A400-M

[Bourne]

Se tiver clientes interessados, não há por que não desenvolver uma versão maior do C-390.

[Skyway]

Se tiver clientes interessados, não há por que não desenvolver uma versão maior do C-390.

É o que penso tambem...assim como na área civil a EMBRAER apostou nos E-170, 175, 190 E 195.
Nada impede de no futuro surgir um cargueiro quadrijet ou bimotor maior se tiver nicho de mercado.

[Alcantara]

Um passo de cadaz... tipo os ERJ... começaram no 135 e hj estão no 195.


Um abraço e t+

Opsss... correção: começou com o ERJ-145.
Depois é que vieram as versões 'encurtadas' ERJ-135 e ERJ-140.

[Alcantara]

Se tiver clientes interessados, não há por que não desenvolver uma versão maior do C-390.

É o que penso tambem...assim como na área civil a EMBRAER apostou nos E-170, 175, 190 E 195.
Nada impede de no futuro surgir um cargueiro quadrijet ou bimotor maior se tiver nicho de mercado.

É um passo beeeem grande para a Embraer.

Acho que ela vai pessar muito antes de dá-lo. E digo isso não porque eu acho que ela não tenha capacidade de fazer uma aeronave deste tipo. Não, não, muito pelo contrário. Pra mim, o motivo para a Embraer manter um pé atrás, digamos assim, seria porque aí ela já começaria a entrar na seara das grandes do setor aeronáutico, e aí o jogo é pesado... beeeem pesado...


Abraços!

[Penguin]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... 021209.xml

French Aim To Push Compromise On A400M

Feb 12, 2009
By Michael A. Taverna


PARIS – France appears ready to pull out all the stops to convince partners that they should agree to renegotiate price, delivery terms and specifications for the A400M, and not stop the troubled multibillion euro initiative.

Meeting with reporters here Feb 10, the chairmen of the French Senate’s foreign affairs, defense and armed forces and finance committees presented a report confirming Airbus warnings last month that the airlifter program could be up to four years late. Combined with indications that the A400M might not meet certain design specifications, notably with respect to weight, the warnings are pushing some partners, in particular the U.K., to threaten to pull out.

Seven European countries have ordered a total of 180 A400Ms, led by Germany (60), France (50), Spain (27) and the U.K. (25).

Delivery of the digital engine control system (FADEC), recently programmed for July, is now expected around October. This means the A400M is unlikely to make its first flight until early 2010 – two years behind the original schedule. Initial deliveries are not expected until late 2012, and perhaps late 2013 – four years later than called for – if the prime contractor, Airbus, decides to limit production in the first year to allow for maturing design.

Nevertheless, the chairmen said findings indicated that management reshuffles inside EADS/Airbus and within the propulsion team – with Rolls-Royce and Snecma now assuming a lead role – can get the program back on track and that technical hurdles are not insurmountable. EADS officials suggested additional benefit could be realized by separating development of the propulsion system into a separate contract, distinct from that of the aircraft system.

French press reports suggest fixing the program could raise its cost by 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion), the amount that customers have paid out to date for the 20 billion euro undertaking. EADS has provisioned 1.8 billion euros so far for schedule and cost overruns, with lesser amounts coming from other contractors.

But the lawmakers also suggested that abandoning the effort – Europe’s biggest cooperative military undertaking by far – would entail an economic, financial and political cost far outweighing the cost of setting it right. They said they had submitted their findings directly to French President Nicolas Sarkozy with the request that the matter be brought up at the highest political level as soon as European defense procurement agency Occar, which is managing the A400M, finishes its ongoing inquiry into program difficulties. This is expected within a few weeks.

Under the terms of the contract, the seven launch customers can pull out of the deal or seek to renegotiate its terms if delivery is delayed more than 14 months. This provision becomes effective on March 31.

Committee member Jacques Gautier said France will be forced to resort to various stratagems to meet its own interim airlift needs until the A400M is ready. Among these are to prolong the life of some of its Transalls, where possible; pushing forward the acquisition of two A330s due to be purchased under a forthcoming tanker-transport buy; wet-leasing more An-124s; and acquiring a few Casa C212/235 light transports. Leasing a few Lockheed Martin C130Js or Boeing C-17s is also “not excluded,” he says, “as long as it does not threaten the future of the A400M.”

Photo: Airbus Military

[caixeiro]

Olha a coisa querendo Micar.

Airbus’s A400M Plane Should Be Canceled in U.K., Lawmakers Say


By Mark Deen

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Britain’s defense ministry should consider canceling its order for 25 A400M military transport aircraft because manufacturer Airbus SAS can’t rule out further delays in delivery, a panel of lawmakers said in a report.

“It is extremely serious that the A400M transport aircraft program is now running two years late and further delays cannot be ruled out,” said James Arbuthnot, a lawmaker from the Conservative opposition who leads the Defense Committee including lawmakers from Britain’s three main political parties.

The government should say “whether it considers that there is a real risk that the entire A400M project might be so delayed that abandonment would be preferable,” he said.

Glitches with engine-control software have put the A400M at least four years behind schedule, prompting Airbus parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. to take a 1.7 billion- euro ($2.2 billion) charge. The plane, meant to compete with Lockheed Martin Corp.’s C130J Hercules and Boeing Co.’s C-17 Globemaster, is the main project of EADS’s Spanish business.

Initially, the contract signed in 2003 was worth 18 billion euros and included orders from six European governments and Turkey to supply 192 transport planes. The risk for developing and producing the A400M fell to EADS and wasn’t shared by the governments involved.

Refits Required

For Britain, the delay requires the military to refit its aging fleet of Hercules C-130 transports, which ferry troops and equipment to and around both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defense Committee is concerned that the U.K. lacks sufficient air transport capability to keep its forces adequately supplied and said the situation is “worsening.”

The panel’s advice isn’t binding on the government. The Ministry of Defence said that it had taken note of the recommendations and will respond to them in the coming weeks.

The panel also criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown for delaying setting the second phase of the “Defense Industrial Strategy” by more than a year. Brown’s failure to outline an equipment spending plans is undermining the nation’s ability to supply its armed forces, they said.

“We condemn the failure to publish an updated version of the Defense Industrial Strategy and consider that its continuing absence increases the risk that the U.K. defense industrial base will not be able to meet the future requirements of our armed forces,” Arbuthnot said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Deen in London at markdeen@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 25, 2009 19:01 EST

[Junker]

Depth of A400M military transport aircraft crisis disclosed

Picture by: Airbus Military

PREMATURE CELEBRATION: The roll-out of the first completed A400M, in June 2008. It still has not flown


By: Keith Campbell
26th February 2009


The travails of Europe’s A400M military transport aircraft programme, in which South Africa is a risk-sharing partner, are greater than previously believed. The extent of the problems has been revealed in a report released by the French Senate. On the other hand, the Senate report affirms that the A400M programme is essential for the European aerospace industry and must be preserved.

South Africa has ordered eight A400Ms, and the South African companies involved in the programme are Denel Saab Aerostructures (DSA), Aerosud (both risk-sharing partners), Grintek and Omniples, with Armscor providing engineering services.

The Senate report states that there are serious development problems with the aircraft’s navigation and low-level-flight systems, digital engine controls, horizontal tail surfaces, and with the definition of the wing design. Indeed, it seems that Airbus is proposing an interim standard A400M that would be incapable of undertaking the more sophisticated flight modes planned, until the issues with the avionics have been resolved.

Also, the empty weight of the aicraft has indeed, as had been claimed in the European press, increased by 12 t. As Airbus does not intend to reduce the A400M’s payload capacity of 37 t, this implies that the aircraft’s maximum landing weight will have to increase from 122 t to 134 t. This increased weight may reduce its top speed and is likely to reduce its unrefuelled range, while increasing the length of airstrip needed for taking off and landing.

In real terms, the cost of the A400M programme has increased by some 21% over the past ten years. According to the original €16-billion contract for the aircraft, signed in December 2001, the A400M was meant to make its first flight in 2006 and deliveries were to start in 2008. (This original contract was sub- sequently amended in 2003, increasing its value to €20-billion.) The aircraft has, however, still not made its first flight, which is now not expected until later this year – although it could even be delayed until next year.

The French Senate report states that production ramp-up will only happen in 2014, and that it could take until 2020 to eliminate the backlog caused by the various development delays.

The report spreads the blame for the debacle across both governments and industry.
Thus, governments rushed into a poorly structured programme, left oversight to a multinational European agency (known as Occar) which had neither the resources nor the authority to fill such a role, ignored industry recommendations that €500-million risk-reduction studies first be carried out, and established tight timescales that left no margin for error. Further, the governments almost guaranteed failure by demanding that the A400M programme involve the parallel development of a new airframe, a new engine, and new avionics. For its part, EADS, the parent company of Airbus, failed to grasp just how complicated the programme was.

However, because the programme is seen as crucial to the future of Europe’s aerospace industry, the report urges that the contract be renegotiated to save the programme. France has fifty A400Ms on order, while Germany has 60, Spain 27, the UK 25, Turkey 10, Belgium 7, Malaysia 4, and Luxembourg 1 – add South Africa’s 8 and the total comes to 192.

The South African companies involved in the A400M programme each have their own areas of responsibility, for the design and manufacture of specific structures and components for all A400Ms, not just those destined for this country.

Aerosud is mainly responsible for secondary structures. These are nose fuselage linings, cargo hold linings, and cockpit linings, but the company is also making the cockpit rigid bulkhead, the wing tips, and the nose fuselage galleys. The wing tips are quite important because they will contain elements of the aircraft’s defence aids subsystem.

DSA is responsible for the top shells for the centre fuselage section – these can be thought of as being equivalent to roof panels. The company is producing two top shells for each aircraft – one each in front of and behind the wing box, which joins the wing to the fuselage. In addition, it is making very large wing/fuselage fairings, manufactured mainly from composite materials but including aluminium parts. Each such fairing is 15 m long, 7 m wide, and nearly 3 m high. DSA is also contributing the ribs and spars for the tail fin, and centre wing box structural components.

Grintek is providing life-time monitoring systems for the aircraft, and Omniples is producing satellite communications antennas.

Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/articl ... 2009-02-27

[Junker]

Germany, Britain could abandon A400M
Written by defenceWeb & Reuters
Monday, 02 March 2009



Germany may soon decide to abandon the Airbus A400M military transporter plane because of delays to Europe's biggest military programme, a German magazine reported on Saturday.
Der Spiegel reported if Airbus does not soon explain whether and how it can solve the problems, German procurement officials would advise Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung to end the contract. The weekly quoted defence ministry sources.

Reuters adds a spokesman for the defence ministry said there was a continual dialogue going on with the company on the issue. "But there are no contractual negotiations," he said.

Britain and Germany have expressed anger over delays, which include problems with its massive engines. Last week, a British parliamentary panel urged Britain to consider abandoning the plane due to the delays.

Commissioned by seven European NATO countries in 2003 at a record cost of €20 billion, the A400M was originally billed as Europe's most ambitious cross-border arms procurement.

The founding nations -- Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey -- ordered 180 planes. A further 12 were earmarked for export to Malaysia and South Africa.

A French Senate report published last month noted Europe could walk away from the project as early as next month as the development and production contract signed on their behalf in 2003 contained a cancellation clause should the aircraft not fly by April.

Der Spiegel said German defence officials expect French President Nicolas Sarkozy to urge German Chancellor Angela Merkel to keep Germany's commitment to the transporter.

Reuters Thursday reported the Commons Defence Committee said in a report the government should weigh other options besides the A400M for supplying air transport to combat zones like Afghanistan.

“It is extremely serious that the A400M transport aircraft programme, which is to provide much needed new tactical and strategic airlift for our armed forces, is now running two years late and further delays cannot be ruled out," the report said.

The aircraft has been hit by delays including problems with its massive engines, the largest turbo-props built in the West and designed for steep landings on debris-strewn dirt strips.

"Once the extent of the delay to the A400M programme is confirmed, the MoD (Ministry of Defence) needs to decide whether it considers the programme to be so delayed that abandonment would be preferable, and to take timely decisions either to procure or lease other airlift assets so that a capability gap in air transport does not develop," Thursday's report said.

The committee's findings are the second parliamentary assault on the A400M in as many weeks after the French Senate called for European leaders to step in to resolve the delays, which it described as a threat to European defence interests.

The UK report also criticised other projects, including the Nimrod MRA4 sea patrol plane developed by BAE Systems, which is now 6 years behind schedule, and stop-start plans to build 3000 armoured vehicles which it described as a "fiasco."

It said a decision to delay two new aircraft carriers by 1-2 years, just 6 months after ordering them, was "very strange" and urged the government to justify claims it would not cost money.

However the most keenly awaited findings concerned the A400M, coming days after Airbus announced a management shake-up.

Airbus parent EADS, facing severe penalties for late delivery, has called for a renegotiation of the contract, saying the plane is more complicated than first thought and hinting that political interference stymied development. It has meanwhile suspended the maiden flight indefinitely.

Britain's arms procurement minister Quentin Davies told Reuters last month he did not exclude any options on the A400M.

Britain has ordered 25 of the planes worth an estimated £100 million pounds each.

Its military chiefs are considering whether to prolong the life of Lockheed Martin C130 Hercules transporters, redeploy converted passenger aircraft to ferry troops to the Middle East or buy extra C-17 jumbolifters from Boeing.

Industry sources say there is a debate over whether Britain or others could pull out of the A400M even if they wanted to.

Britain and the other European buyers signed up to a single commercial-style contract through pan-European procurement agency OCCAR in a bid to combine their clout and reduce cost.
Sources close to the project argue the mechanism means the seven founders must stay in or pull out together, though each could decide to cancel orders for individual aircraft.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?o ... Itemid=350

[Glauber Prestes]

podia ter no texto: "...or join to the Brazilian/South African C-390 program..."

[luisdmrx]

EADS diz que cancelamento do A400M é improvável
Empresa européia declarou que clientes têm o direito de pedir o cancelamento do programa

A EADS admitiu atrasos na realização do primeiro voo do seu novo transportador Airbus Military A400M e que isso poderia provocar cancelamentos de pedidos dos clientes da aeronave nos próximos meses, mas considera “improvável”.
Na divulgação de seu balanço anual de resultados a EADS reconheceu “que como o A400M ainda não realizou seu primeiro voo antes do fim de março de 2009” o cliente OCCAR tem o direito contratual de pedir o cancelamento em primeiro de abril.
A EADS disse também que o cancelamento somente pode ser obtido com “a aprovação unânime de todas as nações lançadoras do projeto” representadas pela agência européia representante OCCAR.

Enquanto a EADS considera o cancelamento do A400M “muito improvável”, a empresa admite que “cada uma das nações lançadoras podem pedir o cancelamento de forma individual o que traria mais atrasos ao projeto”.
Fazendo uma análise do projeto atualmente o CEO da EADS, Louis Gallois disse que as negociações com os clientes do A400M estão em andamento e que “não assinala” cancelamentos de contrato neste momento.
Ele salientou que a Alemanha, França e Espanha expressaram “um interesse por negociar”, e que sua decisão indicava um desejo de continuar com o programa, enquanto o Reino Unido (RAF) “não desejou o contrário”.

Tópicos sobre as negociações incluem o cronograma de entregas, normas de entregas, normas de produção, multas por atraso e permissões sobre aumento de preços.
O término do contrato pela OCCAR provocaria um reembolso de préentrega além de outros pagamentos num total de 7.3 bilhões de dólares por parte da EADS.

[HIGGINS]

A-400M é o maior MICO aeronautico deste jovem século.

[HIGGINS]

Só para lembrar:
Quando o Antonov-70 estava voando, sem provlema algum, o governo alemão propôs que ele fosse adquirido no lugar de se desenvolver o A400, então um projeto apenas, mas muuuiiiiitoooo dispendioso...
As viúvas européias, na época TODAS DE GOVERNOS CONSERVADORES, começara a berrar: NÃO PODE, NÃO PODE! Os Russos não são confiáveis. São nossos conpetidores, berravam os participantes do CONSÓRCIO AIRBUS...

Tái: enterra dinheiro, enterra dinheiro e nunca basta, sempre se precisa de maior aporte de capital. Se isso num for sacanagem da AIRBUS para se capitalizar, este avião será o maior MICO da indústria aeronautica da europa.

Detalhe: a Antonov é... Ucraniana...

Como sou brasileiro, fico aqui..

[Enlil]

Só para lembrar:
Quando o Antonov-70 estava voando, sem provlema algum, o governo alemão propôs que ele fosse adquirido no lugar de se desenvolver o A400, então um projeto apenas, mas muuuiiiiitoooo dispendioso...
As viúvas européias, na época TODAS DE GOVERNOS CONSERVADORES, começara a berrar: NÃO PODE, NÃO PODE! Os Russos não são confiáveis. São nossos conpetidores, berravam os participantes do CONSÓRCIO AIRBUS...

Tái: enterra dinheiro, enterra dinheiro e nunca basta, sempre se precisa de maior aporte de capital. Se isso num for sacanagem da AIRBUS para se capitalizar, este avião será o maior MICO da indústria aeronautica da europa.

Detalhe: a Antonov é... Ucraniana...

Como sou brasileiro, fico aqui..

Exatamente. Muito bem lembrado

[manuel.liste]

Só para lembrar:
Quando o Antonov-70 estava voando, sem provlema algum, o governo alemão propôs que ele fosse adquirido no lugar de se desenvolver o A400, então um projeto apenas, mas muuuiiiiitoooo dispendioso...
As viúvas européias, na época TODAS DE GOVERNOS CONSERVADORES, começara a berrar: NÃO PODE, NÃO PODE! Os Russos não são confiáveis. São nossos conpetidores, berravam os participantes do CONSÓRCIO AIRBUS...

Tái: enterra dinheiro, enterra dinheiro e nunca basta, sempre se precisa de maior aporte de capital. Se isso num for sacanagem da AIRBUS para se capitalizar, este avião será o maior MICO da indústria aeronautica da europa.

Detalhe: a Antonov é... Ucraniana...

Como sou brasileiro, fico aqui..

Melhor um A-400 caro fabricado em Europa que dez Antonov importados de Ucrânia

Pode ter atraso em seu calendário, mas o avião irá para adiante. Não é o primeiro avião com atrasos em seu desenvolvimento, olhe a história do exitoso C-17.

Uma coisa clara é que as indústrias militares não se constroem importando armas. Daí que os tontos europeios gastemos tanto dinheiro no nosso, nas armas que criam emprego, tecnologia e benefícios em nossos paises, e não em paises vizinhos

[caixeiro]

Por 3 meses pelo menos nao sai decisao, depois disso quem sabe

UPDATE 4-Airbus gets reprieve with A400M decision delay
Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:41pm EDT



* Countries agree 3-month freeze in A400M plane delays row

* Agree to consult before any decision

* Spain expects deal to keep 20 billion euro Airbus plane (Adds detail on Eurofighter)

By David Brunnstrom and Julien Toyer

PRAGUE, March 12 (Reuters) - Embattled planemaker Airbus won a reprieve over late delivery of the A400M military transport plane on Thursday as governments agreed to postpone a decision on whether to scrap Europe's biggest arms project.

Speaking after talks between the seven countries that ordered the plane on the sidelines of an EU defence ministers' meeting in Prague, France said they agreed a three-month moratorium to prevent automatic cancellation.

"This moratorium has been accepted by all countries," French Defence Minister Herve Morin told Reuters, adding it wasagreed that "no state would take a decision without consulting the others."

Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon, whose country is responsible for assembling the turboprop-driven heavy airlifter, told Reuters it was vital in order to boost European defence.

"Spain is confident this project will in fact go ahead," she said.

Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA) said this week the A400M project could be cancelled on April 1 if NATO nations buying the plane decided in unison to walk away.

ANGER AT DELAYS

Seven countries -- Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and non-EU member Turkey -- have ordered at total of 180 of the A400M planes.

Some, notably Germany and Britain, have expressed anger over delays of 3-4 years on the delivery of the plane, which could lead to billions of euros in penalties paid by Airbus.

Airbus has said it would be crippled by the penalties just as it recovers from a crisis over delays to its A380 superjumbo, the world's largest civil airliner. Blame for the delays has triggered a furious row with engine makers.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters earlier it was possible the project could be scrapped, but Germany wanted to see it go ahead.

"The company must fulfill all the conditions to guarantee the (project) in the manner that we want to and do this transparently so that we know what we have to expect," he said.

Morin said the aim was to reach an agreement with EADS on the moratorium this month.

EADS shares trimmed losses to close down 0.2 percent at 9.748 euros on Thursday.

A source familiar with the talks told Reuters there was general support for keeping the project alive, but individual nations were expected to put maximum pressure on EADS.

A British parliamentary panel last month urged Britain to consider abandoning the project and weigh other options for supplying air transport to combat zones such as Afghanistan.

Germany's Defence Ministry also said in a statement issued later that countries involved in the Eurofighter project -- Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain -- wanted manufacturer EADS to cut the costs for a third tranche of the fighter jet.

It said the countries would delay talks on the order until the end of the month.

"Those responsible for the programme at the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency have been charged with negotiating significant reductions in the costs of the fighter system," said the ministry in its statement.

It said a decision about the commissioning of about 45 percent of the third tranche would be based on the results of those negotiations. (Additional reporting by Tim Hepher, Sabine Siebold, Madeline Chambers; Editing by David Cowell and Andre Grenon) (Writing by David Brunnstrom) ($1 = 0.7826 euro)

Mais nao evita dos Italinanos tirarem uma casquinha dessa historia toda.

Italy's Military Chief: It's Wise To Be Out Of A400M
(NSI News Source Info) ROME - March 13, 2009: As delays continue to plague the development of the A400M European transport aircraft, Italy's senior military commander has said Italy did the "wise" thing in steering clear of the program at the beginning of the decade. On 9 January 2009, EADS announced that the first delivery has been postponed until at least 2012. EADS also indicated that it wants to renegotiate 'certain technical characteristics' of the aircraft. EADS has long maintained the first deliveries would begin three years after the A400M's first flight. The German newspaper Financial Times Deutschland has closely followed the A400M program and reported on 12 January 2009 that the aircraft is overweight by 12 tons and may not be able to achieve a critical performance requirement, the ability to airlift 32 tons. Sources told FTD that, currently, the aircraft can only lift 29 tons, which is insufficient to carry a modern armored infantry fighting vehicle. The FTD report prompted the chief of the German Air Force to say, "That is a disastrous development," and could delay deliveries to the Luftwaffe until 2014. The Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the Luftwaffe is delayed at least until 2017. This leads the political planning to potential alternatives in the shape of a higher integration of European airlift capabilities. The OCCAR reminded the participating countries that they can terminate the contract before 31 March 2009.
"I am convinced of this. Italy was strongly criticized when it made this decision. Today, those critics should indulge in some self-criticism," Gen. Vincenzo Camporini, Italian chief of staff, said March 12, when he was asked whether Italy had made the right decision to opt out of the group of European nations that was planning the airlifter in 2001.
Camporini said he was nevertheless perturbed by the technical problems that have pushed back delivery dates for the aircraft.
"As a passionate supporter of European capacity, I am seriously concerned about the news arriving from industry about the program," he said. "I hope that difficulties are overcome, because that way the European Union can finally carry out its strategic capacity."
But Camporini said that Italy was vindicated in its decision not to sign up.
"It is worth underlining the wise decision taken by political and military planners at the start of the decade, knowing the theoretical difficulties of the program, to opt for a solution that provides possibly a reduced capacity but gives Italy today a capacity for transport air that is modern, adequate and among the best in Europe."
Italy operates the C-130J and the C-27J tactical transport, charters civilian aircraft, and is expecting delivery of 767 tanker transports.
Posted by Defense-Technology News at 3/13/2009 12:22:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Airbus A400, Boeing 767, C-130J Hercules, C-27J Light Transport Aircraft, Italy