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The start of ground engine tests on the A400M are to be delayed as Airbus Military waits for the completion of TP400 related work. Some airframe changes are also being applied to the much-delayed European airlifter.
The ground trials were scheduled to get underway this summer, ahead of a first flight planned for around the end of the year. Now, however, that ground test date has been pushed back to "the Fall [Autumn]" a spokeswoman for the company confirmed June 17.
The delays were related to the FADEC system used on the TP400 engine and airframe changes, she said.
The holdup in the start ground engine test runs will not impact the much-anticipated first flight of the aircraft, scheduled for the turn of the year, the spokeswoman said.
News of the ground test timing slip comes just days before defense ministers of the European partner nations involved in the program are due to meet in Seville, Spain, to discuss the next step in a project mired by at least a three-year delivery delay.
A three-month moratorium on possible cancellation of the aircraft order by some nations in the project has been in place since late March as Airbus and the customer seek a way forward on the program. That officially comes to an end this month, although France and Germany have already said they want to continue the talks until the end of the year.
Europrop International, the engine builder, says it has achieved about 35 hours of the 50 flight test hours required on a C-130 test bed aircraft flying in the U.K.
Certification of the FADEC system on the TP400 engine is scheduled to start at the end of this month say engine company officials.
The civil certification process has been delayed for months after it was discovered EPI had failed to carry out the correct procedures to obtain approval.
Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey and Luxembourg are partners in the program to build the airlifter.
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