§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the status of the A400M programme; [121872]
314W(2) if he will make a statement on the landing gear system procurement for the A400M; when he expects to announce the awarding of the contract for the landing gear system for the A400M; and from which suppliers the equipment will be procured. [121873]
§ Mr. IngramA contract for the development and production of the A400M aircraft was signed with Airbus Military (AM) on 27 May 2003 by the Organisation for Joint Armaments Co-operation on behalf of the participating nations. The aircraft's planned In-Service Date for United Kingdom is now 2011.
The contract is for the complete aircraft, including its landing gear system. This requires AM to select equipment and sub systems through competition on the basis of cost and capability. We and the other participating nations expect this to secure the most cost-effective solution. We understand that AM are considering landing gear system proposals from Messier-Dowty of Gloucester and Liebherr-Aerospace of Germany and that they expect to announce their selection decision by the end of this year.