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MADRID AND SEVILLE—Months in the making, potential A400M industrial deals to place more work into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are ready and just awaiting the triggering event—governments signing on the dotted line to buy the military transport, Airbus says.
Airbus has been in talks with Edge Group’s EPI unit, Mubadala’s Strata and others over parts production and services for the A400M and other programs, says Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus’ head of air power programs. The A400M workshare would be to support the global program, not just the UAE’s fleet, he added.
“In the UAE, there is, of course, a growing need for more industrial presence. It is not only a question of buying an aircraft from Europe, it’s a clear question of a partnership,” Dumont said. “It has to be durable.”
The talks over the industrial inducements for the UAE to commit to the aircraft have reached the point at which they are effectively done and just awaiting a contract, Airbus officials added. “We are ready,” says Eduardo Pellicer, head of A400M marketing.
The work packages go beyond the A400M to involve other Airbus products, Dumont said. On the A400M-specific work, the UAE would be the sole source for the entire program, “which means that without the UAE, there’s no A400M at some point.”
The UAE has emerged as one of the hottest prospects for Airbus to rebuild the backlog of orders for the A400M that has dwindled in recent years and brought production to the minimum sustainment rate of eight aircraft per year. The UAE has not spelled out how many aircraft it would take, but the buy is expected to be for eight-10.
Spain and France this year agreed to accelerate some of their deliveries to help ensure that near-term A400M production remains stable. Now the pressure is on Airbus to secure new buyers or top-up orders or face the prospect of shutting down the program just as it is maturing into its full operational capability.
As is typical with most customers, a UAE purchase would require some minor nationalization of the A400M, such as in communications, to ensure the transport can be interoperable with the country’s Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport fleet.
The UAE also has some military vehicles that would have to be cleared for use on the aircraft, Pellicer said, such as the 30-metric-ton Tawazun Al Jasoor infantry fighting vehicle. But he added that none of them should be showstoppers or require additional development work.
The UAE would only be the first buyer in the Middle East, the company hopes, projecting a market for 30-40 aircraft.
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