A400M: abandoning the program would be an "absurdity"

(BRUSSELS2)

I persist and sign...

1. It would be a bonus to Boeing. For Airbus, abandoning the military would, I think, amount to more than a momentary failure, it would be the beginning of suicide. Without the A400M, Airbus is giving up on its claim to make an incursion into the "military" market. All the effort made for ten years or more would be reduced to ashes. And, in aeronautics, we know that to miss a technological evolution is to abandon the market. Its claims to enter the court of the “Big” against its eternal rival Boeing could, in part, be abandoned.

2. This program is not for 3, 5 or 10 years. The A400M has a lifespan of 30 - 40 years. Its propensity to export seems rather important to me. Because, in ten years, it will be in a position of market dominance against a C130J renovated several times but with an aging design and a Russian competitor whose flight stability has not really been proven.

3. Employment. We forget it a little today. In the midst of a crisis, stopping such a program would have a significant cost in terms of industry and employment. Especially since no other program can replace it at a moment's notice.