DW-World.de
Deutsche Welle

Seven European NATO nations - Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey - ordered 180 propeller-driven A400Ms in 2003.  The plane is intended to be an advanced, pan-European replacement for the ageing US-made Lockheed C-130 Hercules. But the project has lagged on.

The defense ministers of the seven countries called the Friday meeting in order to discuss concerns over the project's continued delays and cost overruns.

In the run-up to the meeting, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said he expected a delay in delivery of the military transport aircraft.Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Germany's Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung still supports the project

"It looks like the A400M will be delayed by four years, " he told the German daily, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), in an interview published on Friday.

That is about a year longer than previously expected.

French Defense Minister Herve Morin, who hosted the meeting in the French village of Castellet in the Provence region, said the governments hope to reach a conclusion by the end of this year or the beginning of next  A test flight is scheduled for December..

Airbus' parent company, EADS, promised to deliver the first aircraft to France, which ordered 50 planes, in October 2009, and to Germany, which ordered 60, in August 2010.

The decision to renegotiate is good news for EADS. Abandoning the project would have spelled financial disaster for the company, which would have had to repay 5.7 billion euros (8.17 billion dollars).

Jung had anticipated the decision to continue with the project, but said that the participating countries could still exit the contract.

"It can be cancelled up to the end of the year if EADS does not fulfil its obligations, " Jung told the FAZ. "If the A400M can accomplish at the end of the day what it promises, it clearly would have unique abilities. That's why I would hope that this European project can be completed."

kj/dpa/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Susan Houlton