Jig P,
The fact that Europrop were able to write the software to the wrong standards without someone (anyone!) in the Europrop / Airbus project management checking defies belief, frankly. It doesn't just take time, it's costing a lot of money - and one in which Europrop / Airbus expect the taxpayer to bail them out of.
Sorry, this sounds like a classic project management SNAFU, and I don't see why we should bail these companies out (and I'd have done the same to BAES on MRA4 before anyone accuses me of anti-Airbus bias).
I heard the four years on bar rumourint - so if wrong, I stand corrected. If your 18 months is right, then we should be seeing the aircraft in 2011/12 I assume - 18 months after the original 2010/11 timeframe. I'd be astonished if this was the case.
S41