Published: Oct 4, 2016 11:05 a.m. ET
The German government on
Tuesday said it planned to buy four to six Lockheed Martin Corp. C-130J troop
transport planes after repeated delays in the delivery of the larger A400M
military cargo aircraft built by Airbus Group SE.
German Defense Minister Ursula
von der Leyern signed a declaration of intent in Paris to pool the
yet-to-be-acquired Lockheed Martin military transport planes with the same type
operated by France, a German defense ministry spokesman said. The French
government earlier this year signed a deal to buy the Lockheed plane operated
also by the U.S. Air Force and a large number of other military forces.
The C-130J purchase should give
the German air force certainty that it will have the ability to provide airlift
in crisis situations, the spokesman said. The German air force's fleet of
Transall cargo planes is aging and in need of replacement.
The French and German defense
ministries have been anchor members of a consortium of seven countries backing
the development and production of Airbus's A400M military cargo plane. The
project has suffered repeated technical problems and schedule delays, spurring
interest among the two countries to buy extra cargo planes.
Airbus earnings have been hit
numerous times as costs of the A400M program have increased. The Toulouse,
France-based plane maker in July booked a 1 billion euro ($1.12 billion) charge
against earnings because of the latest problems with the plane linked to an
engine component. The plane maker warned more charges may lie ahead as it
compensates air forces for delayed planes.
The German decision to buy
Lockheed's plane would not lead to a reduction in the number of A400Ms Berlin
plans to buy, the defense ministry spokesman said. The German military, which
now operates five A400Ms, has said it would buy 53 of the Airbus planes, though
it plans to sell 13 of those on to others.
German officials are still
figuring out exactly how many of the U.S. planes they will acquire and when
they can be introduced into service with the Luftwaffe.
Write to Robert Wall at
robert.wall@wsj.com
Original post: marketwatch
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