Me thinks that unless Airbus get their act together, that should the Germans and French pull out of the deal, there will be no A400M.
Their desire to be number one ahead of particularly Boeing, may in actual fact be their downfall.
Sad as it may appear, the facts are and is now proven by their results, is just because you can turn out airliners by the bucketful, that does not make you a military aircraft supplier overnight.
Sad as it is, Airbus just keeps crawling along, hoping that politics will keep the venture alive when in actual fact that could be what kills it.
I think of some very good aircraft, The TSR2 for example killed by government action, and that airplane appeared to be a world beater.
I really, can Airbus expect it customers to say, sorry we cannot fight a war until 2014 (which I believe is a more realistic date) please come back then.
Regards
Col