§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when aircraft designs for the A400M will be finalised; when contracts for the A400M will be signed off; when production of the A400M will start; and if he will make a statement on the A400M. [53418]
§ Dr. MoonieThe contract for the development and production of the A400M was signed on 18 December 2001, but its activation was subject to the German Government obtaining Bundestag funding approval. This was achieved in late March. The participating nations are in the process of implementing a jointly agreed mechanism designed to activate the contract at the earliest opportunity.
We expect that design work on the A400M will be completed by mid 2005. However, the progressive completion of the design will allow the manufacture of some major components to begin in 2004. Assembly of the first A400M aircraft is expected to begin in 2006.