Airbus A400M

European countries need to “reconverge” their space efforts, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said as he reported lower profits for Airbus' Defense and Space unit.

The service has had to compress development of C-130J missions onto the A400M.

The European Defense Agency (EDA) has funded Airbus, Spanish company GMV, the German aerospace center DLR and German firm AES Technology.

The approval, announced June 2, means that air forces now will be able to use the full capacity of the aircraft to drop up to 116 paratroopers from the paratroop doors.

Airbus is beginning talks with workforce representatives to address cost structure and boost the division’s long-term competitiveness.