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A400M deal agreed 'in principle'
25 February 2010An agreement on the future of the A400M military transporter has been reached 'in principle' according to Spain's defence minister Carme Chacon.
At an informal meeting of European defence ministers in Spain, Chacon said: "I am able to tell you with great satisfaction that we have reached an agreement in principle between the seven countries participating in the A400M programme and the EADS company."
Chacon said details of the deal would be announced shortly. However, Germany said EADS had not yet formally replied to the offer.
Airbus CEO Tom Enders told Reuters he was confident that an agreement would be reached soon. "I think we'll get a very significant contribution," said Enders. "We are confident that we can now continue the project."
The A400M completed its first successful test flight from Seville on 11 December 2009, and the UK is looking to secure 25 A400Ms for the Royal Air Force.
HAVE YOUR SAY
25 February 2010
I think the UK has reduced it's order to 22 planes.
John Walkley - Budapest Hungary
26 February 2010
We should have walked away from this ages ago. Why do we need yet another intermediate transporter? Surely more C-130s & C-17s or even An-124s would have been a better idea? How much extra is this costing the defence budget?
The A400 is designed for the French and German eurocentric defence policies.I can see Heavylift being the proud onwers of 22 nearly new (and probably free) planes soon. After all they could do with replacing the Belfasts, if they still use them. Another lesson not learnt there then. Or with the fiasco of the Typhoon's development, or just about any other "its cheaper if we have international partners" project that the MOD has signed the taxpayer up to. Role on the cuts to Whitehall(the former War Office that is NOT the military itself).If Wellington was able to organise his armies with less than a hundred. Why in the age of computers do we need a cast of thousands sending paperwork to each other? I suggest the simple fact is...we don't.
Alistair - London