The technology does not explain everything

Is the A400M it saved

A priori, Yes, even if, because of the many years that there before him, the largest European military programme in cooperation to date is not from a new industrial hiccups.

The agreement with its clients gives EADS financial means in the end, to the transport aircraft. The Group also completely reorganized its teams in charge of the project, integrating directly with Airbus. Customers have appreciated this discount to the square. More importantly, the aircraft flies. It took off for the first time in December in Seville. Since then, he has accumulated over thirty hours of tests, without major glitch at this stage.

Main cause of the three years of delay, the engine seems to give satisfaction after having been tested to its maximum power. The path remains however dotted spines as engineers of EADS and its partners must finish to write the most complex software. One of them, to allow monitoring of land at very low altitude without GPS, could not be established.

Why such a skid

Between 2003 and today, the predictive invoice of the A400M rose from 20 billion to EUR 27.5 billion, or 37 more. The never-seen in Europe. But some major U.S. aeronautical programs are even worse. Alone, the JSF - future of the US Army combat aircraft - displays 100 billion of overload! This does not preclude the future transport aircraft to have accumulated all the defects that the specialists for years program in cooperation.

Thus, the Airmen commissioned a jewel of technology for which the industry had not necessarily skills. The black point focused on the regulation of the engine - the famous "Fadec" software - that the four engine (Rolls-Royce, Snecam, MTU and ITP) had an evil madman to develop. A North American solution existed, but Paris, London and Berlin have imposed their champions.

The technology does not explain everything. The signing of the contract has been far too long. It is made by imposing the aircraft to submit to the constraints of civil aviation, where the risk must be reduced almost to zero. All time keep since the first aircraft was to be delivered in six years. Finally, the monitoring of the execution of the work organization was failing, both in EADS than on the client side.

The outline of the new contract

Unsurprisingly, the two months past have focused on the thorniest part of the renegotiation of the contract: the sharing of the additional costs. Given the extent of the sum at stake - EUR 5.2 billion-, exchanges have been rough. The industrialist has also struggled for periodically check if the escalator clause of the price of the aircraft, set on the evolution of the GDP, allowed to absorb the cost of raw materials or wage developments.

Beyond the financial aspects, the two parties to were agreed year last on a new production schedule. In view of the delays, the first A400M should be delivered end of 2012 and is spread over 15 years. The France, which the Transall can, and Britain will be among the first served.

To get this far, client States have agreed to two to three years the testing phase. They have also negotiated with Airbus an availability of the devices in two successive technological versions, as is the case for the fighters. The manufacturer is committed to free update first delivered copies, which can provide 80 of the missions attached to the aircraft to the final "standard".

Can the A400M still be profitable

Not impossible, but it will be long. The overflow account, only 180 copies ordered by the six European countries, over the Turkey, will not make the program. The only way to achieve this password therefore by the export. After the withdrawal of South Africa, the Malaysia remains the only reference, with four copies ordered. Term, Airbus table on approximately 200 additional sales. "Despite the rise in the unit cost, the A400M remains very competitive," insists Louis Gallois. The Teal Group cabinet figures seem to be reason to the CEO: with programmed in assembly lines of the C-17 for Boeing, and the end of life began in the Lockheed Martin C-130J, the European plane should dominate the military from 2015 transportation market.

What lessons for the Europe of defence

The ink barely dry agreement, the Ministers of defence of client countries, Hervé Morin in mind, will not fail to congratulate saved "" program member lighthouse of Europe. And, incidentally, tens of thousands of jobs that depend on it. It is in is actually had little British jump in flight. Which would have dealt a terrible blow to the A400M. However, without this aircraft, the credibility of the Europe of defence, which has already lot of evil to materialize, would have been undermined.

The key is, and the potion will be relatively painless for the European taxpayer. Remains to be seen if the same policies will be able to avoid committing the same mistakes in future cooperation programs: ban hypertechnologie (20 unnecessary which absorb 80 of the invoice!) harmonize in maximum specific demands of customers, define a coherent and efficient project organization, and especially put an end to the poison of the geographical return which means that each country receives an industrial support in the amount of its share of funding.