Airbus Lands Anglo-French A400M Support Deal
Announced by the nations on 8 December, the development covers initial maintenance support of the Atlas airlifter, in addition to spare parts pooling and “the establishment of maintenance engineering services to the benefit of both air forces”, the nations say in a joint statement. The contract has been placed with Airbus Defence & Space via Europe’s OCCAR procurement agency.
The UK’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation has valued its two-year contract as being worth £175 million ($274 million). France has not disclosed the size of its award, but its DGA defence procurement body says its arrangement will run from the conclusion of a current introduction to service support arrangement with Airbus in early February 2015 until September 2016.
Airbus has so far delivered five of the 50 A400Ms on order for the French air force, while the Royal Air Force’s first of 22 Atlas transports, ZM400 (below), arrived at its Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire in mid-November.
Welcoming the award, Airbus describes its new deal with France and the UK as providing a “solid foundation” for the A400M’s entry into service.
Rolls-Royce early this month announced an £18 million investment in support infrastructure for the A400M’s Europrop International TP400-D6 turboprop engine at its Bristol site in south-west England. To include adapting an existing testbed to allow the TP400 to be run while off the wing, the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility “will initially be used to support engines in service with the RAF,” the company says.
[via-flightglobal]
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