French, German Ministers to Discuss A400M at Meeting
DUBAI - French Defense Minister Hervé Morin said he would meet his German counterpart Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Nov. 18 in Paris and would discuss the troubled Airbus A400M military transport aircraft program.
The French and German defense ministers will meet later this week to discuss the A400M airlifter program. (EADS)
A ministerial meeting on the airlifter program would be held early in December, possibly at Seville, Spain, Morin told journalists at the Dubai Airshow, which opened here Nov. 15. If another meeting were needed, it could be held in January, he said.
The French defense ministry has previously said that a ministerial meeting on the A400M due to have been held Oct. 15 had been delayed to allow time for the new German government to be installed and sworn in.
The seven European launch customers of the A400M agreed to a contract standstill until the end of December to allow time for a renegotiation of the fixed price 20 billion euro ($30 billion) contract. Airbus seeks approval of a new delivery schedule, standard configurations and funding requests.
Morin was attending the air show as part France's desire to strengthen bilateral ties with the United Arab Emirates. Morin was accompanied by French Air Chief Jean-Paul Paloméros and senior officials of the international department of the Direction Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) procurement.
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For more Dubai Airshow coverage, visit our Show Scout blog: http://defensenews.com/blogs/dubai-air-show.
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