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Airbus has entered into a revised agreement with European governments on its distressed A400M military transport aircraft, heralding a long battle over costs and technological problems.
The European aerospace and defense group announced Friday that it would expand deliveries of the aircraft while respecting the overall contractual timetable of the program until 2030.
The amended contract, signed with OCCAR, the European arms procurement agency, which coordinates the purchase of the A400M for the seven founding countries of the program, also includes new financial conditions, although details have not been revealed.
"The overall goal. . . both for Airbus as well as for OCCAR and the launch group's client countries, aimed at restoring a sustainable contractual basis and ensuring the smooth execution of the A400M program, "said Dirk Hoke, chief executive officer of the group. Airbus Defense and Space, in a statement.
Airbus had already announced last year that it had signed with the founding governments a statement of intent that would slow the production pace of A400M to eight per year from 2020, against 15 in 2018 and an 11 expected in 2019. The stretched production The timeline will also give the company more time to adjust to export sales, which have been rarer than originally expected.
The A400M, Europe's largest defense project, has already cost Airbus billions of dollars in additional charges and provisions. Delays and losses due to technological problems forced a first renegotiation in 2010, which ended with a bailout of 3.5 billion euros from the program.
Originally, the program was supposed to open a new era in military procurement, with Airbus having accepted a fixed-price contract. But the technological challenges have proved too important, as well as the high degree of custom requirements of different customers.
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