Germany to seek €300m for A400M delay

Germany will demand €300m in compensation from Airbus for delays to the troubled A400M military transport aircraft, as customers of the cargo and troop carrier step up the pressure on the European aerospace group in the wake of the fatal crash earlier this month. German’s Ministry of Defence has estimated the costs of extending the life of its old Transall transport aircraft at €300m, a figure the ministry said would form “the basis for negotiation on compensation” in discussions expected to start this summer on the development and delivery of the aircraft.

Germany also believes the delay in the A400M’s defensive-aid subsystem could be 1-2 years, and lead to a capability gap of two years, given that the C-160 Transalls were to be phased out at the end of 2018. But the defense ministry now says the Transalls could continue to fly until 2021 under certain conditions.

According to the contract, Airbus should have delivered 34 aircraft to Germany by 2018, of which 18 should have been equipped with a system of self defence. Berlin believes that it will have far fewer aircraft equipped with this system than it requires.

Airbus warned in January of new delays to a programme already running four years late and billions over budget. At the time, the group said it would have to renegotiate the development and production timetable with its military customers.

Source and image: Armstrade