The seven launch customers for Airbus Military’s A400M transport signed the final contract amendments in Seville, Spain, paving the way for the aircraft’s production to begin, announced Airbus parent company EADS Thursday. These countries—Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, and Turkey—agreed that “from an industrial point of view, the program is on track,” said Airbus Military CEO Domingo Urena. This enabled them to agree “with full confidence on the industrial go-ahead,” he said. Thus far, Airbus has completed five A400Ms, four of which have logged more than 1,400 hours in nearly 450 test flights. Airbus expects to gain the A400M’s civil certification by year’s end. Delivery of the first production airframe to the French air force is slated for early 2013. The seven nations have placed orders for 170 A400Ms. Malaysia has pledged to purchase four, bringing the initial production total to 174.
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.