LE BOURGET—France and Spain have committed to accelerate purchases of formerly delayed Airbus A400M orders in a bid to underpin the long-term production outlook for the military transport.
France will speed up acquisition for four of the aircraft, while Spain will take three of them earlier than had been planned, Airbus said in a June 17 statement. The move assures production stability at a rate of eight aircraft per year through 2028, says Jean-Brice Dumont, head of air warfare programs at Airbus.
Airbus for months has warned the program may be at risk of closing in several years if the company cannot secure additional orders given the aircraft's dwindling backlog. At the end of May, Airbus had delivered 131 of the 178 A400Ms ordered to date.
Airbus Defense & Space CEO Michael Schoelhorn said on the eve of the Paris Air Show that he was confident Airbus should be able to secure the orders it needs this year and in the coming years to at least keep the backlog stable. “There is renewed traction” in sales campaigns, he said June 13.
As part of the agreement with France and Spain, Airbus said it has committed to work on ways to optimize maintenance of the aircraft to bring down operation costs. The manufacturer has also given assurances that system upgrades are developed more cost effectively and faster.
Among the upgrades Airbus is exploring is a payload increase to 40 metric tons—largely through minor tweaks and by freeing up design margins—as well as using the aircraft as a carrier for collaborative combat aircraft and firefighting. Airbus reaffirmed its interest signaled earlier to modify the A400M for standoff jamming missions. Germany is a potential customer.
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