België zendt zestig militairen en twee F-16 jachtbommenwerpers extra naar Afghanistan.
http://www.mil.be/def/news/index.asp?LAN=nl&ID=1916

Het is mogelijk dat Airbus onder de huidige omstandigheden het militaire transportvliegtuig A400M niet gaat bouwen. Dat heeft voorzitter Thomas Enders van de Europese vliegtuigbouwer tegenover de Spiegel Online gemeld.
"Onder de huidige omstandigheden kunnen wij het vliegtuig niet bouwen", zei Enders, eraan toevoegend dat het beter is het programma vroegtijdig af te sluiten dan zich in nesten te werken.
180 exemplaren besteld
Zeven landen, waaronder België, hebben al 180 exemplaren van het militair transportvliegtuig besteld. Talrijke van die klanten hebben al hun ongenoegen geuit over de drie tot vier jaar vertraging die het programma al heeft opgelopen.
Enders zei dat hij niet op bedevaart naar Berlijn of Parijs zal gaan om een voortzetting van het programma dat ongunstig is voor Airbus te bepleiten. (afp/adv)
HLN 29/03/09 15u49

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 bill...

[ Continued ]

F-22 Raptor To Make Paris Air Show Debut

Feb 4, 2009
By David A. Fulghum

The U.S. Air Force is taking the F-22 Raptor to the Paris Air Show for the
first time this summer, according to Larry Lawson, executive vice president
and general manager of the F-22 program.
The trip to Paris has been long delayed. A furor that surrounded the
detailed customs inspection and electronic surveillance of the F-117 the
only time it went to France has apparently subsided.
The new U.S. administration has no grudge against France for not
participating in the invasion of Iraq. Even recent concerns about the French
air force’s electronic surveillance of the Indian Air Force’s Su-30 MKI
during a 2008 Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., has died
down (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 25). Moreover, the potential for additional U.S.
sales and, possibly, foreign sales has removed any remaining barriers.
To pique consumer interest, Lockheed Martin has revealed better than
expected performance for...

[ Continued ]

Can the Airbus A400M Be Saved?
By Hasnain Kazim and Anne Seith
03-02-2009
Enthusiasm is waning for the oft-delayed and over-budget military transport
plane A400M, currently under development by Airbus. Not only is the German
Defense Ministry reconsidering its orders, but even Airbus CEO Thomas Enders
has begun voicing his doubts.
When the subject of the military transport plane A400M comes up, the
reaction from Airbus CEO Thomas Enders is less than enthusiastic. "We want
to build the plane," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE at the just-ended World Economic
Forum in Davos. "But not at any price."
It is a comment that could be interpreted as a change in direction. Until
now, Airbus and its parent company EADS have consistently denied rumors that
the project was in danger of being mothballed. But the gigantic plane has
long been plagued by equally gigantic problems, leading to exploding costs,
frayed nerves and incessant delays. The tune now, as Enders is whistling it,...

[ Continued ]