A400M: Oh dear

Warning (corrected): A public relations agency for both Lockheed and Alenia supplied this link.

Airbus has warned customers of a potential three-month delay on its 20 billion euro ($26 billion) A400M transport aircraft program, a senior executive said Jan. 17.
News of the possible delay came as parent company EADS said in a Jan. 17 statement that Airbus probably would lose money for 2006 but EADS’ group likely would break even due to contributions from other divisions.

The European aircraft company said in December that an audit of the A400M program identified areas of risk and had approved a recovery plan. The program review recognized the risk of a three-month delay in starting final assembly of the aircraft, said Tom Williams, Airbus executive vice president, programs, at a press conference Jan. 17.

The original plan was to begin final assembly of the first cargo plane in March, but that could slip into the second quarter of this year, Williams said.
“We have flagged this to customers, who are naturally concerned,” he said.
The potential delay was due to an extensive redesign of the aircraft, which called for structural changes, to meet performance commitments, he said. The redesign had been completed by the time the program audit was done. But to avoid repeating the production fiasco that has delayed deliveries of the A380 superjumbo aircraft, Airbus will only begin assembly of the A400M if the sections delivered are at the required level of completion, Williams said...

If A400M assembly is delayed, time could be made up in the test phase by using several airframes in concurrent testing, Williams said. “It can be done.”
That could allow Airbus to meet a target of first flight, due in January 2008.
A three-month delay was probably not critical in a military program, he said...

The A400M program is a challenging one, involving a new aircraft, new turboprop engine and new propeller, the largest ever built, Williams said.

Jean-Paul Herteman, chief executive of Safran’s Sagem Defense Security unit, said Jan. 16 that development of the TP400 engine was “very challenging [see last para at link].” He added he was personally following the program’s progress...