Arm Wrestling Over the A400M

Against the backdrop of the financial crunch besetting the Airbus A400M program, national armaments directors from the seven core partners of the joint acquisition program are scheduled to meet in London on Jan 14, 2010, in an effort to reach an accord that would rescue the European strategic transport from oblivion. The project's future prospects received a jolt following a report in the German 'Financial Times Deutschland' that claims that parent company EADS is considering the outright cancellation of the delay-plagued program and the payment of EUR11.3 bil ($16.16 bil) in postponement costs. The A400M project involves the order of 180 of the airlifters through the Bonn-based Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation en Matiere d'Armement (OCCAR) by launch customers Germany, France, Spain, the UK, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg. (French)