Germany Says It Plans to Buy Four to Six Lockheed Martin C-130J Military Planes
October 04 2016 - 10:14AM
Dow Jones News
By Robert Wall
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
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 04, 2016 10:59 ET (14:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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