A400M contract amendment finalised with customer nations

The contract amendment was signed today in Seville by Patrick Bellouard, Director of OCCAR – Executive Agency, and Airbus Military CEO Domingo Ureña, in the presence of Spanish Minister of Defence Carme Chacón. National armament directors and other representatives from customer nations also attended the ceremony.

The Contract Amendment now implements the changes which were agreed in principle by the Participating Nations with EADS and Airbus Military in the Frame Agreement signed on 5th March 2010.

"This is a major milestone, and EADS is particularly proud to have the support of all governments involved in this cooperation programme that represents a strategic capacity for Europe and its defence, and for the new generation of military transport worldwide. The A400M is a fantastic new aircraft already flying with outstanding and unrivalled capabilities", said EADS CEO Louis Gallois.

"From an industrial point of view, the programme is on track. This enabled us to agree, with full confidence on the industrial go-ahead of the programme over a month ago," said Domingo Ureña, Airbus Military CEO. "We are also very satisfied with the progress of the Flight Test programme which confirms day by day the soundness of the aircraft. Also, all the pilots of the Air Forces who have already tried and flown the aircraft, expressed great satisfaction about its agility and capabilities. We are sure that, once it gets better known, many more Air Forces around the world will be keen to have it in their fleets".

With four aircraft flying, the A400M has achieved over 1,400 test flight hours and close to 450 flights. The fifth aircraft is complete and has started the final control phase prior to a first flight in early Fall. Civil Certification is to be achieved before year end, and first delivery to first operator – the French Air Force – by the turn of the year 2012 / early 2013. Today Airbus Military holds 174 firm orders from eight nations, the seven launch nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the UK) for 170,plus four for Malaysia.

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F-35C CF-1 Catapult Hookup

PATUXENT RIVER, Md., April 6th, 2011 -- Navy F-35 flight test aircraft CF-1 approaches the TC-7 catapult at Naval Air Station Patuxent River March 22. With U.S. Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Matt "Opie" Taylor at the controls, CF-1 completed functional checks and performed the first test hookup of the F-35C to the catapult. The test team also investigated an issue discovered during a preliminary fit check with the launch bar where it did not lower far enough to engage flight deck hardware for the catapult hook up. That test resulted in an improvement made to the launch bar so it will have a greater range of motion. The overall ship compatibility test phase, including catapult launches, is scheduled to begin this year. Shipboard testing of the F-35C aboard a CVN-68 class aircraft carrier is scheduled to take place in 2013. The F-35C Navy variant and F-35B Marine Corps variant are undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River in preparation for eventual delivery to the fleet.

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