(NSI News Source Info) PARIS - March 14, 2009: Defense ministers of the seven European launch countries for the A400M have agreed to a three-month suspension of a contract clause that 
allows them to cancel the airlifter program. The move allows time to adopt a common position in negotiations with industry, French Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said March 13.
France asked for the contract "moratorium" at a March 12 confab on the margins of an informal EU defense ministers meeting in Prague, Teisseire said.
"We are pushing back a contract rendezvous point," he said.
The A400M contract allows OCCAR, the arms procurement agency that manages the program, to cancel the program - or individual aircraft - because no first flight occurred within 14 months of the contracted date, Teisseire said.
The deadline for OCCAR to decide to cancel is April 1, EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois told a March 10 press conference.
The moratorium bars the agency from canceling the program in the next three months, but maintains the right to kill it after that period ends.
EADS, A400M's lead builder, said it is unlikely the program will be axed.
Company officials want to renegotiate the contract to cover revised plans for production ramp-up, penalties, the aircraft standard that is acceptable for delivery, and other contract clauses.
The current agreement allows six months between delivery of initial and full operational capability. EADS wants to extend that time, noting that full capability depends on the availability of software from suppliers.
If OCCAR cancels the program, EADS would refund 5.7 billion euros ($7.3 billion) made as predelivery payments, EADS officials said in a statement about the company's 2008 results.
The March 12 meeting also was attended by Turkey, which is not an EU member but is an A400M launch customer, along with Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Spain. The meeting took place in Prague because the Czech Republic holds the six-month rotating EU presidency.
Air Force Gen. Vincenzo Camporini, the Italian military's chief of staff, said March 12 that Italy made a "wise" decision in 2001 to opt out of the A400M program during prelaunch negotiations, despite criticism at the time.
allows them to cancel the airlifter program. The move allows time to adopt a common position in negotiations with industry, French Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said March 13.
France asked for the contract "moratorium" at a March 12 confab on the margins of an informal EU defense ministers meeting in Prague, Teisseire said.
"We are pushing back a contract rendezvous point," he said.
The A400M contract allows OCCAR, the arms procurement agency that manages the program, to cancel the program - or individual aircraft - because no first flight occurred within 14 months of the contracted date, Teisseire said.
The deadline for OCCAR to decide to cancel is April 1, EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois told a March 10 press conference.
The moratorium bars the agency from canceling the program in the next three months, but maintains the right to kill it after that period ends.
EADS, A400M's lead builder, said it is unlikely the program will be axed.
Company officials want to renegotiate the contract to cover revised plans for production ramp-up, penalties, the aircraft standard that is acceptable for delivery, and other contract clauses.
The current agreement allows six months between delivery of initial and full operational capability. EADS wants to extend that time, noting that full capability depends on the availability of software from suppliers.
If OCCAR cancels the program, EADS would refund 5.7 billion euros ($7.3 billion) made as predelivery payments, EADS officials said in a statement about the company's 2008 results.
The March 12 meeting also was attended by Turkey, which is not an EU member but is an A400M launch customer, along with Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Spain. The meeting took place in Prague because the Czech Republic holds the six-month rotating EU presidency.
Air Force Gen. Vincenzo Camporini, the Italian military's chief of staff, said March 12 that Italy made a "wise" decision in 2001 to opt out of the A400M program during prelaunch negotiations, despite criticism at the time.
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