,600 highly qualified direct jobs, especially in Seville, and another 6,000 indirect jobs throughout the country.

In this regard, Carme Chacon thanked the President of the Andalusian regional government for the support it has shown for the A-400, and hoped that the final contractual agreement between the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'ARmement (OCCAR) and Airbus Military will soon be signed in Seville.

"When this happens, what is already today a military success will also become an industrial success," she said. (end of excerpt)

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Airbus Military A400M Begins Refuelling Trials with RAF VC10

(Source: Airbus Military; issued February 16, 2011)


While one test aircraft is in Sweden for cold weather trials, another A400M has begun air-to-air refuelling trials with a Royal Air Force Vickers VC-10 tanker aircraft. (Airbus Military photo)

Airbus Military has performed an initial series of air-to-air refuelling trials of the A400M airlifter using a Vickers VC10 tanker of the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) operating from Toulouse.

A400M development aircraft Grizzly 1 executed a series of dry contacts with the VC10’s fuselage-mounted hose drum unit (HDU) on the first day of the trials on 15th February.

The RAF is one of the launch customers for the A400M.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

16 February 2011: A400M Maturity Gate Milestone Achieved

(Source: OCCAR; issued February 18, 2011)

One of the most important industrial decisions on the A400M Programme was taken on 16 February 2011. The so called Maturity Gate Milestone was reviewed by an independent panel and as a result of this review the gate has now been passed.

To understand the importance of the A400M Maturity Gate milestone it is necessary to explain that the milestone served, during 2010, to predict achievement of full rate manufacturing readiness, Type Certification and Initial Operation Capability of the A400M aircraft.

A total of 99 criteria were fixed by seven key areas in the programme: Programme Management, Supply Chain, Customer Services, Quality, Industrial, Design and Commercial. Each area defined their own criteria together with measurable evidence and means of compliance. All criteria were faced and discussed under the coordination of Programme Quality.

The Maturity Gate process was reviewed at different and increasing levels within Airbus and Airbus Military during meetings in May, September and December 2010. OCCAR was always informed of the outcome of the review meetings. It was intended that the last review in December, Chaired by the Airbus COO, would be the occasion to formally pass the gate and to start activities related to the launching of production. However, a few remaining red lights meant that AMSL could not make a decision and a further review panel was planned for the beginning of 2011.

The review held last Wednesday allowed the panel to remove the remaining red lights and announce that the Maturity Gate was formally passed in February 2011, following the closure of the issues raised in December. Of course, actions plans are ongoing to maintain production on the right path, especially for MSN007, and progress will be carefully monitored by OCCAR-EA.

It should be highlighted that this process, specifically launched by the A400M programme, has been very welcomed within Airbus management and is considered a serious approach to declare a programme’s readiness for production. This approach is now considered an Airbus benchmark and has been adopted by other new Airbus programmes like A350 and Neo.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

New Head of A400M Programme appointed as industrial go-ahead reached

09-03-11

Airbus Military has given the green light to the industrial launch of the A400M airlifter and approved the start of series production.

This follows a thorough review of all aspects of the programme which demonstrated that all readiness criteria were fulfilled. This means that the first four series aircraft will be produced in 2012 and the production rate will gradually be ramped up to 2.5 aircraft per month by the end of 2015.

“The industrial launch is a very important milstone for the programme. It is also excellent news for the suppliers and workforce who depend on the programme and who can now look forward to producing the A400M in the years ahead, said Airbus Military CEO Domingo Ureña.”

Having reached this key milestone, Rafael Tentor, who has led the programme for four years, is handing over responsibility to Cédric Gautier, currently President and Chief Executive of EADS Sogerma, who will, from 1st April 2011, lead the programme to certification, delivery and entry into service of the aircraft with the launch customers.

“My most sincere thanks go to Rafael for all the work he and his team have performed over the past years. His enormous commitment and dedication have enabled the A400M to become the aircraft it is today”, commented Domingo Ureña. “Rafael has led the programme back on track, to first flight and initial Flight Test. The industrial launch means a turning point. I am convinced that, with all his engineering and above all industrial expertise, Cédric will be the best person to manage this new phase leading to type certification, series production and entry into service”.

As of 1st April, Rafael Tentor (53) is becoming Head of Airbus Military aircraft programmes, covering the Light & Medium C212, CN235 and C295, as well as the A330 MRTT and all other conversions. He will replace Javier Matallanos (61) who will be assigned special projects by the Airbus Military CEO.

Following a graduation at the Ecole Centrale in Nantes (France) in 1985, Cédric Gautier (50) began his career in the Engineering Department with Aerospatiale Espace et Défense (now part of EADS-Astrium) where he moved up to head Les Mureaux production in 1997 for Aerospatiale Matra Lanceurs. In 1999 he was named Head of EADS-Astrium Integration and Production before being appointed Head of Industrial at EADS Sogerma Services in 2006, and subsequently being promoted to president and CEO of EADS Sogerma in 2007.

To-date, Airbus Military holds 174 orders for the A400M from eight customers. Civil Certification is due by year end, with first delivery to first customer/operator, the French Air Force, by the turn of the year 2012 / early 2013.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Agreement Paves Way For Engine Accord

Mar 16, 2011

By Guy Norris



PARIS — Europrop International (EPI) and Airbus Military will reach agreement over compensation on engine-related delays with the A400M airlifter “within weeks” following progress between partner nations and management agency Occar toward a finalized, redefined program, a senior official says.

Although financial terms of the agreement have yet to be officially disclosed, the two parties are thought to be negotiating a deal that offers a compromise between the €500 million ($698 million) reportedly sought by Airbus Military from EPI, and €425 million apparently wanted from Airbus by the engine maker. Settlement over the dispute, centered on development delays and blunders related to TP400-D6 engine control software certification, has been affected by delays in redefining the overarching program, says former EPI Executive Vice President Jacques Desclaux.

“Negotiations were a little bit slowed down by the fact there was no agreement at the top level,” says Desclaux, who was appointed in January as chairman and chief executive of PowerJet, the Snecma and NPO Saturn commercial engine joint venture. Broad terms of the revised A400M program were agreed to in January between the nations and Occar (the European Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation), and “that process is close to the end,” Desclaux says, adding that “we are already working to the revised agreement.” Finalization of the financial deal with Airbus will come “within a few weeks,” he adds.

Full-authority digital engine control (Fadec) software with full functionality is now flying on two of the four development aircraft, with software and A400M civil certification planned for the end of 2011. Formal approval of the civil certification of the engine is also due “within weeks” after the submission of around 200 reports to the European Aviation Safety Agency, Desclaux says. Although originally expected as early as last September, the final path to certification has been complicated by the need to show means of compliance for a large turboprop. The process, as developed for commercial turbofans, needed adapting and was “not well tuned for turboprops.” Despite this, Desclaux says the revised process does not “change anything to the engine or its operation.”

The 11,000-shp TP400-D6 is performing well in flight tests and helping Airbus achieve a “high rate” of testing, Desclaux says. “At the aircraft level, Airbus is still confident of certification by the end of the year,” he adds. “From a fleet support perspective, we’re having very few events in terms of engine incidents.” However, Desclaux reveals that two engines have had to be removed owing to foreign object damage sustained during flight testing — one due to debris ingestion while operating on a non-prepared runway and the other due to a probable bird strike. “Nothing failed in the engine, and each time they were able to safely shut down the engine in a controlled way,” he says.

EPI, which consists of partners ITP Group, MTU Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce and Snecma, expects to begin deliveries of initial production TP400s in April 2012, with two shipsets due for delivery by the end of the year. The number will double in 2013 as Airbus slowly ramps up A400M production. Taking lessons learned from the A380, the initial rate increase will be deliberately modest to enable any changes discovered during flight tests to be incorporated early. The rate increase will be more dramatic from 2014 onward, Desclaux adds.

Photo: Airbus Military

[buglerbilly]

Airbus Military A400M Completes Low-Speed Take-Off Tests

(Source: Airbus Military; issued March 24, 2011)


An Airbus A400M raises sparks during its low-speed take-off tests. (AMC photo)

The Airbus Military A400M has completed a challenging series of tests to determine the lowest speed at which it can take-off – known as minimum unstick speed or Vmu.

During the tests, performed at Istres in France, the aircraft’s nose was raised until a special ‘bumper’ fitted to the rear fuselage struck the ground at the maximum pitch-up angle of 13 degrees.

In the close-up photo sparks can be seen flying from the bumper as it drags on the runway.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

A400M contract amendment finalised with customer nations

April 07, 2011

EADS and Airbus welcome the conclusion of contract amendment negotiations with OCCAR and the seven A400M launch customer nations. The contract amendment was signed today in Seville by Patrick Bellouard, Director of OCCAR - Executive Agency, and Airbus Military CEO Domingo Ureña, in the presence of Spanish Minister of Defence Carme Chacón. National armament directors and other representatives from customer nations also attended the ceremony.

The Contract Amendment now implements the changes which were agreed in principle by the Participating Nations with EADS and Airbus Military in the Frame Agreement signed on 5th March 2010.

"This is a major milestone, and EADS is particularly proud to have the support of all governments involved in this cooperation programme that represents a strategic capacity for Europe and its defence, and for the new generation of military transport worldwide. The A400M is a fantastic new aircraft already flying with outstanding and unrivalled capabilities", said EADS CEO Louis Gallois.

"From an industrial point of view, the programme is on track. This enabled us to agree, with full confidence on the industrial go-ahead of the programme over a month ago," said Domingo Ureña, Airbus Military CEO. "We are also very satisfied with the progress of the Flight Test programme which confirms day by day the soundness of the aircraft. Also, all the pilots of the Air Forces who have already tried and flown the aircraft, expressed great satisfaction about its agility and capabilities. We are sure that, once it gets better known, many more Air Forces around the world will be keen to have it in their fleets".

With four aircraft flying, the A400M has achieved over 1,400 test flight hours and close to 450 flights. The fifth aircraft is complete and has started the final control phase prior to a first flight in early Fall. Civil Certification is to be achieved before year end, and first delivery to first operator - the French Air Force - by the turn of the year 2012 / early 2013. Today Airbus Military holds 174 firm orders from eight nations, the seven launch nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the UK) for 170, plus four for Malaysia.

Source: EADS

[buglerbilly]

DATE:06/05/11

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M gets a lift, as EPI engine secures civil certification

By Craig Hoyle

Europrop International has secured civil type certification for the TP400-D6 turboprop engine powering Airbus Military's A400M transport, just days after resolving contractual issues with the aircraft's manufacturer.

Announced on 6 May, the certification milestone follows more than 8,000 flight hours and over 4,000h of additional ground testing of the TP400 achieved since the powerplant was first run in October 2005.

"Certifying the TP400 has presented a series of unique challenges due to the high power of the engine and the leading-edge technology that is incorporated within its design," said EPI technical director Martin Maltby.

"It is the first large turboprop engine to have been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the first military engine to have been certified by EASA to civil standards from the outset," the company added. "During development testing the engine demonstrated exceptional performance operating at sea-level and altitude conditions. It also proved its ability to cope with birdstrike, ice and water ingestion."


© Airbus Military

Formed of ITP, MTU Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce and Snecma, EPI is responsible for delivering the A400M's entire propulsion system. At its heart are four three-shaft TP400s, each with 5.3m (17.4ft)-diameter, eight-bladed Ratier-Figeac/Hamilton Sundstrand propellers and capable of generating up to 11,000shp (8,200kW).

EPI on 3 May said that it had signed a contract amendment with Airbus Military, which "settles all outstanding issues between the two companies" linked to the late-running A400M programme.

The consortium has previously outlined a target of mid-2012 to also receive military certification for the engine. This clearance is required before production deliveries of the A400M can start from late the same year or early 2013.

Airbus Military is to build 170 A400Ms for its seven European launch customers: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK. It has so far secured an export order for another four aircraft to enter use with the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

Four of an eventual five "Grizzly" flight-test aircraft are involved in development activities from Seville in Spain and Toulouse in France. The fifth should fly soon.

The A400M will be on display at next month's Paris air show, and at the UK's 40th anniversary Royal International Air Tattoo in mid-July.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Early French A400M?

Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 5/18/2011 9:27 AM CDT

The French air force should received its first A400M ahead of schedule, says Domingo Urena, Airbus Military's CEO. “We hope to present the aircraft to the French in 2012 and we hope they will accept it,” he says.

Speaking at the close of a two day press seminar in Seville and Madrid, Urena says the A400M program is now stabilised and on track and that flight tests showed it was performing “in some case beyond the expectations of the customer.”

He concedes that Airbus Military “won't earn money with our launch clients,” but hopes to earn “decent money from exports.” But he stressed that they were remaining prudent for the moment on the export market although they would have 10 aircraft available (the 7 cancelled by Germany and the 3 by the UK) which “we will try to sell as soon as possible.”

[buglerbilly]

DATE:20/05/11

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M on track for early 2013 delivery, says Airbus Military

By Craig Hoyle

Deliveries of the A400M transport are on track to start in the first quarter of 2013, with Airbus Military expecting the type to reach its final operating standard around five years later.

Major assemblies for the programme's initial production aircraft, MSN7, will arrive at the company's final assembly site at San Pablo near Seville late this year. It will make its flight debut by the third quarter of next year, before being delivered to the French air force in an initial operating capability standard.

MSN7 is the first of 170 A400Ms to have entered production for partner nations Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Ten others originally set for acceptance by Germany and the UK will be offered for sale once an export strategy has been finalised for the delayed type. "I would prefer to have an aircraft certified and with proven capabilities before going to export," said Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña.


© Airbus Military

"We have achieved all of the [programme] milestones for almost two years and are very confident that we will achieve civil certification before the end of this year," said A400M programme head Cédric Gautier. The company plans to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities to its customers next year, although some of these will only become available operationally through five subsequent capability standards scheduled to run between 2013 and 2018.

Gautier said all aircraft handed over before the A400M's final SOC3 standard will be retrofitted to the configuration as part of a renewed contract earlier this year. "This philosophy allows us to de-risk the programme and deliver at the right time to meet the customers' requirements."

While the programme's current main emphasis is on supporting civil certification activities involving the European Aviation Safety Agency, Airbus Military's chief test pilot military Ed Strongman says the test team is already supporting development work in areas such as paratroop delivery and the use of night vision goggles.

Roughly 500 sorties and 1,600 flight hours have been recorded so far using four "Grizzly" test aircraft. A fifth, production-standard MSN6, will be flown for the first time in October. The expanded fleet must log a combined total of 1,000 additional hours before the declaration of initial operating capability.

Airbus Military plans to hand over its first four production A400Ms to France and Turkey in 2013, with deliveries to Germany, the UK and international buyer Malaysia to start the following year. The company is in the process of discussing in-service support and training arrangements with its customers.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M: VMCG Testing (Video)

Posted by Robert Wall at 5/20/2011 5:41 AM CDT

In April, Airbus Military conducted VMCG testing on the A400M to show the airlifter could stay centerline (within a prescribed variance) even if the most critical engine is lost on takeoff.

Here's an Airbus Military video of some of the testing, with the right outer TP400D shown shutting down:


Uploaded by TheSidelobe on May 20, 2011
Airbus Military has put together this video of the VMCG test of the A400M, in which the ability to keep the aircraft centerline within a given variance even if the most critical engine fails on takeoff.

Airbus devised a clever mechanism to meet the requirement. When the one engine is lost, the opposite engine powers back 25% to stabilize the aircraft until it accelerates again.

[buglerbilly]

Airbus expects Far East orders for tsunami rescue aircraft

Both Japan and New Zealand have inquired about the A400M to handle humanitarian crises

By Mark Leftly

Far Eastern governments have contacted Airbus about ordering its latest military aircraft, which can cost more than $80m (£49m), to tackle humanitarian crises.

The A400M was originally designed for the defence needs of seven European countries, including the UK, Germany and France. Last year, the governments of those nations agreed a ¤3.5bn (£3.04bn) deal to salvage the much-delayed programme.

The aircraft is extremely flexible. Countries such as Japan and New Zealand have looked at buying it for humanitarian aid and rescue purposes after recent tsunamis and earthquakes. The Britain's Department for International Development (DfID) has also looked at the A400M.

Neighbouring Far Eastern governments are understood to have started looking at the possibility of teaming up in partnerships of two to three to afford the aircraft. There is no fixed cost because different clients have their own specifications, but the cost – tens of millions – puts them out of reach for most humanitarian groups.

At present, the Airbus parent company, EADS, is not officially trying to push A400 sales until 2012. But a soft marketing push, including conference presentations, has started.

Ian Elliott, the head of defence marketing at Airbus Military, said: "There's been quite some interest shown from affiliates of NGOs – government departments, like DfID.

"There has been interest from Far Eastern governments. You've only got to look at the disasters in the area to see how the A400 could help."

Mr Elliott added that the A400 had "enormous potential" in disaster relief, anti-piracy and illegal immigration control. For example, the advanced radar and communication facilities could easily track pirates.

He also confirmed that "informal contacts at mid-level staff levels" had started with some countries. "We will kick-off the export campaign next year," he said. "The full potential of this aircraft will really begin demonstrating itself when entering service."

The first delivery of the A400 is expected to be made to France in 2013. The other four initial clients are Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and Turkey.

The news comes after a significant week for Airbus. The World Trade Organisation announced that it was partially overturning a 2010 verdict that the European Union had given Airbus $18bn in illegal subsidies to develop the A380 jumbo. Boeing, its US rival, had challenged the subsidies. Confusingly, both sides claimed victory. Airbus's president, Tom Enders, claimed the group had won on "all the key elements" and Boeing's Jim McNerney said it was "a clear, final win" for the US.

Lord Mandelson, the former European trade commissioner, urged the two parties not to continue the seven-year dispute because of the potential threat from emerging economies.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:31/05/11

SOURCE:Flight International

EPI boss details progress on A400M engine programme

By Craig Hoyle

The task of developing the West's most powerful-ever turboprop has had its challenges, but with civil type certification having been secured, Europrop International (EPI) is just months away from launching series production of its TP400-D6 engine for the Airbus Military A400M.

Received on 6 May from the European Aviation Safety Agency, the approval clears the way for partners ITP, MTU Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce and Snecma to power production examples of the A400M in service from early 2013.

The French air force will be the first to get its hands on the new type and it will eventually receive 50 aircraft from a revised total of 170 to be delivered to Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK. The EPI consortium's stake in the project is worth more than €4 billion ($5.6 billion) and over 750 engines.

A three-shaft design with a power output of up to 11,000shp (8,200kW), the TP400 has brought with it a unique set of challenges. The A400M launch contract of May 2003 required the aircraft and its propulsion system to be certificated to civilian standards, but its specifications were such that Airbus Military, EPI and EASA would have to explore new territory.


© Airbus Military
The TP400 has accrued 8,000h on four A400M development aircraft

"We worked with EASA intently over the last 18 months to get the engine to the full certification standard," says EPI president Simon Henley. The engine consortium is responsible for delivering the A400M's entire propulsion system. At its heart are four TP400s, each weighing around 1,900kg (4,190lb) and with 5.3m (17.4ft)-diameter, eight-bladed Ratier-Figeac FH386 propellers. They are integrated with the aircraft via a full authority digital engine control system described as being several times more complex than the one used on the Airbus A380.

It is almost six years since the TP400 made its first ground run in France. Engines have since amassed more than 12,000h of running time, including around 4,000h at ground test sites in France, Germany, Spain and Belgium. The remaining 8,000h have been accrued on the wings of four A400M development aircraft, with more than 5,000 engine hours logged in flight.

As with the A400M programme as a whole, the engine development work has run well behind the schedule set out in the original contract signed with Europe's OCCAR procurement agency. First delivery of the aircraft was then targeted for November 2009, but it would be one month beyond this date before the first development aircraft, MSN1, would take to the air from Airbus Military's San Pablo site near Seville in Spain.

Efforts to save the A400M from possible cancellation led to the declaration of a roughly three-year programme delay. Airbus Military says it is successfully tracking this target.



The next major milestone on the TP400's journey to service entry will be the planned receipt of military certification around mid-2012. This target remains in place, despite a roughly eight-month slip experienced in achieving the civil standard, Henley says.

Speaking at last year's Farnborough air show, EPI officials identified a September 2010 target for civil certification. However, with the TP400 being both the first large turboprop and the first military engine to have come before EASA, the deadline came and went.

Concluded in the last quarter of 2010 as the last major element of the certification programme, medium bird ingestion testing represented a potential major stumbling block when it came to the TP400's ability to meet a widely adopted industry standard for recovering from such an event.

The agency's regulations stipulate that "ingestion must not cause more than a sustained 25% power loss, or the engine to be shut down during test". But its specific requirement for the design to recover within a period of not more than 3s could not be met.

"We were very close to the absolute figures that they had provided," Henley says, attributing the issue to the regulator's desire to maintain the standards employed towards turbofan designs. Although the TP400 required 3.8s to reach the required 75% power level after an incident, he notes that it then went on to recover to 100% rating just 1.2s later, having suffered no damage. With this in mind, the EASA went to public consultation to propose an alternative means of compliance.

In April, it said: "EASA is not in the position to judge whether or not other comparable turbo*prop engine designs have met the 3s recovery, since there was no European turboprop engine subject to type certification over the last 40 years. Moreover, there is no evidence that any turboprop ever met the 3s recovery time."

The agency noted that: "The energy delivered to the aircraft after the medium bird strike and during the subsequent 3.8s is equivalent to or better than an acceptable realistic profile for 75% power recovery in 3s."

EPI says that "during development testing the engine demonstrated exceptional performance operating at sea-level and altitude conditions. It also proved its ability to cope with bird strike, ice and water ingestion."

"We are specification-compliant in terms of performance," says Henley.

The civil type certification achievement came as additional good news to the EPI consortium, which had just days earlier signed an amended contractual agreement with Airbus Military to resolve all issues linked to the A400M's delay. The pact was signed in Toulouse by Henley and Erik Buschmann, Airbus Military's head of propulsion procurement.


© Europrop International
Rolls-Royce is responsible for the TP400's high-pressure compressor; certification work concluded in the last quarter of 2010

Henley says all the "hard negotiating" over the resolution had been done before he became EPI president on 1 January this year. Noting that those involved had a "shared destiny" in wanting to deliver the A400M, he says the result was "a very cordial agreement that all parties were happy with".

The amendment also incorporates changes agreed in a new contract signed by the programme's seven launch nations via OCCAR on 7 April 2011, including a less steep ramp-up to full-rate production of the aircraft. As well as the 170 A400Ms for the European partners, 10 more will still be built from original planned orders for Germany and the UK, and offered for sale "as soon as possible". Four more will be delivered from 2014 to the programme's lone export customer, Malaysia.

INTERNATIONAL USERS

Work linked to the TP400 is expected to be valued much more if Airbus Military gets anywhere near its target of selling another 400 A400Ms to international users over the next three decades. Snecma believes the technologies behind the giant turboprop could also have future applications with equipment such as "combat drones or heavy helicopters".

EPI is now working to complete the last four flight-test engines to be produced, with 25 having been delivered previously. "We will hand those over in the second half of this year and start to build production engines towards the end of the year," Henley says. "There is still some validation testing to do, but we know the configuration."

The first deliveries will power production aircraft MSN7 in flight from late 2012.

A new assembly line for the TP400 has already been established at MTU's Munich site, and Henley says this is now "live and running smoothly". Previous plans had called for the work to be conducted at the German company's Ludwigsfelde plant, but the latter will still be used during the test and delivery of completed engines.

Four of an eventual five "Grizzly" flight-test aircraft are involved in development activities from Seville and Toulouse, with the most recent aircraft having begun operations last December. The fifth, a production-representative aircraft, MSN6, should be flown for the first time in October, with its engines to be installed soon on the San Pablo final assembly line. The fleet has amassed around 1,600 flight hours, with another 1,000h required before the declaration of initial operating capability to the customer nations in late 2011.

The EPI team receives near real-time engine data from the flight tests at R-R's Filton site near Bristol in the UK, which Henley says is a great benefit. "We get feedback within two or three hours, so can process any issues overnight."

It is in flight test that much key information has been gathered about the performance of the propulsion system. Activities conducted by the fleet in the past few months have included measuring the TP400's capabilities across a range of conditions, from minimum speed take-offs to high crosswinds and sub-zero temperatures. This followed earlier strong results during stall testing, which Airbus Military says validated the clean airflow created by using a "down between the engines" configuration.

Powerplants and systems were subjected to extended "cold soak" tests during a deployment to Kiruna in Sweden this year. These included a 24h period exposed to temperatures as low as -38°C (-36.4°F). Elsewhere, test aircraft have operated in crosswinds of up to 22kt (40km/h), with higher speeds to be sought later.

The TP400's power has been demonstrated recently in minimum control speed tests, with MSN4 having been rotated as low as 82kt and with climb-out at 105kt.

Work was also conducted in April on VMCG (minimum control speed on the ground) tests, in which a fuel restriction was introduced to one engine to simulate a failure during the take-off run, and 12 shutdowns performed. In the event that one of the aircraft's outboard engines loses power on take-off, the opposite TP400 has its output reduced by 25% using an automatic take-off compensation system.

Good results have also been reported from initial tests with acoustic cladding installed inside MSN4. "First indications are that noise levels are already meeting requirements," says Ed Strongman, Airbus Military's chief test pilot military. This could lead to a weight saving by removing the need to install active noise cancellation equipment in the cargo hold. Full noise measurements will be performed using MSN6.

NO PROBLEMS

"We've done all the work on the propeller and the propeller stress survey and calibration flights to show the power being produced on the aeroplane is as we expected, plus all the transients and the slams in various configurations, with no problems," says Strongman. One more FADEC standard has yet to come, but he says the current one - FFS 2.1 - delivers full functionality.

Fifteen dry contacts were also made with a Royal Air Force Vickers VC10 in air-to-air refuelling trials conducted from Toulouse. The test team wanted to study the effects on the A400M's propellers and tailplane from the tanker's four R-R Conway engines, and Strongman says "there were no problems across the envelope".

Water ingestion tests will be at Istres in June, and fleet activities for the rest of this year to be focused on securing EASA civil type certification for the A400M itself.

One production modification to the propulsion system is likely to include the installation of vortex generators inside the jet pipe to address a nacelle cooling issue identified in early testing when jet flow returned inside the nacelle when run at low power on the ground. The change has been proven on the ground and in flight.


© Charles Knight/Rex Features
The A400M flew at Farnborough last year

Looking ahead to the need to provide TP400 operational support, plans have been made for an "EPI Protect" model. This was initially viewed as being a collaborative arrangement between France and the UK, but Germany and Turkey at least have also shown interest in using a joint set-up. "We are having preliminary-type discussions, but we know what it would look like. It gets closer and closer to a commercial approach," says Henley.

"It's an incredibly integrated programme, from the engine into the propulsion system and into the aircraft," he says, referring to EPI's close working relationship with Airbus Military. "I am delighted with the extent to which we have been able to work together."

The A400M will be on static and flying display at June's Paris air show, and at the 40th anniversary Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the UK in mid-July.

[buglerbilly]

Demand Appears Strong For A400M

Jun 10, 2011

By Christina Mackenzie
Seville, Spain



The Airbus A400M should be the leader in the large military transport market within 10 years, reckons Antonio Rodriguez Barberan, senior vice president of commercial business at Airbus Military, “because we will be the only actors left. The [Lockheed Martin] C-130s and [Boeing] C-17s will need replacing by then and their production line is closing down,” he told DTI at the new Airbus Military training center here last month.

But for now his marketing executives are holding their fire. “We are being prudent marketing the A400M,” says Barberan. “The priority this year is certification flights,” which means there are not many slots when the aircraft will be available for demonstration flights. It will nevertheless fly at air shows such as at Paris this month, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Izmir in Turkey for the centennial of the Turkish air force, which will take delivery of its first A400M in mid-2013.

Barberan and his team know which countries to target when they ramp up marketing next year: those with major air forces and a large number of old transport aircraft—such as C-130s, C-17s and Ilyushin Il-76s. “In the next 10 years Asia will be a major market,” he says, except for China, which he believes will likely develop a large military transport aircraft of its own. “But by that time the A400M should be established.” Other candidates include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In the Americas, Mexico meets the criteria, but Brazil does not. Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer launched the KC-390 medium-weight transport aircraft program in 2009, and “so is not likely to be interested,” Barberan says. “In the medium-to-long term the U.S. market is huge and there is a capability gap which the A400M would fill in due time.” This is also true for Australia, which recently procured C-130s, “but in 20 years, when these are becoming old, we will be there.”

No presentations have yet been made to India, “but due to the size of the market the A400M would be perfect,” he says.

Barberan expects that interest in the A400M “will rocket with the first delivery to the French air force in early 2013.” Should a country express interest before then, “we might be able to consider delivery dates for new customers in or around 2015.”

Barberan believes the A400M “will be an extremely profitable program.” He says there are about 2,450 heavy transport aircraft globally that are on average 26 years old. Of these, most—1,015—are in North America, followed by Russia with 475. Russia is likely closed to the A400M, but Barberan is optimistic that U.S. and Canadian air forces will eventually buy the aircraft.

In addition, missions are changing. “We have moved from a Cold War, bipolar world in which transport aircraft were mainly for military missions to one where there are huge humanitarian needs, asymmetric threats and a requirement for rapid response. More and more these planes are supporting society,” Barberan explains. “This means the A400M will be sold for the next 40 years.” There is, as well, a “huge market for the A400M among civilian operators,” whose inquiries about procuring the aircraft “we’ve had to decline for the time being.”

Armed forces have performed more military operations in recent years, generally far from home, so there is a need for global reach and an ability to deploy in hostile areas, land on unprepared terrain and provide front-line support. The A400M with its ability to carry 30 metric tons (33 tons) for 4,535 km (2,820 mi.), or 20 metric tons for 6,390 km, drop paratroopers and loads from high and low altitudes, land and take off from short and soft unprepared airfields, and low detectability meets relevant requirements.

So, is the aircraft over its development problems? Cedric Gautier, head of the A400M program, says, “We are on track and in many areas have over-achieved our expectations.” Four test aircraft are flying and more than 1,600 test flights totaling 500 hr. had been flown by mid-May. The fifth test aircraft will make its first flight in the first quarter next year, while the sixth aircraft, which is also the first production aircraft (and the first delivered to the French air force), will make its initial flight in the third quarter of 2012.

Flight testing is making “good progress,” says chief test pilot Ed Strongman, and is on track to be completed by the end of the year. Testing of military systems and military operations has also begun.

Photo: Mark Wagner

[JKM Mk2]

Interesting, I can see where the A-400 is going to appeal to a lot of current C-17 and C-130 users. But I think they are over-optomistic about the US market. I just don't think Boeing, Lockheed, and especially Congress are going to replace 200+ C-17's and several hundred C-130's with a European manufactured aircraft, whether it's licenced manufactured in the US or not! Just look at the Tanker replacement program for a leader.

So, I wonder what the US will have on the cards for a new program in the next decade?

Cheers
JKM

[Chunder]

So, I wonder what the US will have on the cards for a new program in the next decade?


Yeah, they have some interesting questions though I don't think the C-130 line has lost relevance in the slightest. The need for increased tonnage is relevant if your talking vehecles (IFV's) but TBH, from what I've read airlifting those about is over played in marketing. What is going to happen with the C5's, and repeated murmurs from AMC that it doesn't need any more C-17's. IMO the 130 isn't going anywhere, and the 17 is hanging around for a long time. Like you I think they are pissing into the wind trying to sell A-400 in that type of environment.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:15/06/11

SOURCE:Flight International

Airbus Military A400M makes its Paris debut

By Craig Hoyle

During its last visit to Le Bourget, Airbus Military was a company in crisis. Its most important and ambitious programme - to deliver the A400M transport to seven European militaries - was facing the threat of possible cancellation, and it had fallen behind schedule with delivering a fleet of A330-based multi-role tanker transports (MRTT) to Australia.

Two years on, and the situation has changed almost beyond recognition. A400M development aircraft "Grizzly 3" will be making the type's proud Paris debut, with the French air force now due to take delivery of the first production example by March 2013.

With an amended contract having been signed with the customer nations via the OCCAR procurement agency in April, previous doubts over the project's long-term viability have largely been forgotten.

Although the first delivery event will occur more than three years behind the schedule agreed in May 2003, its achievement will be broadly in line with the target set by EADS after the first flight of development aircraft MSN1 in December 2009.

"We have achieved all of the milestones for almost two years," says A400M programme head Cédric Gautier. The company's current main aim is to secure civil certification for the type before the end of this year, and more than 120h have already been flown with European Aviation Safety Agency officials aboard.


© Airbus Military
Holding course: the "Grizzly" should enter service in early 2013

The programme's first series production aircraft, MSN7, will enter final assembly at Airbus Military's San Pablo site near Seville, Spain, late this year, following the arrival of its major assemblies from suppliers around Europe. Expected to conduct its first flight in the third quarter of 2012, it will be delivered within the first three months of the following year in an initial operating capability (IOC)/entry into service standard. It should be one of at least four A400Ms delivered to the French and Turkish air forces during 2013.

"From a production point of view we are absolutely on the plan," says Gautier. "The schedule and the technical achievements are on track, and this aircraft will be certificated and delivered on time."

Four development aircraft had flown around 500 sorties and roughly 1,600h by mid-May. A further 1,000 flight hours must be recorded before the declaration of the IOC standard next year, but with production-representative aircraft MSN6 to join the fleet in use from October, the rate is ramping up dramatically. Now being completed on the San Pablo line, the aircraft incorporates minor changes identified through flight testing involving its earlier stablemates. Its assembly was completed during May, and following systems testing its engines will be installed next month.

In all, the five-strong test fleet will log a combined 3,700h for the core programme, before going on to conduct additional work to meet the requirements of individual nations. On-display Grizzly 3 had by mid-May been flown almost 150 times and logged roughly 450 flight hours since its debut sortie last July. This compares with the more than 600h logged by the programme's first development aircraft by the same point.


© EADS
The TP400 engine is civil-certificated

This good progress in flight-test terms means that Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña has lost none of the optimism that he displayed on assuming his post in early 2009. Despite the loss of one of the programme's two export customers - South Africa scrapped an order for eight aircraft shortly before the first flight event - and a reduction to previously planned purchases by two of its launch customers, he believes the A400M could yet prove to be a massive success on the international stage. "I hope that at one point in time the A400M becomes the most popular aircraft in its segment," he says.

While the company's own market analysis suggests that it could sell a further 400 of the aircraft to additional users beyond launch customers Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey, the UK and export buyer Malaysia by 2040, Ureña says it is still in the process of creating a new sales strategy.

"I would prefer to have a certified aircraft with proven capability before we go to export," he says.

The first priority will be to find buyers for 10 aircraft now listed as cancellation options by Germany (seven) and the UK (three), but still to be produced. "As soon as we finalise the export strategy we will try to sell those 10 aircraft as soon as possible."

Despite the defeat earlier this year of an A330-based proposal to meet the US Air Force's KC-X tanker requirement, Ureña believes that one of the potential future buyers for the 37t payload capacity A400M could be found across the Atlantic.

"I believe that sooner or later we could have a chance to compete in the US market," he says, pointing to the type's placement directly between the Lockheed Martin C-130J and Boeing C-17. Similarly, he says the USAF could have a long-term requirement to acquire another tanker with greater capacity than the Boeing 767-based KC-46A that will satisfy its initially 179-aircraft KC-X requirement. However, he notes: "Airbus Military has never based its future on the US market."

Confidence over the company's ability to deliver on its amended A400M contract terms has been strengthened significantly by the progress made in flight-testing the Grizzly fleet, and by the acceptance of a stepped approach to reaching full operating capability: a milestone now due to be achieved by 2019.

To reach this point, Airbus Military will have passed through a total of six operating standards, with each introducing progressive capability enhancements.

GOOD COMPROMISE

"This philosophy allows us to de-risk the programme and deliver at the right time to meet the customers' requirements," says Gautier, who describes the new arrangement as "a good compromise with the nations". All production aircraft will later be brought up to the final contractual specification.

Agreeing the amended deal with its launch nations has not been the only success in restoring harmony, with peace also having been made with key equipment suppliers, including the Europrop International (EPI) consortium responsible for the aircraft's TP400-D6 turboprop engines, and cockpit and flight management system provider Thales. All issues over financial liabilities linked to the late-running nature of the programme have now been resolved, although Airbus Military declines to go into more detail. But referring to the resolution of a dispute with Thales, Ureña says: "We put some blood on the table from both companies."

Following on from the IOC configuration, which equates to an aircraft suitable for basic logistic transport tasks, comes SOC1. To be declared in late 2013, this will add basic aerial delivery to the A400M's performance range. Each following after roughly one-year gaps, the subsequent 1.5 and 2 standards will respectively add full aerial delivery and tanker capability and enhanced tactical mission management and new functions such as polar navigation and time-on-arrival management, says Airbus Military.

Arriving in late 2017, SOC2.5 will deliver "enhanced tanker capabilities and search-and-rescue patterns". The final, SOC3 standard will bring in advanced capabilities including low-level flight functionality.

The company plans to start proving the aircraft fully to its customers next year. "Our objective for just after SOC1 is that we'll have demonstrated all the capabilities," says Airbus chief test pilot military Ed Strongman. "All the functionality on the aircraft will be there, but the full FMS and human/machine interface will come later." Ureña says this will give the air forces "the confidence that when they take the aircraft they can operate it".

With regard to the MRTT programme, the company has also resolved contractual issues with its Australian customer, which on 1 June accepted the first of its five A330-based KC-30As. Its air force should receive three more this year, with the final example to be handed over by local conversion partner Qantas Defence Services during 2012.

Airbus Military will exhibit Saudi Arabia's first A330 tanker from a six-aircraft acquisition at the show, while contracts to also supply the type to the United Arab Emirates (three) and the UK (14) are running on time. Although it has yet to fund an acquisition, the company says France wants its own fleet of the type to enter service from January 2017. Paris would need to sign a production contract by around mid-2013 to enable it to meet this schedule, says vice-president derivative programmes Antonio Caramazana.

But making a financial success of the A400M and MRTT developments will take time. "We are not going to finish completely rich on these two projects," says Ureña. However, in a sign of perhaps better times ahead, Airbus Military in the first quarter of 2011 recorded revenues of €165 million ($241 million) based on A400M milestone payments.

Securing international sales will be key to bringing the A400M to the right side of the balance sheet. "We bet on the exports," he says. "We believe we have a good product."

Evidence of the transport's potential can be found in the test campaign conducted so far by a test team operating out of San Pablo and Toulouse in France.

Initial tanker tests were flown from Toulouse earlier this year along with a Royal Air Force Vickers VC10 tanker, with the A400M having made 15 dry contacts to assess its handling performance behind four Rolls-Royce Conway engines. Strongman says the work underlined his earlier impression that the type is "a really easy, pleasant aircraft to fly in formation".

The work was performed at an altitude of 15,000ft (4,500m) and at 270kt (500km/h): the area in which the new aircraft will be used by some nations to deliver fuel to fast jet receivers. An A400M will fly for the first time with under-wing hose and drogue refuelling pods installed during 2012.

The aircraft, its powerplants and systems were also subjected to extended "cold soak" tests during a deployment to Kiruna in Sweden early this year. These included a 24h period exposed to temperatures as low as -38°C (-36.4°F). Separate flights with artificial ice shapes fitted to the aircraft exposed some buffeting, but revealed that less of the wing required de-icing equipment installed than had been projected. This work will be expanded soon, under natural icing conditions using MSN1. Later on, more environmental tests will be performed at lower temperatures, probably during a deployment to Canada.

The TP400 engine's power has been demonstrated recently in minimum control speed tests, while test aircraft have operated in crosswinds of up to 22kt. EPI secured delayed civil type certification for the up to 11,000shp (8,200kW)-output design from the EASA in early May, and expects to receive military clearance from the agency next year.

Work was also conducted in April on minimum control speed on the ground tests, in which a fuel restriction was introduced to one engine to simulate a failure during the take-off run. If one of the aircraft's outboard engines loses power at this point an automatic take-off compensation system will reduce its opposite number's output by 25%.

Test pilots will soon perform a so-called "ultimate flight", during which the aircraft will be tricked into thinking that it has lost all onboard power by switching off one of its engines after isolating power generators to the other three, which will be run as normal throughout. June should also see water ingestion trials conducted at the French military's Istres test centre, plus maximum brake energy rejected take-offs.


© Airbus Military
Cold comfort: test activities performed this year have included exposing the aircraft to temperatures as low as -38°

While the programme's main emphasis is on supporting civil certification activities involving the EASA, Strongman says the test team is already supporting development work on paratroop delivery, the use of night vision goggles and an enhanced vision system, plus its military radar.

By mid-May, 55 pilots had flown the A400M, with 12 of them drawn from a core team from Airbus and Airbus Military.

Recent additions have included operational air force personnel from partner nations France, Germany, Turkey and the UK, with others from Spain and Malaysia to follow soon. "All of them are coming back with a smile on their face," says Strongman.



Airbus Military is in the process of discussing in-service support and training arrangements with its customers. The first A400M simulator will be installed in the company's training facility at San Pablo next year, while the first device scheduled to be delivered to an operator's base will be in place during 2013.

In terms of performance, Gautier says Airbus Military is comfortable with the A400M's lift potential. "Right now we have a configuration which meets the requirements. Regarding the weight of the aircraft, we meet the expectations. We have no worry of an issue." And when it comes to the aircraft's flying qualities, Strongman says that overall, "the model is very much as we expected".

If the programme continues to track the revised schedule laid down following MSN1's flight debut, the 50th Paris air show in 2013 should again see the A400M on display, but by then with its first customer delivery having at last been made and perhaps fresh export deals a step closer to becoming a reality.

Keep up to date with the latest developments in the Grizzly's test campaign

NEW ROLES FOR LIGHT AND MEDIUM FAMILY

Whil it has been concentrating largely on the A400M airlifter and A330 multi-role tanker transport projects for the past few years, Airbus Military has also been pursuing new opportunities for its established range of light and medium aircraft.

With the CN-235 and C-295 facing competition from Alenia Aeronautica's C-27J Spartan in the tactical transport sector, the European company has also adapted its designs for niche applications. It has recently built anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol variants of the latter for Chile and Portugal, respectively, and plans further derivatives.

One of the company's two C-295 prototypes in mid-May had a roughly 6m (19.7ft)-diameter rotodome installed above its rear fuselage to support an assessment of the type for airborne early warning tasks. The aircraft will undergo a roughly three-month flight test campaign from June.

Airbus Military currently aims to deliver a combined 20-25 CN-235s, C-295s and smaller C-212s each year from its San Pablo assembly site near Seville, Spain.

Chief executive Domingo Ureña says the company is not standing still when it comes to looking at eventual replacements. "A company like us always has studies," he says. "We look at how the market could move, and at what our competitors are doing."

However, he notes: "I do not see any replacement of the CN-235 and C-295 in the next 10 years. We do not see a need from the market."

[buglerbilly]

DATE:16/06/11

SOURCE:Flightglobal.com

PICTURES: New-look A400M readied for icing trials

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military is set to launch a new campaign of icing trials using A400M "Grizzly One", with the activity to come as its development fleet has also cleared its first 1,000 take-offs and landings.

Photographed in Toulouse, France by AirSpace user Commercial Aviation, the aircraft has recently been equipped with a distinctive orange housing on its upper fuselage. This contains a camera that will observe the leading edge of its all-composite wing during natural icing trials.


© Commercial Aviation gallery on flightglobal.com/AirSpace

One of the images also shows the aircraft with red and yellow "chequerboard" markings on the wing, which Airbus Military says will assist it in assessing the degree of icing experienced.


© Commercial Aviation gallery on flightglobal.com/AirSpace

The forthcoming trials will build on earlier work performed with artificial ice shapes installed on another Grizzly. "Handling qualities remain outstanding despite the severe ice shapes in normal and failure conditions," Airbus Military said of the previous tests, which revealed that less of the wing required de-icing than had previously been forecast.

Grizzly One is also shown sporting a new-style A400M marking on its fuselage aft of the cockpit. This will be added to all development aircraft "in the very near future", Airbus Military said.

The company's current four development aircraft had flown a combined 535 sorties totalling 1,710h by 7 June. The company had by the same date performed a total of 1,040 take-offs and landings, with several having been conducted during single sorties since the type's flight debut in December 2009.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:20/06/11

SOURCE:Flight International

PARIS: Goodrich to supply Terprom for A400M

By Craig Hoyle

Goodrich has won a lucrative deal to provide a vital piece of flight safety equipment for Airbus Military's A400M transport.

The order from EADS company Cassidian will see Goodrich's UK-based Sensors and Integrated Systems team provide its Terprom terrain referenced navigation (TRN) system to support future low-level operations. Development activities will continue at the company's Plymouth site in Devon, England, for about the next two years.

A software-based application which combines data from an aircraft's radar altimeter and inertial navigation system with a digital terrain database, Terprom will provide A400M crews with predictive ground collision avoidance, plus warnings against wires and other obstacles. The passive system also has a claimed navigational accuracy of 15-30m (49-98ft).

Integration with the transport will be via its Cassidian Electronics-developed military mission management system, with the combination having been proved during a concept phase which concluded in mid-2010.

The Terprom installation will become a standard fit for all A400Ms produced, says Martin Couch, avionics business director for Goodrich's Plymouth team, who expects the order for remaining development work and system licences to be received soon.

"Terprom will greatly enhance the situational awareness of the A400M crew, allowing them to operate with increased safety at low level, in poor conditions or when GPS is denied," said Daniela Dudek, military mission management system programme head for Cassidian Electronics.

Formerly known as EADS Defence Electronics, the company had previously planned to develop its own terrain-following technology for the A400M, but instead opted for "a battle-proven TRN capability that has been specifically designed for tactical transport operations".

Terprom has already been integrated with the Boeing C-17, and with Lockheed Martin C-130s being upgraded via the US Air Force's Boeing-led avionics modernisation programme. In all, more than 5,000 military aircraft have been equipped with the software so far for 14 nations, Goodrich said. Couch noted that in combination with its other existing orders, the major A400M success "will generate revenue for the next six to 10 years".

Meanwhile, the company is continuing to invest in possible further platform applications, for example with military helicopters and basic trainer aircraft.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:22/06/11

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

PARIS: A400M engine supplier details in-flight shutdown

By Craig Hoyle

Engine supplier Europrop International (EPI) has given its explanation for the A400M's restricted flying appearance during its debut Paris show. The Airbus Military type made a brief flight on the opening day, but has otherwise been kept on static display.

Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña late last week said that the "Grizzly" would not fly in public due a gearbox issue. Speaking at Le Bourget on Wednesday, EPI president Simon Henley confirmed that one of the TP400-D6 turboprop engines on development aircraft MSN1 had encountered an automatic in-flight shutdown earlier this month.


© Airbus Military

"We are still investigating the cause," Henley said. However, the company has dismissed any manufacturing issue, and the programme's three other aircraft are continuing their flight test activities. "It's not a safety issue, but non-essential flying like displays have been suspended," he said. MSN1 is about to have its engine replaced in Toulouse, France, before being returned to flight.

EPI also stressed that the A400M has already been flown throughout its entire performance envelope, up to a top speed of Mach 0.72 and to an altitude of 42,000ft (12,800m).

Meanwhile, work to prepare the TP400 to power production examples of the A400M is ramping up. A new full-authority digital engine control software standard is due to be released in September, with two more to follow in 2012. EPI said earlier problems with FADEC were resolved by late last year, before the TP400 secured civil certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency.

"We expect to achieve full military qualification in the middle of next year," said EPI technical director Martin Maltby. The milestone will be a vital step on the way to Airbus Military delivering its first production A400M to the French air force by March 2013.

[buglerbilly]

Cooperative Support Plan to Be Established for A400M

Posted by Military Times Online | June 24th, 2011 | Paris Air Show 2011


Airbus A400M during a demonstration flight June 20, 2011 at the 2011 Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France. (M. Scott Mahaskey/Staff)

PARIS — The multinational program manager for the A400M military airlifter is due to sign a contract around the end of the year covering a cooperative service support for Britain and France, a French official said June 24.

“They’re aiming for around the end of 2011,” the official said.

The planned signing, covering maintenance and repairs for British and French A400M fleets, by the Organisme Conjoint de Coopération en matière d’armement (OCCAR) would be the first contract to be inked under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed June 21 at the Paris Air Show, which ends June 26.

Officials representing six of the seven launch customers of the A400M signed the MoU, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) procurement office said in a June 22 statement.

Britain, France, Germany and Spain signed June 21, while Belgium — which also signed on behalf of Luxembourg — signed June 22. Turkey is due to sign the MoU in the next few weeks after a parliamentary ratification, the DGA official.

DGA head Laurent Collet-Billon signed for France, the DGA official.

The MoU provides the framework agreement for support for the A400M, the statement said. Under the agreement, there will be a “common core” covering management of aircraft configuration, data management and possibly spares, the DGA official said.

The MoU will also be the framework agreement for French-U.K. cooperation for all other support activities, including maintenance and repairs, the DGA official said. Collaborative support for British and French A400M aircraft was one of the projects agreed under the Nov. 2, 2010, Lancaster House treaty on bilateral defense cooperation.

— Pierre Tran

[buglerbilly]

A400M Program Clouded By Concerns Over Maintenance

By PIERRE TRAN

Published: 29 Jun 2011 13:19

PARIS - A lack of clarity on maintenance for Europe's new airlifter is a big concern for both industry and customer nations, with France due to receive the first aircraft delivery in about 18 months, sources familiar with the situation said June 29.

The situation raises concerns because an aircraft fleet without service support is of little use, a source close to contract talks said. The makers of the A400M cargo plane and its engines must stop going back and forth and agree on a maintenance package, the source said.

Drawing up a maintenance contract is complicated because so many companies are involved with the plane's turboprop engine. Each A400M is powered by four engines.

Airbus Military, a subsidiary of Airbus and EADS, manufactures the transport plane, and Europrop International (EPI) builds the plane's TP400-D6 engine. EPI is a consortium comprising ITP of Spain, MTU of Germany, Rolls-Royce of Britain, and Snecma, part of France's Safran group.

Airbus Military is trying to "translate" the client requirements for the engine manufacturer, but the engine companies are struggling to get a clear understanding of the needs, a second source close to the talks said.

Engine maintenance differs from service for the A400M's airframe and on-board equipment, the second source said, and it is difficult to find agreement on customers' requirements in the propulsion area.

"What's needed is a dialogue," the second source said.

Industry would like to propose a draft contract by the end of this year or mid-2012 to be ready for signing in time for the first delivery of the A400M to France by the end of 2012.

To complicate matters, each country wants to handle service in a different way, the first source said.

Germany is pursuing its own service activities, with Lufthansa Technik to serve as a key supplier of support for the Luftwaffe's fleet of A400M planes.

As an example of how hard it is to achieve a common international procurement program, Germany has no money to buy a directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) suite that had been jointly agreed upon with France. That means French A400Ms would fly without the planned DIRCM self-defense system, although they would be equipped with other anti-missile protection gear such as chaff and flare dispensers. Britain, meanwhile, is buying an American-built DIRCM system for its A400Ms.

Six of the A400M's seven launch customers - Belgium, which also signed for Luxembourg, along with Britain, France, Germany and Spain, signed at the recent Paris Air Show a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a "common core" of support, which covers configuration management, data management, and possibly spare parts. Turkey is expected to sign in the coming weeks once parliamentary approval is received.

The announcement of the MoU by the French Defense Ministry caught some industry executives by surprise, leaving some wondering what is in the framework agreement.

The MoU also covers a bilateral British-French agreement on all other areas of support, including maintenance and repairs. Common A400M support is one of the areas covered by the Anglo-French defense cooperation treaty signed Nov. 2.

The first A400M service contract for Britain and France is due to be signed with the European multinational program manager, Organisme conjoint de coopération en matière d'armement, around the end of the year.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Engine Issues Persist

Jul 28, 2011

By Robert Wall



LONDON — Six weeks after a TP400D turboprop gearbox failure, the A400M military airlifter program is still grappling with the setback, which is starting to erode the schedule margin that had been gradually built up.

Europrop International (EPI) — the joint venture of Rolls-Royce, Snecma, MTU and ITP — has not yet identified the root case of an inflight pinion failure. The component is made by Avio.

Airbus Military has been forced to cannibalize engines intended for aircraft yet to join the test program to keep the four A400Ms now in trials flying.

An industry official says several sorties had to be scrapped as a result of the engine bottleneck and the schedule margin for the flight-test program has been erased.

In an statement about the situation, Airbus Military says that “the A400M is a high-tech, complex program and the flight test is designed to find and resolve any issue before entry into service. In this, the engines are a critical part. We are working with our colleagues at EPI to secure a smooth entry into service of the engine, according to the agreed schedule.”

A major indicator of the effect the engine problem will have on the program is whether MSN6 — the fifth flight-test aircraft — begins trials as planned in October.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Flight Test Campaign Continues to Progress

(Source: OCCAR; issued September 1, 2011)

During the month of August, the A400M Flight Test campaign has continued full steam, both at the Toulouse and Seville sites.

A significant event was reached with the MSN004 aircraft on the 8th of August: the Flight Test team reached 2,000 cumulative flight hours. By the last Sunday of August, a total number of 674 flights had been performed meaning a cumulative of 2,087.1 flying hours with four aircraft in flight.

In terms of flying hour’s figures this means that the Flight Test activity is going over the plan, as shown on this graph.
Another interesting figure has also been reached. Less than 10,000 hours “remain to do” on the MSN006 in Seville to reach its first flight. This is considerable progress given that more than 40,000 hours were reported as "remain to do” at the beginning of the year.

The first flight of MSN006 is planned to take place on 22nd December this year. You can see below a picture of MSN006, already painted, and fitted with engines, but without the propellers.

Finally, the first part (Wing Fuselage Fairing) of the MSN007, which is the first aircraft in production to be delivered to France, has been delivered to the Final Assembly Line in Seville. More parts are to go to Seville soon.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

DATE:08/09/11

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M fleet passes 2,000 test hours despite engine issue

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military's fleet of A400M "Grizzly" development aircraft has flown through the 2,000 flight hour milestone, despite an issue which has affected the type's turboprop engines since shortly before the Paris air show.

The company said its current four flight-test aircraft had logged a combined 684 flights totalling just over 2,100h by 4 September. This means that roughly 180 flights and 500h have been added since mid-May, when one of aircraft MSN1's four Europrop International (EPI) TP400-D6 engines automatically shut down while airborne.

"EPI is continuing to work on a solution to the issues encountered," said Airbus Military, without providing new information about the nature of the fault.

Airbus Military said flight-test activities being conducted from Toulouse, France, and Seville, Spain, are "progressing steadily", and involve sorties flown with crews from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Three of its aircraft are routinely available and are each flown up to twice per day, while a fourth is typically undergoing work to upgrade it to the latest equipment standard.


© Airbus Military

"Currently the focus is on the completion of the handling qualities, performance and systems certification tests," it said. The company hopes to secure civil type certification from EASA before the end of this year.

The programme's fifth and final development aircraft, MSN6, is expected to join the flight-test campaign in late 2011. Currently in assembly, the production-standard aircraft had been scheduled to make its flight debut during October. However, Airbus Military said it has recently decided to first use the asset in support of evacuation testing in advance of it securing certification and meeting initial operating clearance requirements.

"As a result, the first flight will take place slightly later than originally planned, but is still expected by the end of the year," it said. Separately, Europe's OCCAR defence procurement agency has identified a possible target date of 22 December for the milestone.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:22/09/11

SOURCE:Flight International

A400M clears key certification tests, says Airbus

By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military's A400M has cleared two significant hurdles on the way to securing civil type certification before the end of this year.

Separate activities were conducted in mid-September to clear the European airlifter's high-energy rejected take-off test, and also on emergency evacuation procedures.

Performed on 17 September in Toulouse, France, using development aircraft MSN1, or "Grizzly 1", the braking system test involved accelerating the A400M to its V1 decision speed at its maximum take-off weight of 141,000kg (310,900lb), before aborting the take-off. The aircraft was taxied clear of the runway and stopped for 5min before firefighters were allowed to cool its brakes and wheels.

"As is typical in this test, three of the aircraft's tyres deflated," Airbus Military said in a 22 September statement. "There was no further damage and the test was highly successful."


© Airbus Military

Meanwhile, aircraft MSN6 was employed for emergency evacuation tests, undertaken over a series of days at the company's San Pablo final assembly site near Seville, Spain.

"All the tests required for certification were passed," Airbus Military said, citing activities as having encompassed the carriage of conventional troops and paratroopers, and in medical evacuation and mixed troop/cargo configurations.


© Airbus Military

The company has established a target of securing civil type certification for the A400M from the European Aviation Safety Agency before the end of 2011.

This is a key step towards it launching deliveries of the Europrop International TP400-D6-engined type in early 2013.

"These are vital tests to satisfy highly specific certification requirements," said Airbus head of flight operations Fernando Alonso. "We look forward to more strong progress in the next few weeks."

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

And So It Begins

Posted by Bill Sweetman at 10/13/2011 8:56 AM CDT

Yes, that was an A400M with USAF insignia at the Association of the US Army show this week. And it may not be long before USAF and Army bases in the United States see the real thing.



EADS North America confirms that a US promotional tour is being seriously considered, and that a 2012 date has not been ruled out. Civil certification, due around the end of this year, would make it possible. The key question might be timing. Any demonstration tour would have to be arranged without affecting preparations for service entry.

Also, there is no immediate US requirement, and until some budget numbers settle the size and mission of the army, and the service defines some of its future vehicles, trying to define a plan for airlift will not be easy.

However, the issue will have to be addressed sooner or later, because US plans for a follow-on to the C-130 have remained confused. Army plans for a heavy vertical-lift aircraft are comatose at best, according to sources at AUSA, while the USAF continues to fund research on a stealthy tactical transport -- which it is hard to see turning into a real program for decades. Meanwhile, not much has been heard recently of Lockheed Martin's upsized-C-130 or Boeing's trimmed-down C-17FE.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

No Support: No A400M

Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 10/13/2011 9:37 AM CDT

Laurent Collet-Billon, the director of the French DGA procurement agency has threatened Airbus Military that he will not take delivery of the A400M ordered for France “and I will not pay for them” unless a satisfactory contract is reached concerning the transport aircraft's support and maintenance.

Collet-Billon was answering questions from the National Assembly's Defense and Armed Forces Commission on Oct. 5 prior to the 2012 budget debates.

“We still don't have a satisfactory proposal from Airbus, notably for the engine. I have let the industrialists know that, without a support contract, I will not accept the aircraft and I will not pay for them,” he warned.

Generally the aircraft manufacturer ensures maintenance until the aircraft is mature, he told the parliamentarians. “After this period, we could consider giving more responsibility to the state workshops”, in other words the SIMMAD, the structure which maintains the armed forces' fixed and rotor-wing aircraft. He said the latter was “absolutely essential” because “the market for keeping equipment in operational condition is not necessarily very attractive for industrialists because it is too small.”

“We had planned to sign a joint support contract with the British for the first aircraft. But because the French deliveries are earlier, it will be difficult to agree in time. I will therefore not hesitate, if necessary, to sign contracts strictly dedicated to the support of the very first French aircraft,” he said.

The DGA director told the parliamentarians it was “obvious” that a “major joint support contract at a European level” would have to be signed “when a sufficient number of aircraft are in service.” He said “national specifications should not stop up from pooling the major part of support.” But, he added, “before starting on this laborious undertaking, it is urgent to find a solution for the aircraft we will receive from 2013.”

[buglerbilly]

A400M Looks Past Engine Issues To 2012 Fielding

Oct 25, 2011

By Robert Wall wall@aviationweek.com
TOULOUSE



Although it is far from certain that the Airbus Military A400M transport will meet two of its 2011 targets — receiving its type certification and flying the fifth test aircraft — program officials are generally upbeat about overall development progress and confident that the far more important objective, delivering the first customer aircraft, can be met next year.

“We are in pretty good shape,” says Fernando Alonso, flight operations leader, in describing the status of flight trials. The program is nearing the 2,500 flight-test-hour mark, with 3,700 hr. expected for the entire campaign. The four aircraft in testing are logging 10-11 flights a week.

Moreover, two of the main technical problems encountered this year, both linked to the TP400D turboprop engine, have been addressed and fixes are now being put in place. One led to an inflight engine shutdown because of a component failure in June. Analysis found that the fatigue crack in the gear-tooth fillet radius was caused by resonance in the idler gear at cruise propeller speed, says Simon Henley, president of the Europrop International engine consortium.

The idler gear has been redesigned to shift the frequency at which resonance occurs, thereby avoiding fatigue. In addition to fixing the issue on new engines, the component will be replaced on current engines. Engineers also have developed an algorithm to help identify early signs of failure to avoid an inflight shutdown.

The other issue is linked to the high-pressure compressor, which prompted the removal of three engines owing to problems occurring on the ground.

Henley says the blade fatigue was found to be caused by wake separation from an upstream variable inlet guide-vane, compounded by an acoustic resonance. The problem occurred only within a tight speed range, he notes.

A double fix has been developed: One is to adjust the full-authority digital engine control to ensure the compressor does not run at the speed where the problem occurs; the second involves a redesign of the variable inlet guide-vane to eliminate the wake separation.

Overall, engine performance is ahead of specification, with current TP400Ds already beating by 1% the specific fuel-consumption target for the entry-into-service standard powerplants, says Martin Maltby, TP400 program technical director. Assembly of the engines for the first customer aircraft, MSN007 for the French air force, is to start by year’s end for delivery to Airbus Military by the second quarter of next year.

As for the overall flight-test program, much of the focus in recent months has been on completing the certification work. Alonso says the work is on track, but he will not project when it will be completed.

The program was targeting completion of the certification-test effort this year, which Alonso notes is still possible, although he will not rule out a slide into 2012. “What is really important is the entry into service,” he says. This is due no later than March 2013, although program officials remain hopeful of meeting a 2012 target.

Part of the problem in fixing a date for the type certification is linked to finding the appropriate conditions to achieve some flight-test points. For instance, only 40% of the anti-icing campaign has been completed, largely because of benign weather conditions in Europe in recent months. That appears to be changing, however, and much of the work could be completed in only four flights.

Airbus Military has redesigned the wing deicing system after flight trials identified buffet problems with an earlier setup — and now will deice the No. 1 leading-edge slat (LE1), the third slat and part of the fourth (previously LE3, LE4 and LE5 were being deiced).

Otherwise, Alonso says, 100% of the performance tests are completed, 70% of the work linked to flight controls and handling qualities — the last release of the autopilot software for type certification is due next week — and 70% of avionics and 85% of engine-related activities also are done.

As with icing, crosswind tests also have been hampered by lack of suitable conditions. But Ed Strongman, chief test pilot for Airbus Military, says that in the trials performed so far, with takeoffs in a 25-kt. crosswind gusting to 37 kt. and landings in 26 kt. gusting to 34 kt., the engines performed without any problem.

Moreover, certification authorities have just validated the minimum control speed on the ground with an engine failure on takeoff (VMCG) for the airlifter, achieving 88.9 kt. and beating the 90-kt. target, says Strongman. The performance figure is particularly critical for the short-runway performance of the airlifter.

To meet VMCG requirements with its powerful TP400D turboprops, Airbus Military has devised a system in which the engine opposite to the failed powerplant automatically spools back up to 25% of thrust, depending on the speed at which the failure occurs. That ensures the aircraft remains within the allowed 10-meter (32.8-ft.) variance from the runway centerline.

Also completed this month were trials at France’s Istres test center. The A400M traveled through a water bath to ensure that spray from the wheels is not ingested by the engines, causing a flameout. The A400M passed that test, although Airbus identified a small design problem when the water wake penetrated a cavity associated with a main landing-gear door, causing damage. That component will be redesigned.

High-energy rejected-takeoff testing and passenger- and crew-evacuation trials also have been completed.

The other pending 2011 milestone, first flight of MSN006, is also up in the air. Alonso notes the aircraft is basically ready to fly, with engines in hand. However, the focus for that aircraft will be on function and reliability testing next year — a 300-hr. program in which the aircraft has to demonstrate it is ready for service. The question now is whether to fly the aircraft soon and then upgrade it to prepare for that endurance trial, or whether it makes more sense to simply wait for some final configuration elements to be ready, install them and then begin flight testing in the proper standard.

Also due next year is a renewed focus on validating military elements of the airlifter. That will include flare and chaff ejection and performance of the defensive aids sensors. The communications suite and mission management system will also receive closer scrutiny. Strongman notes that some risk-reduction activities have already been undertaken, including flying with night-vision goggles, dry contact with the air-to-air refueling drogue, and military loads.

Not all the work needs to be completed for entry-into-service, so some could be deferred if the schedule gets tight, Strongman notes.

Also on the agenda for next year is climatic envelope expansion, with hot-and-high performance likely to be tested in La Paz, Bolivia, in the spring. Those trials were due this year, but delayed owing to a self-imposed flight-test restriction because of TP400 issues. Further cold-weather trials are also planned, this time using MSN006, which has the most production-representative cabin.

Air drop of paratroopers and gravity loads will also be in the spotlight.

Validating ground loading/unloading using different loads also will be on the agenda. Actual air-to-air refueling is planned to build on the 15 dry contacts already completed. Airbus Military identified some adjustments it wants for the flight-control laws in refueling to optimize handling. First trials using the A400M as a tanker with its refueling pods are also coming into focus.

Flights from unprepared runways — grass, dirt and gravel — also are planned.

[buglerbilly]

A400M Upgrade to Reduce Compressor Blade Wear

By PIERRE TRAN

Published: 25 Oct 2011 12:59

TOULOUSE, France - Industrial consortium Europrop International (EPI) is fixing the compressor blades on the engines of the A400M military airlifter in a bid to reduce wear, said President Simon Henley.

In the intensive flight test program of the Airbus Military A400M, EPI identified in the second and third quarter of this year unusual fatigue on the high pressure compressor blades of the TP400-D6 engine, Henley told journalists.

Rolls-Royce, part of the EPI group, identified a "resonance issue," or unwanted vibration when the engine was operating in a tight speed range. EPI is working on a "double fix," with a software patch as a short-term solution for the flight test program and a permanent hardware upgrade, Henley said.

EPI declined to say how much the hardware upgrade would cost.

EPI is a consortium comprising ITP of Spain, MTU Aero Engines of Germany, Safran's Snecma of France and Rolls-Royce of Britain.

The group estimates the TP400 turboprop engine will be worth more than 4 billion euros ($5.5 billon) over the life of the program. The A400M program is Europe's largest common defense program at a revised 23.5 billion euros.

EPI installed a temporary software fix for the high pressure compressor for the four test aircraft flying and is developing a full software fix that will be available for the next software release in the first quarter of 2012, the company said.

The hardware upgrade would be available "early in the production run," EPI said. The first production engines are due to roll off the assembly line for the French Air Force later this year.

The upgrade will be on "the first four production aircraft in the first quarter 2012," an EPI spokesman said.

EPI also has identified and fixed the cause of the gearbox problem which prevented the A400M from flying aerial displays at the Paris Air Show in June, Henley said.

The engine and gearbox were taken off the aircraft and run on a test rig to reveal fatigue cracks on the gear tooth, due to a particular "resonance," Henley said. EPI has redesigned and upgraded the idler gear on the Avio gearbox and the problem has not recurred, he said.

Airbus has installed 16 engines on four operational test aircraft, flying an intense rate of six to eight sorties a day, Henley said.

Four engines have been installed on the fifth A400M unit, dubbed MSN6. The TP400 was certified in May and has some 11,600 operating hours.

The TP400 engine is a source of contention between the French government and Airbus Military. French defense procurement chief Laurent Collet-Billon told the National Assembly's defense committee Oct. 5 that negotiations with industry for an A400M service contract were "more than difficult," mainly because of the turboprop engines.

"We still have not received a satisfactory proposal from Airbus, notably for the engine," Collet-Billon said. "I have told industry that, without a service contract, I won't accept the aircraft and I won't pay for them."

France wanted to sign a common A400M support contract with Britain, but as deliveries to the French Air Force were due earlier than those to the British Royal Air Force, it would be difficult to reach agreement in time, Collet-Billon said.

France would in that case sign specific service agreements for the first deliveries, he said.

"Airbus Military is working to reach an agreement on the service contract," company spokeswoman Maggie Bergsma said.

EPI was working on the same lines, a company spokesman said.

Industry aimed to have a service support in place when the A400M is delivered, an industry source said.

Regarding flight tests, Airbus was on track to deliver the first A400M by the end of 2012, said Fernando Alonso, head of flight operations.

"That is still the case," he said.

The aircraft is four years late, largely due to development problems with the engine, the largest turboprops built in the West, and the flight management system from Thales.

The target is to achieve an initial operating clearance by mid-2012, the standard agreed with the seven customer countries under a deal signed in April, which involved the governments injecting an extra 3.5 billion euros to partially cover cost overruns.

The test flight program will include heavy military content in 2012, as engineers and pilots work to secure certification by the program manager, the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d'Armement.

Among the tests to be completed in the coming year are:

■ Airdrops with 114 paratroopers, using single and double static lines, and gravity drops of loads.

■ Loading and unloading heavy equipment, such as NH90 and Puma helicopters and big trucks.

■ Inflight refueling with a British Royal Air Force VC10 tanker, with dry and wet contacts.

■ Helicopter refueling, working with Eurocopter.

■ Landing on unprepared runways, initially a grass runway at a former MiG fighter base, Cottbus, near Berlin.

■ Tests with defensive aids, ejecting flares and chaff.

■ Passive and active sensors for missile warning.

■ Military communications, including satellite links, UHF, MIDS and Link 16, encrypted.

■ Military mission management system, an onboard computer that acts as an interface between civil and military networks and is vital for low-flying operations using a digital terrain database and ground collision avoidance.

The A400M also has to qualify for type certification with the civil authorities, the European Aviation Safety Agency.

A first for the civilian agency is certification of the pilot head-up display as the primary cockpit display, said Ed Strongman, chief test pilot.

The test pilots have flown low-level night flights with the TopOwl type 2 visor and forward-looking infrared sensors.

Under the flight test program, the four test aircraft have flown nearly 2,400 hours, with 165 takeoffs and landings. Some 60 pilots have flown the aircraft, including British, French, German and Turkish, as well as staff of the civil and military certification agencies.

Overall, the flight test program "has demonstrated it is working to our full satisfaction," Alonso said.

[buglerbilly]

Bearing up: Airbus Military's 'Grizzly' nears civil certification

By: Craig Hoyle Toulouse

50 minutes ago

Source:

Flight test activities with the Airbus Military A400M *transport remain on track for completion by the end of 2012, with fixes having recently been agreed to *resolve two separate *engine issues which affected the programme earlier this year.

Updating the progress made using four "Grizzly" development aircraft for the first time since the type's restricted appearance at the Paris air show in June, Airbus head of flight operations Fernando Alonso said the fleet had logged 784 flights and 2,380 flight hours by 20 October.

Recent highlights included *clearing water ingestion testing, making take-offs and landings under high crosswind conditions and performing the first low-level flights, down to 330ft (91m) at 280kt (518km/h).

Water ingestion testing proved that the highest wake experienced - at about 80kt - would not reach the aircraft's Europrop *International (EPI) TP400-D6 engines. However, a minor design tweak will be required, as a link on the main landing gear door structure broke after water forced its way through a gap between the structure and a rub pad.


© Airbus Military

The European airframer's chief test pilot military Ed Strongman said the A400M's crosswind handling has been demonstrated to 25kt, *gusting to 37kt on take-off and 26kt and 34kt respectively on landing. "The engines behaved immaculately," he added.

Such tests are being performed as Airbus Military works to complete the tasks required before securing civil type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency - a target which it had previously set for completion *before the end of this year.

"We are advancing very quickly towards the end of [civil] certification testing," Alonso said at the company's flight test centre in Toulouse, France. "I cannot say if we will finish on 10 December or 10 January [2012]. We will finish as soon as we can."

But the A400M's overall *schedule - to complete 3,700h of core flight testing before deliveries can commence - has been threatened by several issues. The first arose in late 2010, when artificial ice shapes installed on the wing leading edges of aircraft MSN1 caused a large amount of buffeting as disturbed air hit the horizontal tail. This required a *refinement of the sections of the composite wing which would need anti-icing equipment installed to take bleed air from the engines. Alonso said the work took about six weeks to complete, and was "really penalising on the programme."

The new configuration will be installed on MSN2 early next year, followed by all production aircraft. MSN1 has been held ready since August to complete the four more flights needed under natural icing conditions.

Engine supplier EPI has also resolved two engine issues, one of which was behind the decision to limit the A400M to making just one brief public *flying *appearance at Le Bourget.

EPI president Simon Henley revealed that the uncommanded in-flight shutdown of one of MSN1's engines on 6 June was traced to a fatigue crack in the tooth fillet radius on an idler gear, and caused by a resonance issue. A new software algorithm will alert the crew if an engine approaches the same conditions in flight again, and an upgraded idler gear design will be installed from November.


© Airbus Military

A high-pressure compressor blade fatigue fault also required three test engines to be removed from A400Ms earlier this year. The problem occurred at ground idle due to wake separation from the engine's variable inlet guide vane. A software patch will prevent a repeat occurrence, and an upgraded inlet vane design will be used on production aircraft.

EPI is to launch series production of the TP400 late this year, and deliver the engines for the programme's first customer aircraft in early 2012. A crucial enabler for handing this A400M over late next year will be the availability of a fifth and last Grizzly. MSN6 had been expected to fly recently with a production-standard cargo hold, but Alonso *confirmed Airbus Military is *assessing whether to delay this until early 2012. "Our priority is to get it in a configuration for *testing," he added.

The aircraft will perform key military tests, including equipment loading, cold weather operations in Sweden and high-altitude testing in La Paz, Bolivia, before completing 300h of *"functioning and reliability" testing. Other work to be performed using the development fleet next year should include grass landings in Germany, gravity load drops and receiving fuel in flight for the first time.

Alonso is confident that the A400M will meet its service entry goal. "We are delighted with how the aircraft is performing," he said. "We have removed most, if not all of the risk."

[buglerbilly]

GKN Aerospace to Supply Air to Air Refuelling Equipment for A400M

(Source: GKN; issued October 31, 2011)

GKN Aerospace has won a contract from Cobham Mission Equipment worth over £6m to design, develop and manufacture a lightweight air to air refuelling pylon for the wing dispense equipment (WDE) on the A400M military airlifter.

First deliveries of development units for vibration testing will take in February 2012 with production deliveries commencing in early 2013 and continuing through to 2020.
The GKN Aerospace pylon design will be manufactured using a combination of composite and metallic components to achieve specified weight and performance targets that are essential to ensure safe and efficient completion of air to air refuelling.

Jeff Armitage, Vice President and MD Nacelles at GKN Aerospace comments: "This contract represents the successful development of our existing wing structures and fuel delivery systems businesses. It takes us into an important new customer relationship with Cobham - and into a market where our expertise in complex composite, metallic and hybrid wing structures can bring real operational advantage."

GKN Aerospace has already designed, and now supplies, the A400M wing spar – the world's first all-composite wing spar for a large aircraft. This massive structure has been manufactured using a number of state of the art processes including advanced Automated Tape Laying (ATL) techniques. The aircraft's engine inlet and wing trailing edge detail are also supplied by the Company.

GKN Aerospace is the aerospace operation of GKN plc, serving a global customer base and operating in North America, Australia, the Asia Pacific and Europe. With sales of GBP1.5 billion, the business is focused around three major product areas - aerostructures, propulsion systems and transparencies, plus a number of specialist products - electro-thermal ice protection, fuel and flotation systems, and bullet resistant glass.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

A400M Faces Last Critical Flight-Test Year

Nov 10, 2011

By Robert Wall
Toulouse



Despite being nearly three years behind schedule, the A400M military airlifter test program is progressing through its final year amid a surprisingly calm atmosphere.

Test personnel recognize there is still ample time for hiccups to occur, but the head of flight-test operations at Airbus Military, Fernando Alonso, says, “we are in pretty good shape,” even if “we are still prone to find things” as the trials unfold. The program has logged 2,500 flight-test hours, with 3,700 hr. expected for the entire campaign.

That is not to say that the A400M development is running to the revised program schedule. Developers may miss two key 2011 targets: garnering the A400M’s type certification and flying the fifth test aircraft. Both events could slide into 2012, though Alonso argues that “what is really important is the entry into service,” and that remains likely to occur late next year.

Contractual issues also remain a concern. For instance, France has expressed displeasure at the initial in-service support offering put forward by industry.

But developers are largely satisfied that no major engineering hurdles are staring them in the face at the moment, especially now that two of the main technical problems the program encountered this year—both linked to the TP400D turboprop engine—have been addressed. Fixes are being implemented.

One problem manifested itself in June, when a flight-test aircraft suffered an inflight engine shutdown because of a component failure. Analysis found that the fatigue crack in the gear-tooth fillet radius was caused by resonance in the idler gear at cruise propeller speed, says Simon Henley, president of the Euro*prop International engine consortium.

The idler gear has been redesigned to shift the frequency at which the resonance occurs and thereby avoid the material fatigue. In addition to making the adjustment for new engines, the component will be replaced on current powerplants. Engineers also have developed an algorithm to help identify early signs of failure to prevent an inflight shutdown.

The other issue is linked to the high-pressure compressor, which prompted the removal of three engines owing to problems that occurred on the ground.

Henley says blade fatigue was found to have been caused by wake separation from an upstream variable inlet guide vane, compounded by an acoustic resonance. The problem arose only in a tight speed range, he notes.

A double fix has been developed: One adjusts the full-authority digital engine control to ensure the compressor does not run at the speed at which the problem occurs; the second involves a redesign of the variable inlet guide vane to eliminate the wake separation.

Overall, engine performance is ahead of specification, with current TP400Ds already beating by 1% the specific fuel-consumption target for the entry-into-service standard powerplants, says Martin Maltby, TP400 program technical director. Assembly of the engines for the first customer aircraft, MSN007 for the French air force, is scheduled to start by year-end, with delivery to Airbus Military by the second quarter of next year.

In the flight-test program as a whole, much of the focus in recent months has been on completing certification work. Alonso says the work is on track, but he will not project when it will be finished.

One reason Airbus is finding it difficult to predict when the type certification will be achieved is related to weather conditions. For instance, only 40% of the anti-icing campaign has been completed, largely because of benign weather in Europe in the last couple of months. With winter approaching, however, much of the work could be completed soon in only four flights.

Airbus Military has redesigned the wing deicing system after flight trials identified buffet problems in an earlier setup. Now it will deice the No. 1 leading edge (LE1) slat, the third leading edge (LE3) slat and part of the fourth (LE4). The previous plan called for LE3, LE4 and LE5 to be deiced.

Otherwise, Alonso says, 100% of the performance trials and 70% of the work linked to flight controls and handling qualities are completed.

As with the deicing tests, crosswind trials have been hampered by lack of suitable conditions. But Ed Strongman, chief test pilot for Airbus Military, notes that in tests with takeoffs at 25 kt. crosswind gusting to 37 kt. and landings at 26 kt. gusting to 34 kt., the engines performed without problem.

Moreover, certification authorities have just validated the minimum control ground velocity (VMCG) with an engine failure on takeoff for the airlifter, achieving a speed of 88.9 kt. and beating the 90-kt. target, says Strongman. The figure is particularly critical for the short runway performance of the airlifter.

To meet VMCG requirements with its powerful TP400D turboprops, Airbus Military has devised a system where the opposite engine automatically spools back up to 25% of thrust depending on the speed at which the failure occurs. That assures the aircraft remains within the allowed 10-meter (33-ft.) variance from centerline.

Also completed last month were trials at the French flight-test center at Istres in which the A400M passed through a water bath to ensure the spray from the wheels is not ingested by the engine to cause a flameout. The A400M passed that test, although Airbus identified a small design problem when the water wake penetrated a cavity associated with a main landing gear door and caused some damage. That component will now have to be redesigned.

High-energy rejected takeoff and passenger and crew evacuation trials have been completed, too.

Flight-testing has demonstrated that the A400M can forego the active noise suppression system for the cabin, which developers expected to include. Lower noise in the cabin means saving more than 200 kg (440 lb.) by eliminating the need for the active system.

The pending 2011 milestone in addition to achieving type certification, first flight of MSN006, is on hold. Alonso notes that the aircraft is basically ready to fly, with engines in hand, but the focus for MSN006 will be on function and reliability testing next year. That entails a 300-hr. flight-test program in which the aircraft has to demonstrate it is ready for service. The question now is whether to fly the aircraft soon and upgrade it later in preparation for the endurance trial or wait for some final configuration elements to be ready, install them and then begin trials in the proper standard.

A number of activities are on the agenda for next year, though Strongman says not all the work needs to be completed for entry into service, so some could be deferred if the schedule gets tight. Those agenda items are:

• A renewed focus on validating military elements of the airlifter, including flare and chaff ejection, performance of the defensive aids sensors, and closer scrutiny of the communications suite and mission management system. Strongman notes that some risk-reduction activities have already been undertaken, including dry air-to-air refueling contact and flying with night-vision goggles and military loads.

• Climate envelope expansion, with hot-and-high performance likely to be tested in La Paz, Bolivia, in the spring. Those trials were planned for this year but delayed by a self-imposed flight-test restriction because of TP400D issues. Further cold-weather tests are also planned, this time using MSN006, which has the most production-representative cabin.

• Air drop of paratroopers and gravity loads.

• Validating ground loading and unloading using different cargos.

• Actual air-to-air refueling to build on the 15 dry contacts already completed. Airbus Military identified some adjustments it wants for the flight control laws in refueling to optimize handling. First refueling trials with helicopters are also coming into focus, as well as using the A400M as a tanker with its refueling pods.

• Flights from unprepared runways— those made of grass, dirt and gravel.

But even if there again appears to be some schedule margin, the pressure is still on to bring testing to a close. With Europe’s spending in decline, the Middle East is seen as a hot growth market, though the A400M will be absent from this week’s Dubai air show. Asked if the aircraft will participate, Alonso says “forget it. We have put a veto on air show flying this year. The priority is certification.”

Photo: Mark Wagner

[buglerbilly]

PICTURES: France's first A400M enters final assembly

By: Craig Hoyle London

8 hours ago

Source:

Airbus Military has started final assembly work on the first of at least 174 A400M military transports, with the aircraft due to be delivered to the French air force from late next year.

Pictures released by the manufacturer on 23 November show aircraft MSN7's nose and wings arriving at its San Pablo site near Seville, Spain by Airbus A300-600ST Beluga freighter earlier this month, with their delivery having been followed by its main fuselage section.





Both images © Airbus Military

"The integration of the central box and outer wings has already begun," the company said, with the aircraft's horizontal and vertical tailplanes scheduled to arrive within the next two weeks.

"France will receive its first A400M around the turn of the year 2012-2013," Airbus Military said. Structures for the programme's next eight series production aircraft are also now in varying stages of the production process, it added.

Launch operator France will receive a total of 50 A400Ms, with the remaining examples under contract to be delivered to European partner nations Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK, plus first export buyer Malaysia.

The planned delivery of the first production aircraft will follow a programme delay of roughly three years.

[Milne Bay]

That Airbus A300-600ST Beluga navigating up to a small hole in the wall is a most impressive feat. I'd love to see a shot from outside the building.

[ADMk2]

Good to see this program moving along finally. Hopefully it's still in production when we need to replace C-130H and J models...

[buglerbilly]

A400M Type Certification Delayed

Dec 15, 2011

By Robert Wall



LONDON — Airbus now projects the type certification for the A400M military airlifter will be delayed until the second quarter of 2012.

A few weeks ago Airbus Military officials still thought a 2011 certification might be possible, although there were already indications the milestone could be delayed until 2012.

One of the issues has been finding the right weather conditions to complete the anti-icing trials. Another was a delay in some flight trials because of problems with the TP400D turboprop.

In a briefing to investors, Airbus COO Fabrice Bregier notes, however, that preparations are still under way to meet the contractual deadline of handing the first airlifter to a customer (in this case the French military) in March 2013. The aircraft, MSN007, is now in final assembly.

Flight testing of the A400M has now reached 2,554 hr. with 859 flights. Bregier adds that systems are matching customer needs.

Bregier also notes that production of the aircraft is set to reach 2.5 per month in 2015.

But the earnings outlook for the A400M is weak, although EADS CFO Hans-Peter Ring indicates that some improvement could come from exports, service opportunities and operational improvements.

[buglerbilly]

South Africa back in play for Airbus Military A400M after refund

By: Stephen Trimble Washington DC

7 hours ago

Source:

Airbus Military has cleared a key hurdle to pursuing further business with South Africa by refunding pre-delivery payments on an order of eight A400Ms cancelled two years ago.

The undisclosed refund to Armscor, the official weapons trader for South Africa's military, allows Airbus Military to offer the A400M or other transports to its former customer.

Reacting to cost overruns and schedule delays, South Africa cancelled the order in November 2009 after joining the programme as a full industrial partner four years earlier. At the time, South Africa intended to claim a R2.9 billion ($379 million) refund, but negotiations dragged on for two years.

Meanwhile, other competitors emerged to fill South Africa's requirement for a new tactical airlifter. Lockheed Martin has said South Africa is a prime candidate to buy the C-130XJ, a lower-cost variant of the tactical airlifter.

However, South Africa still has close links with the A400M programme. Denel Aerostructures and Aerosud are still members of the A400M supply chain, producing aircraft top shells, wing-fuselage fairings, wingtips, insulations and galleys, Airbus said. Cobham South Africa also builds the A400M satellite communications antenna in Cape Town, Airbus added.

Airbus Military is struggling to complete the A400M's flight-test schedule. Type certification has been delayed by up to three months to the second quarter of next year because of engine problems and performance shortfalls.

The first A400M is scheduled to be delivered in March 2013 to France, according to contract requirements. The first French aircraft, MSN7, is in final assembly, said EADS.

Airbus Military has planned to increase production to up to 2.5 aircraft per month in 2015. Eight countries have signed orders for a total of 174 A400Ms.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

A400M Flight Test Fleet At Full Strength

Posted by Robert Wall at 12/20/2011 6:01 AM CST

With today's first flight of MSN6, the flight test fleet for the A400M military airlifter is now complete.


(Photo: Airbus Military)

The fifth flight test aircraft (it is MSN6 because one flight test aircraft was taken out of the program early on) is in the final aircraft configuration and will be used for function and reliability testing, an important stage to validate the product before handing actual transports to customers.

All five aircraft are due to wrap up their work in time for the first customer delivery of MSN7 to France no later than March 2013; Airbus Military is still holding out hope for an early delivery in late 2012.

The flight test fleet is to accumulate around 3,700 flight test hours by then, with more than 2,500 already logged.

In announcing the first flight of MSN6, Airbus Military highlights some recent test achievements, noting that "the key high-energy rejected take-off test has been passed as well as emergency evacuations in different configurations. Crosswind and wet runway testing is complete, and so is testing with artificial ice shapes fitted to the wings. All stalling and braking tests have been passed, together with cruise performance, and the minimum unstick speed (Vmu), minimum control speed on ground (Vmcg) and minimum control speed in the air (Vmca) tests are also complete."

The next milestone for the program is a partial type certification due in early next year, with the full type certificate to follow in the second quarter -- that is a slight delay to the program, although officials stress most of the tasks needed for certification will be completed before year-end.

The first flight took place at Seville at 8:55 local time and lasted 130 minutes; the aircraft had a take-off weight of 125 metric tons, says Airbus Military.

[buglerbilly]

Airbus: A400M Interim Service Deal Expected Soon

Jan. 17, 2012

By PIERRE TRAN


An Airbus A400M takes off at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in Blagnac, France last October. / Pascal Pavani / AFP via Getty Images

HAMBURG, Germany — Airbus expects to reach an agreement on an interim service contract for the A400M airlifter in a matter of weeks, Fabrice Bregier, chief operating officer of the European aircraft maker, said Jan. 17.

Talks with France for a maintenance contract have dragged on for months. In October, French procurement chief Laurent Collet-Billon to threatened to withhold payment if a service support deal was not ready when the first transport aircraft is delivered to the air force.

“We hope to finalize in the coming weeks,” Bregier said at a joint Airbus-EADS press conference here.

Bregier said the initial deal would be an interim agreement to be extended to the full fleet for Britain and France, the first countries to take delivery of the four-engine A400M aircraft.

The talks have been complicated by difficulties between prime contractor Airbus and the companies in the Europrop International (EPI) engine consortium, French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet said Jan. 9.

“On engine maintenance, everyone is looking at everyone else and wondering what risk he can reasonably take on,” Longuet told the French aerospace press club.

“What we want is a global service agreement with someone who signs and assumes an undertaking,” Longuet said. “On the other side, companies are looking at each other and saying this is going to cost a fortune in lawyers and experts.”

Airbus Military, a subsidiary of Airbus and EADS, makes the A400M. EPI builds the plane’s TP400-D6 engine. The EPI consortium includes ITP of Spain, MTU of Germany, Rolls-Royce of Britain, and Snecma of France’s Safran group.

EADS CEO Louis Gallois said earlier the A380 superjumbo airliner and A400M programs “are now on track.”

Those programs would help boost EADS’ profitability in 2012. Higher aircraft deliveries, improving prices, cost-savings programs and ambitious profitability targets at the division level would also help, he said.

Under a revised scheduled, France is due to take delivery of the first A400M in 2013, with Britain to follow in 2014. Airbus Military hopes to ship the French aircraft by the end of this year, ahead of the contracted date.

France announced at the Paris Air Show in June a memorandum of understanding to cover A400M maintenance, with common support to be shared by Britain and France. Germany has made its own national arrangements for service.

[geof]

.. Realistically, the only way the RAAF may end up with these is as a C-130-J replacement 10 years or so down the track .. ??

[buglerbilly]

Realistically, it may be better if we wait a while longer before ANY consideration of the A400M

[Redcoat]

"]Realistically, it may be better if we wait a while longer before ANY consideration of the A400M"
[/B]
On the other hand I bet you could screw a really good deal out of Airbus Military at the moment

[JKM Mk2]

Yeh but you could probably screw a better deal out of Boeing for 3/4 more C-17's, which combined with a dozen C-130-J Herculese plus a dozen or so C-27J's sounds like a much better RAAF fit IMHO.

Cheers
JKM