RAF to cut A400M order

MSN2 (front) has joined MSN1 in the A400M test programme. Airbus Military image

9 March 2010

The Royal Air Force may get fewer A400Ms than it wants.
 

March 9: In the wake of an agreement finally being thrashed out between the partner nations and EADS, DefenseNews reports that the French Defence Minister Hervé Morin expects Britain to cancel “two or three aircraft”.

The financial rescue package of €3.5 billion represents a 10% cost increase and it is known that the UK is reluctant to increase its financial input, so a cut in its order of 25 aircraft is the likely option. Under the agreement recently tabled, there is a maximum limit of ten aircraft that any one nation can cancel, said Morin.

Each of the partner nations will contribute on a pro-rata basis based on the number of aircraft ordered, he added. France will provide €950 million to the rescue package and will get its first aircraft in 2013, seven by 2014, 35 in 2020 and the last in 2024. Morin also said that as a stop-gap measure, France will buy eight Casa CN235 light transport aircraft and extend the life of Transall transport aircraft through to 2018.

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