Airbus Military A400M nahradí C-130 Herkules Lockheed Martin

The Airbus A400M military nahradí C-130 Herkules

Nové vojenské dopravní letadlo Airbus A 400M má postupně ve výzbroji evropských států NATO nahradit legendární Herculesy. Program A 400 začal před šesti lety objednávkou 180 letadel od sedmi vlád - Belgie, Velké Británie, Francie, Německa, Lucemburska, Španělska a Turecka. Podle agentury AP má projekt tři roky zpoždění. Z původních 20 miliard euro se také nejspíš o pět miliard prodraží.
 The Airbus A400M military transporter is increasingly likely to make its maiden flight in December after long delays and cost overruns to the multination European project, the chief of Airbus parent EADS said Monday.
Airbus and EADS have set a deadline of somewhere between December and February for its first flight, "with a probability for December that is growing," Louis Gallois, CEO of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV, told reporters in Paris. He gave no other details.

He said he hopes all the European countries involved in the project agree to keep it going despite the heavy expense as governments are struggling with recession or its aftermath.

"Our hope is to fully convince them" by the end of this year, he said.

One of Europe's most ambitious joint military-industrial projects, the A400M program was launched in 2003 with an order for 180 planes from seven governments. It has been plagued by costly delays. Defense ministers from the seven nations - Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey - agreed in July to re-negotiate the contract. A new joint meeting is expected in mid-October.

The plane is being assembled in Seville, Spain, where it is also scheduled to make its first flight.

The hulking aircraft is designed to replace Lockheed Martin Corp.'s aging C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force as well as the retired C-160 Transall transport aircraft developed by a French and German consortium. It should almost double its predecessors' cargo capacity and have a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers).