Germany is reportedly seeking compensation of €300 million from Airbus, a total the country’s defense ministry estimates to be the cost of extending the life of Germany’s current transport aircraft.
The Atlas airlifter is the same plane that crashed near Seville, Spain, two weeks ago and killed four crew members. The four-engine turboprop A400M can be fitted out as a refueling tanker, a cargo plane, a medical transport or a troop transport for up to 116 people or paratroopers. The planes are built at the Airbus plant in Seville. A total of 174 have been ordered and 12 have been delivered.
Germany’s compensation request does not include further delays due to the crash in Spain, and that means that the cost to Airbus could rise. The larger problem for Airbus is whether the company can deliver the 12 planes that Germany expects to receive in 2015.
The Financial Times also reported that France may order up to four C130 Hercules military transports from Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) because the country needs the capability to refuel helicopters, something that Airbus cannot promise will be available for the A400M.
The plane was designed to meet the needs of European Union military forces and of the 12 delivered so far, the United Kingdom has received two, Turkey has received two, Malaysia has gotten one, Germany has one and France has received six. In addition to the order of 53 from Germany, the United Kingdom has ordered a total of 22, Turkey has ordered 10, Malaysia wants a total of four and France has ordered 50. Other orders include seven from Belgium, one from Luxembourg and 27 from Spain.
The A400M made its first flight in 2009 and entered service in 2013. The first delivery was four years behind schedule and more than €7 billion over an original budget of around €13 billion.
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