Airbus Military is targeting 28 deliveries in 2011 including the first six KC-330 tanker transports.
The exact timing of the first handover of the KC-30A tanker to lead-customer, the Royal Australian Air Force, has still not been set. The program has suffered repeated delays; Airbus Military had committed to handing over the first KC-30As to the RAAF in 2010, but that did not happen. Airbus CEO Tom Enders says the handover is imminent.
Earlier schedules had called for the first aircraft to be handed over to the customer in the first quarter of 2009, with later adjustments to mid-2010 and then the end of the year. The reason for the latest delay is not technical, but largely a matter of getting paperwork finished, says Domingo Ureno-Raso, the head of Airbus Military. Working out the final issues has taken longer than expected, in part owing to a slowdown in activity associated with December holidays, he notes.
The Royal Australian Air Force had planned to reach initial operational capability with the KC-30 in 2010, followed by full operational capability (FOC) by year-end. Ureno notes that Airbus believes it can deliver sufficient aircraft to meet that milestone, although it is a customer decision on whether to declare FOC or not. Airbus Military plans to hand over four KC-30As to the RAAF this year.
What is more, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force should receive their first tankers this year, too.
Additionally, Airbus plans to deliver 22 smaller transports, a mix of CN-235s and C-295s. The company booked 21 orders for those last year, 15 CN-235s and 6 C-295s. It also delivered six CN-235s in 2010, along with 13 C-295s, and one modified P-3 to the Brazilian air force.
Also ahead this year is the plan to receive civil certification. Serial production is to start imminently, Enders says.
The A400M customers also are awaiting German government approval to turn finalize an agreement to handle cost and schedule overruns and put the program on a new footing by issuing a new contract. A meeting of the German parliament’s budget committee to discuss the issue is due this week.
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