 |
Deputies signed off on the revised project, which will see Germany maintain its order of 53 planes but then sell on 13 of them to another client, a parliamentary source said.
There was no mention of the potential buyer for the unwanted planes in Germany's order but Airbus Military will be charged with selling them on.
Juergen Koppelin, the parliament's defence budget rapporteur, had announced the changes Tuesday.
Seven countries have ordered 180 of the aircraft for 20 billion euros (27 billion dollars) from European plane maker Airbus but the project is three years behind schedule and billions of euros over budget.
It has been marred by setbacks, with the aircraft's first flight postponed to an undetermined date because of engine problems.
Airbus, a unit of the the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), was supposed to get the transport plane in the air in January 2008.
It is the second time in three months that Germany has sought to cut its complement of A400Ms. In November, it reduced its firm order from 60 planes to the current 53.
Last November, the seven NATO countries -- Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg -- reached an agreement on financing 5.2 billion euros of cost overruns but a definitive deal has yet to be signed.
 del.icio.us |
 Digg |
 Reddit |
 YahooMyWeb |
 Google |
 Facebook |
Outside View: Think the way out of danger| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
