Europe to tackle old A400M's deadlock while eyeing Airbus cooperation with Ukraine's Antonov ?

    "Errare humanum est. Perseverare diabolicum" : The fate of the older, most costly, controversial and delayed huge project in the EU, for a product without real Innovation, but with limited and out-dated capabilities, which had been initially decided amidst strange, tragic circumstances in the Past, at a completely differend Political context : that of Military Transport Airplane A400M, is one of the biggest challenges that French Presiden Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel will reportedly tackle at their meeting this week, before necessary decisions in the following weeks or Months.    

But facts clearly indicate that the most important challenge for both new EU leaders is to correct Errors committed by others in a remote Past, and create New and better perspectives for the Future :     

One possibility, which fits better their GeoPolitical views, clearly endorsed by EU Citizens in the June 7 EU Elections that they brillantly won together, would be to drop the notoriously failed A400M old and limited but costly, outdated and controversial project, in order to launch a new, more ambitious, updated but less costly project in cooperation f.ex. between Airbus and Ukraine's Antonov, as some historic Franco-German politicans have already proposed, and EU Rapporteur on Science, Research and Technologic Development, MEP Jerzy Buzek supports, as he said to "EuroFora".

Already, French Minister of Defence, Herve Morin, recently revealed that, because of A400M's repeated delays, Paris might develop its Cooperation with Ukrania's airplane maker Antonov, in the framework of a European program SALIS, (for "Strategic Air Lift Interim Solution"), including 124 Planes. But the real issue at stake obviously is to advance further beyond a merely "interim" solution, resolutely take stock of the Past, and start looking at the Future.

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"Rupture" ?

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    The most expensive project of certain EU and Third Countries, (France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and partly the UK, together wih Turkey, and potential clients Malaysia or South Africa, etc), decided in the Past by Socialist Prime Ministers in France, Germany and the UK, scandalouslly threatens to continue blocking more than 20 Billions € for an Old and Limited product, whose Delivery has been Delayed many times in vain,  even at the present times of Global Financial and Economic Crisis, when many other, performant and High-Tech projects urgently need fresh money..

    Recent EU developments make it more and more difficult, (particularly after after the results of the recent June 2009 EU Election), to explain why a cooperation among EU Countries on Airplanes had added ..Turkey, instead of Ukraine, which not only is unquestionably a "European Country", (as French President Sarkozy stressed on September 2008, speaking as EU chairman), but also has a unique experience, capacity and Technological know-how on buidling big transport Airplanes, including military, thanks to the world-famous Antonov !

    Facts indicate that the issue is so Political, that while ChristianDemocrat Governments in Germany (fex. since Helmut Kohl's era), had initially proposed a cooperation between the EU and Ukraine's Antonov, on the contrary, subsequent Socialist Governments in France and Germany had curiously droped that possibility and turned, instead, towards .. Turkey, which has nothing similar to offer..

    The particular Political and factual Context in which such an U-Turn was made suddenly, (i.e. immediately after the partly non-elucidated deadly destruction of a Concord Supersonic trans-continental airplane transporting mainly Germans in Paris, July 2000, and only a few Months after December 1999 Helsinki EU Summit had given Turkey a controversial "EU Candidate" status, opening a new possibility to spend EU Funds there, while Socialist Governments were in charge in Germany, France and the UK), might explain the astonishing problems discovered later-on :

    A key part of the Electronic components of A400M project had been too hastily designed, and badly organized, resulting in complex problems that technicians have not yet resolved, provoking many Delays, followed by current demands to drop it, and limit even more A400M's capabilities, revealed recently a Report made by the French National Assembly...

    Moreover, costly A400M blocks more than 20 Billions € for an old project conceived since the 1980ies, which has nothing spectacular to present : No High-Tech, Not any important Innovation, but only a conventional Airbus extended to Military Transport, with limited capabilities :

    - Shorter Range than Boeing's Globe-Master III, less Volume than Antonov, etc., but ... more Money to spend, and a series of grave Delays  !
    
    Such facts explain why the German ChristianDemocratic Party, together with Liberals, had strongly criticized the A400M controversial project since 2002-2003, and even lodged ..an application to the Federal Constitutional Court at nearby Karlsruhe against the then Socialist Government's trend to overspend Money for that, resulting in a reduction of Berlin's command..

    Followed a series of Scandals concerning a Socialist Minister of Defence who was notoriously pushing to impose A400M on 2000-2002, but was obliged to resign after various revelations of abusive over-spending, including on Private, personal dealings, while one of his Turkish-origin collaborators reportedly involved in some affairs, timely "disappeared" from Germany's national life for 4 years, was elected as MEP, returning back only later-on, to take over the "Green" Party, which oversteped Environment issues and became a stubborn supporter of Turkey's controversial EU bid..

    Careful, the large Majoriy of EU Member Countries refused to spend for A400M. While both Italy and Portugal, who had initially supported the project, later ...withdrew, followed by Germany's and UK's reductions of the initially ordered quantities..

    After recent Political changes brought New Governments in France and Germany, already since 2002, but particularly since 2005 and 2007, the file of A400M slowly but progressively started to be critically reviewed, but it hasn't been yet opened in full for a serious, radical and comprehensive re-examination.

    Surprisingly, EADS AirSpace consortium, while being performant in almost all its other components, it's only from the controversial A400M that its reputation and financial position suffers, with exceptionally long and repeated Delays, doubts about capacities to deliver even a Low-Tech transport plane, etc.

    Meanwhile, on January 2009, mainstream Swiss Newspaper BASLER ZEITUNG, published a stuning comprehensive and serious, Critical Comparative Analysis of A400M and Antonov's respective Capacities and Costs, concluding that A400M was "a Financial and Technical Rout", ("ein Finanzielles und Technishes Debakel") !    In fact, according as BZ's study reveals, the non-existent yet A400M has a Smaller Volume, a lesser Load, is Slower, etc. but.. much more Costly than the equivalent Antonov airplane, which has also the merit to .. exist and be available since the end of the 1990ies ! (See BZ Graphic).           

    Moreover, recent developments on Modern Tanks, lead towards Heavy vehicles, full of Electronic devices (fex. the New Leclerc that France uses since 2006 for the Lebanon International Peace-keeping force, similar in Germany's new Leopard, etc).  But, the greater Weight of these New Tanks has become impossible to transport by old A400M's limited load capabilities, which are too narrow, and have become out-dated !..

    All this is obviously undeserved bad news for Europe on a banal Regional Transport Plane, while Airbus' competitor, the American Boeing, was getting 200 Billions $ contracts from the Pentagon, NASA, etc., to start building innovative High-Tech infrastructures on Space !

    Meanwhile, EADS and the Franco-German Governments are losing Money and threatened to lose even more, after repeated Delays (already more than 3 or 4 Years later than initially scheduled !), rapidly growing Costs, etc. which risk to become a huge Financial "Black Hole", particularly dangerous in times of Crisis..
    
    The EU being not accustomed to such gros failures elsewhere, it's not clear yet what were the reasons for such exceptionally grave gross Blunders of the Past.

    Europe's reputation, Money and Future obviously risks to be gravely compromised by probable Errors made in a remote Past (2000/2001), which need to be Urgently tackled and corrected by the New EU political leaders in 2009.

    The obvious Question is : Why not open, at last, a comprehensive Enquiry to find all the Truth on what really happened at the Crucial Years 2000/2001, and how it led to the Grave Problems provoked by A400M old project to the detriment of an otherwise good European AirSpace industry, which risks to compromise its High-Tech, New and performant sectors by the various damages provoked by such a Low-Tech, limited and comparatively Banal, but very Costly old project ?

    And why not launch a New cooperation, fex. between Airbus andUkraine's experienced and able Antonov, for the creation of a New Military Transport Airplane, more ambitious, more innovative, able to transport heaveof longer range (fex. at least able to protect Europe's Space launching Kuru Base at France's Guyane)

    The recent mysterious yet tragic incident of AF447 Airplane with French, German and other passengers, highlighted A400M's limits :

    Even if it existed today, its limited capacity would never be able to transport "Help and Rescue" from France to Brazil's coasts !

    Because such Distancies clearly outstrech A400M's smaller capacities, which make it also unable to protect EU's Space launching basis at Kuru in nearby Guyane (France)...

    On the contrary, its competitor, Boeing's Globe-Master III, has a real Trans-Continental, Global range capacity, leaving for A400M only a limited, Regional range...

 

    After Delays of 3 to 4 Years later than the initially agreed Time Deadlines, now A400M reportedly wants another 6 Months of Delay to negociate a Review of its contract, in order to reduce the specifications describing that airplane's already limited capabilities !

    But the only real advantage of this further delay would be to let the new German Government which will result from the September 2009 Election decide whether EU should be liberated from this old and expensive burden..This might explain why Chancelor Merkel according to the weekly Der Spiegel, "waned to settle the issue by the Autumn".

    - Frankly, we've never seen so long Delays in the entire History of Aviation !", reportedly denounced the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

    The New Franco-German leaders, christiandemocrats Sarkozy and Merkel, have no responsibility at all to bear for blunders made by previous, Socialist Prime Ministers in both countries in the Past.

    But, as a well-known Latin moto says : "Errare humanum est. Perseverare diabolicum".. ("It's human to make an error. But persist is Devil's work")..

    If they decide to drop such a heavy burden for a limited and non-efficient product, and sharply invest the available money to really High-Tech New Projects, carefully designed and ambitious, able to boost EU's Defence, Innovation and performant Technology, Sarkozy and Merkel might do the right move.

    EU Parliamen's Rapporteur for the new Framework Program of Research, Development and Technologies, christiandemocrat MEP Jerzy Buzek, speaking recently to "EuroFora" strongly supported the idea for an EU - Ukraine cooperation, fex. between Airbus and Antonov, in order to build a  less costly but more performant than the old A400M, new Military Transport Airplane :

- "They (Ukranian Antonov Company) can certainly do it. I'm sure they can. It's a good Idea, and I'd be glad if it was done", he replied

    Buzek is a Natural Science Professor from the Historic and Religious landmark Polish City of Częstochowa, who served 4 years as Prime Minister (1997-2001), before being elected as MEP in 2004 and 2009, considered to be one among the Candidates for New EU Parliament's President (2009-2014), after he brillantly won the EU 2009 Election at the head of his party (EPP), almost doubling the number of its MEPs from 15 to 28 !

    Even if Poland is not involved in the A400M controversial project, (from which even Italy and Portugal withdrew, and the UK reduced its stakes, while most other EU Member Countries are abstaining), German mainstream Liberal/Democrat MEP Alexander Lambsdorf, (No 2 in the EU list of FDP party, which could form a governemental coalition with CDU/CSU in Germany after the September 2009 Election), who is following EU Foreign and Defence policies, recently expressed to "EuroFora" his "interest" to "examine" the A400M affair, the comparison with Antonov, and whether it might be preferable to launch a new, ambitious Airbus- Antonov project instead of the old and limited A400M.

    He might make interesting findings :

    A400M stems from an Old project, aged from the 1980ies, initially designed (under another name) during French Socialist former President Mitterand.
    
    But it was officially agreed only in 2000/2001, with a Socialist German Government, immediately after the partly non-elucidated Deadly crash of Suprasonic airplane Concord in Paris, July 2000. The drama was exploited by a lobby opposed to European investments in New High-Tech Trans-Continental Aviation, preferring to transfert the money for a Regional conventional military airplane, supposed to be more solid, even if without imagination nor ambition.

    The Geopolitical meaning of the 2000/2001 move would be that Europe should stop Global ambitions with Inter-Continental High-Tech Airplanes, and limit itself only into Regional conflict-management, while integrating Turkey into the EU, according to previous, Socialist Governments. I.e. precisely the .. opposite of the logic developed by EU 2009 Election winners, EPP's Sarkozy and Merkel, who stressed, on the contrary, an ambition for a strong Political Europe playing an important role in the World, with a popular Identity, Values and Borders incompatible with Turkey's controversial EU bid.

    The German Minister of Defence, ChristianDemocrat Franz Josef Jung, reportedly "thrreatens to withdraw" from the costly and delayed A400M program. But Socialist partners in the current cohabitation government in Germany press Merkel to maintain it, as the weekly Der Spiegel confirmed this week.

    Naturally, "Germany was not prepared to spend any more Money on that project", which has already started to look as a "Black Hole" from the financial and timing points of view.

    EAD's new chief, Gallois, reportedly confirmed on May 2009 that A400M's "initial contract was not realistic", and that, if it wasn't cancelled, they should at least "review the specifications" describing the product to deliver.

    On the contrary, EADS' High-Tech part, f.ex. Astrium Space satellite,  rockets (Ariadne 5) etc.  is booming and winning money (+545% more demands !), despite the global crisis, as well as the specific, original european Helicopter section, which continues to do quite well.

    These  and other facts indicate that EADS would have been in a Good shape, if the controversial A400M didn't add such a heavy burden and a possible deadlock.

    Why not gather all the experience (good and bad) accumulated during the failed attempts to build that old non-ambitious A400M, and add them to Antonov's well proven succcesful know-how and further capacities, in order to create a new, really performant, solid and innovative Military Transport Airplane in cooperation, specially designed for the needs of the 21th century ?