Germany has announced plans to procure between four and six Lockheed Martin-built transport planes following delays in the delivery of the Airbus Group-built A400M military cargo aircraft, Marketwatch reported Tuesday.
Robert Wall writes Ursula von der Leyern, Germany’s defense minister, has signed a declaration of intent to acquire the Lockheed C-130J transport planes under the same pool of aircraft that France uses.
France and Germany are part of a consortium of seven countries that support the development and production of the A400M cargo plane that the report said has faced technical problems and schedule delays.
The report noted that the intent to purchase C-130Js will not reduce the number of A400M units that Berlin looks to acquire.
Germany will purchase 53 A400Ms to support airlift needs during crisis situations and sell 13 of those to others.