EADS to roll out A400M on June 26 : US Business

PARIS (Reuters) - European aerospace group EADS plans to roll out the A400M heavy airlifter for its first public viewing on June 26, the company said on Saturday.

The four-engine turbo-prop aircraft will add urgently needed tactical and strategic airlift capacity to seven European NATO nations. But production has been delayed by 6 to 12 months, amid wrangling between developers over engine performance.

The roll-out at the aircraft's new production facility in Seville, southern Spain, will be a chance to wave the flag for Europe's biggest military project under development but industry and investor eyes are firmly on the timing of its maiden flight.

Having delayed the first flight from the start of the year, manufacturer Airbus Military said initially it would aim to get the plane aloft in July, before switching to a timetable of "summer," which parent EADS repeated on Wednesday.

Airbus Military is a sister company to the civil planemaker Airbus, the EADS planemaking subsidiary which is wrestling with growing delays to its A380 superjumbo.

The military arm is owned by Airbus itself together with another EADS subsidiary, CASA of Spain, and with participation from state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries and Flabel, a consortium of Belgian aerospace companies.

The A400M was designed to meet gaps in Europe's airlift capability and replace ageing Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules aircraft and the Franco-German C-160 Transall.

First deliveries to France had been expected in late 2009 but the plane is not expected to be ready before 2010.

Germany is considering whether to fine Airbus for delays, which the planemaker blames on its engine supplier, a consortium that includes Rolls-Royce and France's Safran .

For Airbus, any significant further delays could mean potential extra costs at a time when it is restructuring to cope with a weak dollar and trying to focus on stabilising A380 output and developing its next civil model, the A350.

The company has sold 192 aircraft to the seven European NATO nations -- France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Britain, Luxembourg and Turkey -- and found export outlets in South Africa and Malaysia. However a deal with Chile collapsed and company officials say it must export more to become profitable.

Airbus is losing money on the A400M because it is locked into fixed-price contracts with its government buyers, while its costs have risen.

Airbus says it reached an important milestone in the A400M development schedule earlier this year when it was able to switch all the power systems on successfully.

The move resulted in more project downpayments to EADS, contributing to forecast-beating results issued on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher)

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