An A400M was displayed for the media in June. The earliest delivery of the first aircraft appears to be at least several years away. Jose Manuel Vidal/European Pressphoto AgencyFrom The New York Times:
There is no agreed-upon engine design, but rather four entirely different engineering concepts produced by four companies in four countries. The fuselage is too heavy, and the electronic control system has failed several tests.
Such is the current state of the A400M transport plane, Europe’s flagship military project, an enterprise costing €20 billion, or about $26 billion, and spanning more than 15 years.
New plans for the troubled aircraft were supposed to have been unveiled Wednesday, two days before a NATO summit meeting in Strasbourg at which the U.S. president, Barack Obama, was to meet with other NATO members to discuss his plans for Afghanistan. Instead, an internal dispute in the consortium manufacturing the plane broke out Monday that underscored the tenuous future of the project. And the earliest delivery of the first aircraft appears to be at least several years away.
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My Comment: There are a number of legitimate "beefs" about U.S. military programs being over budget and not meeting up to specs .... but this pales in comparison to what happens in European programs.