Seville, 12 March 2010 – In the context of the Spanish EU/WEU Presidency, the European Security and Defence Assembly held a seminar on “the transatlantic defence equipment market” in Madrid, on Thursday 11 March. The seminar was followed by a fact-finding mission to the Airbus Military A400M facility, EADS, Seville.

There the parliamentarians were briefed by the Institutional Director of Airbus Military, Andalucia, Javier CORNEJO and were given a tour of the facilities. They were impressed at the progress made with the A400M military airlifter programme, currently at the certification and flight-testing stage. The site tour also included an inspection of the C-212, CN-235 and C-295 final assembly lines. Airbus Military offers a complete family of aircraft for military missions, including transporters and air tankers. The A400M heavy airlifter with its advanced performance characteristics (high and low altitude flight, last-mile delivery) constitutes both a tactical and strategic capability and can also be used for the delivery of humanitarian aid. It is equipped with an entirely new engine produced by a European consortium. This aircraft is less expensive than its American competitor, the C17, and has the added advantage of being able to land on short or unprepared landing strips. Of the three A400Ms currently in existence, one is already flying, the second is undergoing engine tests and the third is in the assembly phase. At full production capacity, two aircraft will leave the assembly line each month. Assembly of one aircraft takes about eight weeks.

Some 1 200 Spanish staff together with 400 nationals of the other participant states are currently employed at the Airbus Military plant in Seville. The first delivery (for France) is scheduled for the end of 2012. Airbus Military, as an integral part of Airbus, now has the full benefit of the Airbus Company infrastructure and engineering services. The reorganisation is enabling Airbus Military to carry out its ambitious A400M programme successfully, and also the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) programme.

The Assembly has been following this project closely and has produced a number of reports and recommendations on the subject. Already in March 2009, EADS Chief Executive Louis GALLOIS took part in hearings attended by the members of the Assembly in Brussels on Tuesday 24 March 2009 (see Press Releases Nos. 7 and 9/2009).

The A400M Tactical and Strategic Airlifter programme was officially launched and integrated into OCCAR in May 2003, with seven participating states (Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Turkey). On 9 January EADS confirmed that there would be a three-year gap between the maiden flight (which took place on 11 December last) and the first delivery of the A400M aircraft. The A400M programme can be considered a success. The aircraft is now in the air, its performance is excellent, its price (despite having increased) remains competitive and it has great export potential. Moreover, the programme has already generated 10 000 jobs in Europe and can be expected to generate a total of 40 000 in the future.

On 25 February 2010, in the margins of the informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Palma, Majorca, the ministers of the seven A400M partner states announced an agreement in principle on sharing cost overruns between the various client states and EADS. The details of that agreement were finalised on 5 March in Berlin. EADS would keep its side of the bargain in producing this state-of-the art aircraft, so vital to maintaining the European defence technological and industrial base and to Europe’s strategic autonomy.