Skip to main content

ONLY ONE OF EIGHT А400М AIRCRAFT OF GERMAN AIR FORCE IS CAPABLE TO FLY

The German Air Force has serious problems with the new Airbus A400M military transport aircraft.
The Airbus A400M military transport aircraft of the German Air Force (Photo: Airliners.net / Tamás Terjék)


After a serious incident with the new Airbus A400M military transport aircraft of the German Air Force, prospects of German military have became clear, the Les Echos information website reported. 

As of February 9, 2017, only one of eight German A400Ms was in good working condition, the German Air Force reported, just two days after the А400М aircraft with the German Defense Minister on board broke on its way to Lithuania.

A spokesman for the German Air Force explained that three A400Ms, including the aircraft, which were flying to Lithuania, do not fly due to conducting of unplanned maintenance, two others undergo scheduled inspection, while another one is a subject of scheduled upgrade. The seventh aircraft is still at the stage of putting into operation after its acceptance on January 31, 2017. According to the spokesman, “of course, we would like to see these aircraft serviceable, but this is normal, when aircraft undergo inspection and maintenance.”

On February 9, the German authorities said that they continue to investigate reasons for the breakage of one of the four engines of the A400M aircraft, on which German Defense Minister Ursula von Leyen was flying to Lithuania. The Airbus company declined to comment on the figures, provided by the German Air Force. The company has already reserved €5 billion for this program due to problems with the gear box and cracks in the fuselage, and said that it would do everything possible to facilitate the investigation. In May 2016, the European concern admitted its mistakes in the A400M’s design process.

Tobias Lindner, a deputy from the Greens political party, said that the latest incident demonstrates constant problems with the A400M and, in particular, with its engines, as well as expressed concern that it would affect the timing of aircraft deliveries. Airbus told the German Defense Ministry that it plans to supply ten A400Ms instead of 12 aircraft, as it was provided previously, and 13 planes in 2018 instead of 14 planned.

In January, the German Defense Ministry provided Lindner with information that the department demanded Airbus to pay compensation in the amount of €39.4 million due to the delays in deliveries of the first five aircraft, €27.2 million of which has already been paid.

Years of delays in implementation of the A400M program led to an increase in the aggregate price of the aircraft for Germany to €9.6 billion instead of planned €8.1 billion. Germany is the main customer of the aircraft, whose development was conducted by order of seven European countries for the amount of €20 billion.

Press secretary of Airbus noted that by now the company has already delivered 40 A400M aircraft, which are operated in France, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey and Malaysia. Recently, Indonesia announced its intention to purchase several aircraft in the near future.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif