Delayed again.
AWST:
The German parliamentary budget committee on July 3 approved the purchase of the Taurus KEPD-350 land-attack cruise missile, according to German industry sources, but decisions on both the A400M military airlifter and Meteor radar-guided air-to-air missile were deferred.
The parliament will be in recess until September, potentially leaving both the A400M and the Meteor procurements in limbo. German industrialists pointed to internal politics within the government as the cause of the latest delay on the A400M.
A decision on approving participation in the six-nation Meteor program could come in September, but industrialists are concerned that approval of the A400M now could slip to beyond the national elections. If this happens, a program go-ahead would be forthcoming no earlier than the fourth quarter of this year. Failure to finally push ahead with the A400M is causing embarrassment among German industry officials and consternation among some of Germany's partner nations. Britain and France have become exasperated with Germany's postponements.
The A400M has been plagued by political dithering, and some British industrialists are now warning squadron-level operational service of the aircraft is credible no sooner than 2012-13.
Senior British defense officials have in recent weeks made it clear they are considering procurement approaches based on U.S. transport aircraft, to provide an alternative should the situation on the A400M become unacceptable. A British Defense Ministry spokesman said the U.K. needed to see early progress, but would not elaborate. As far as the British-led Meteor is concerned, the sources suggested it could be approved by the German budget committee in September.