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Delay hits first A400M flight |
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Friday, 26 September 2008 |
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The proposed date for the first flight of the Airbus A400M has been pushed back because of hold-ups with the propulsion system.
Airbus parent-company Eads has announced a delay to the first flight of the A400M, a new four-engine turboprop military transport and tanker designed and built by its defence division.
First flight of the long-range military transport, which entered into production last year, had been expected to take place before the end of 2008, previous postponements and financial pressures having already delayed it from the first quarter of the year.
However, the unavailability of the propulsion system scuppered those plans - it still needs to be rigorously tested on a flying test bed before any further progress can be made.
This is to begin in the coming weeks and, once it has been declared ready, Eads can assess the implications of this latest delay on the rollout of the A400M and its financial and technical impact on customers.
The A400M project began in the 1980s as the Future International Military Airlifter group, which was setup by Aerospatiale, British Aerospace (now part of BAE Systems), Lockheed and MBB to develop a replacement for the C-130 Hercules and C-160 Transall.
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