Exclusive: German military report Airbus A400M transport still in trouble - Reuters

MARCH 29, 2018 / 9:38 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Exclusive: German military report Airbus A400M transport still in trouble
Reuters Staff

BERLIN (Reuters) - The Airbus (AIR.PA) A400M military transport programme faces continued problems such a cumbersome mission planning system that makes it impossible to carry out medical evacuations and other short-term missions, a confidential German military report obtained by Reuters showed.

The report said the lack of a networked computer system required entry of data such as fuel usage into multiple systems, which meant it could take up to 50 man-hours to plan a mission. This, it said, “is not acceptable from an operational view and must be shortened significantly.”

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In addition, the report cited a “significant risk” that the aircraft would not meet all tactical requirements by the time the German military retires its current fleet of aging C-160 Transall transport planes after 2021.

Airbus, which last month took a new 1.3 billion euro charge on the troubled A400M programme, declined to comment on the German report.

Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Madeline Chambers