Airbus’s A400M Plane Should Be Canceled in U.K., Lawmakers Say

By Mark Deen
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Britain’s defense ministry should consider canceling
its order for 25 A400M military transport aircraft because manufacturer
Airbus SAS can’t rule out further delays in delivery, a panel of lawmakers
said in a report.
“It is extremely serious that the A400M transport aircraft program is now
running two years late and further delays cannot be ruled out,” said James
Arbuthnot, a lawmaker from the Conservative opposition who leads the Defense
Committee including lawmakers from Britain’s three main political parties.
The government should say “whether it considers that there is a real risk
that the entire A400M project might be so delayed that abandonment would be
preferable,” he said.
Glitches with engine-control software have put the A400M at least four years
behind schedule, prompting Airbus parent European Aeronautic, Defence &
Space Co. to take a 1.7 billion- euro ($2.2 billion) charge. The plane,
meant to compete with Lockheed Martin Corp.’s C130J Hercules and Boeing Co.’s
C-17 Globemaster, is the main project of EADS’s Spanish business.
Initially, the contract signed in 2003 was worth 18 billion euros and
included orders from six European governments and Turkey to supply 192
transport planes. The risk for developing and producing the A400M fell to
EADS and wasn’t shared by the governments involved.
Refits Required
For Britain, the delay requires the military to refit its aging fleet of
Hercules C-130 transports, which ferry troops and equipment to and around
both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Defense Committee is concerned that the U.K. lacks sufficient air
transport capability to keep its forces adequately supplied and said the
situation is “worsening.”
The panel’s advice isn’t binding on the government. The Ministry of Defence
said that it had taken note of the recommendations and will respond to them
in the coming weeks.
The panel also criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown for delaying setting
the second phase of the “Defense Industrial Strategy” by more than a year.
Brown’s failure to outline an equipment spending plans is undermining the
nation’s ability to supply its armed forces, they said.
“We condemn the failure to publish an updated version of the Defense
Industrial Strategy and consider that its continuing absence increases the
risk that the U.K. defense industrial base will not be able to meet the
future requirements of our armed forces,” Arbuthnot said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Deen in London at
markdeen@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 25, 2009 19:01 EST