Germany Withdraws From The A400m

[KPax]

Any truth in this rumour, that the new German Chancellor has pulled Germany out of the A400M consortium. Shouldnt we just buy more 'J's' and more C17's.

[Always_broken_in_wilts]

Now that would'nt make me giggle much at all:p

all spelling mistakes are "df" alcohol induced

[Lara crofts pants]

We can't pull out now. It's tradition that we remain steadfast and chuck lots of money at it and end up with another late white elephant that can't do the job that it aspires to - like the j:p

[Always_broken_in_wilts]

LCP,

Watch this space young lady.......you might just have a little egg to wipe off in the coming weeks:ok:

all spelling mistakes are "df" alcohol induced

[VP8]

Does this mean another shot at it for the AN70????

Now then there's the new AN124-150 with 150tonne capacity :E :E

VEEPS

[Mobile Muppet]

Bin the A400M and buy loads more C17's please..

MM

[maximo ping]

ABIW - go on then, spill the beans fella..!:ooh:

[hotzenplotz]

No, this is NOT true!

[ORAC]

Since they signed the contract it would see unlikely, they'd have to pay for them all anyway. The advantage of having a contact with Airbus.......

[BEagle]

Fortunately, Germany is now not only governed by a CDU/SPD alliance, but the Greens (who are ideologically opposed to NATO) have at long last been booted into opposition. Otherwise there might indeed have been a threat to current military programmes.

In addition to the 7 European launch customers for the A400M, South Africa and Chile have both signed up to the programme with expected orders for 8 and 3 aircraft respectively.

[LowObservable]

What's this about a 25-month delay in the latest NAO report?

[Maddog Red]

Why bin A400M, how do you know it wont be better than the C130J anyway, Yes the C17 is good but we can build fantastic aircraft in Europe as well which involves people in the UK being employed. Airbus are pumping allot of effort and money into this project and lets look at the export protential they are getting already, Malaysia and South Africa to name two.

[Tester07]

'How do you know it wont be better than the C-130J anyway?'

Regardless of potential problems during development the A400M will make the C-130J obselete overnight. There is no comparison.

[RileyDove]

Tester - I think A.V Roe's company and Antony Fokker had similar ideas when they built the 748 and F.27 respectively to replace the Dakota! I have a feeling that the advent of the Airbus machine won't upset the C-130 too much!

[Pass-A-Frozo]

Regardless of potential problems during development the A400M will make the C-130J obselete overnight. There is no comparison Umm. yeah.. being launched 10 or more years later will do that :rolleyes:
We showed some German Air Force people over our J model in 2001 (maybe it was 2002) at Wunstorf? [did I get that right] and they were very impressed :) Mind you, they had C-160's [again, is that right?? What were those beasts!]

[hobie]

they had C-160's [again, is that right?? What were those beasts!]

like this ? ......

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/975877/M/

[Pass-A-Frozo]

That's the little f**ker

[mystic_meg]

http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2005/12/20/Navigation/190/203677/Trio+fuel+A400M+tanker+evolution.html

Hmm...can't see Fritz withdrawing just yet.....

[BEagle]

Quite!

Will the A400M be a useful AAR aircraft? Some rough guesstimate figures for available giveaway assuming 90 minutes on an AARA 1 hr from the tanker base, landing with the equivalent of another hour's burn to tanks dry:

A310MRTT: 48.1 tonne
VC10K3: 47.3 tonne
A400M with 2 cargo bay tanks (CBTs): 41.0 tonne
VC10C1K/K4: 36.3 tonne
A400M with 1 CBT: 35.3 tonne
A400M without CBTs: 29.5 tonne

So, even without CBTs, it'll still be a very useful tactical tanker.

Comparable figures for the A330MRTT in the same scenario? 84 tonnes........

[Lyneham Lad]

Well, maybe the mooted option of buying more C17's is fast disappearing:
USAF strategy deals Boeing double blow (http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2005/12/21/Navigation/177/203643/USAF+strategy+deals+Boeing+double+blow.html)

[BEagle]

So that'll be the Airbus KC-30 for the USAF then?

Harry Stonecipher, before he resigned from Boeing, had already said that their 7E7 design is unsuitable as a tanker (why?) - and it's pretty obvious that developing a KC-777 instead of the scandal-tainted KC-767 will take a while to achieve.

Plus the A400M for the RAAF, to complement the 5 x A330 MRTTs they already have on order, perhaps?

[Lost Again..]

Rumour over here is that current 36 sqn C130H will see out lifetime in very near future (<5yrs) and replaced by heavier transport acft.

Media bandied around A400M and C17 as contenders after defence minister media release, though can't see us affording C17's.

[Pass-A-Frozo]

I think they would do better to replace the H with 12 new J's, and start a new sqn up with C17's or A400's etc.

[BEagle]

Well, Amberley is already gearing up for 33 Sqn's A330 MRTTs; perhaps 38 Sqn will replace its Caribous with a squadron of A400Ms as well in the future?

A posting to 33 Sqn, RAAF, will be pretty good - hundreds of millions of dollars spent upgrading the base to take the most capable tanker in the world. And only about an hour from Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Must be pure hell to be based there!

[Pass-A-Frozo]

A posting to 33 Sqn, RAAF, will be pretty good - hundreds of millions of dollars spent upgrading the base to take the most capable tanker in the world. And only about an hour from Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Must be pure hell to be based there!

Sure would beat that crappy Richmond place. :(

Personally I think they need transport detachments in Darwin, Townsville and Perth (maybe one in Broome too - Cable Beach Resort for crew accomodation :p )

Actually, just get rid of ground jobs. :p

[MarkD]

Interesting times in these parts - DND/CF thought they had sewn up a quick C-130J order by demanding an early certification date that Airbus couldn't match. In fairness given the political football that defence procurement is in this country you could hardly blame them for trying to do an end run - even the Liberals couldn't screw up a tender with one bidder, right?

Cue handwringing in the press about the sneaky dealings but it seemed a sure thing - until Airbus came back and offered supply of refurbed Herc H as an interim to A400m. Now what??

[sprucemoose]

Kind of related as BEagle was trying to flog the A330 MRTT earlier in this thread - EADS has finally rolled out its A310 demonstrator with the boom for Australia's A330s. It should take to the skies soon:

http://81.144.183.107/Articles/2006/01/11/Navigation/177/204035/EADS+rolls+out+tanker+demonstrator.html