Official opening of new UK assembly centre marked, as January 2008 maiden flight remains on schedule
Wing production for the Airbus Military A400M transport passed a key milestone last week, with the official opening of a new assembly centre at Airbus UK’s Filton site in Bristol. Two sets of jigs have been installed in the newly refurbished 07N building which previously housed centre fuselage assembly for BAE Systems’ RJ100 regional jet, with a third to later enable the completion of three wing sets per month.
Based at Filton, the A400M wing aircraft component management team receives parts for the predominantly composite wing structure from suppliers across the programme’s European partner nations, and from export customers Malaysia and South Africa.
The first outer wing boxes to be completed at the site will be removed from their jigs late this year for the installation of systems, flaps and ailerons ahead of functional testing and delivery to the A400M final assembly line in Seville, Spain by late March next year. The assemblies will then be mated with the Airbus France-produced centre wing box before being craned onto the first A400M fuselage, which is now undergoing assembly at Bremen in Germany. First flight of the transport aircraft remains on track for January 2008, says Adolfo Revuelta, Airbus’s head of the A400M programme.
Opening the Filton wing centre on 21 September, UK minister for defence procurement Lord Drayson said EADS joint chief executive Tom Enders has assured him that “the A400M is a top priority” for the company as it works to recover the delayed production schedule for the Airbus A380.
Referring to Russia’s recent acquisition of a 5% stake in EADS and Moscow’s interest in obtaining a seat on the company’s board, Drayson cautioned that while the UK Ministry of Defence supports the company’s steps to boost its global presence, “it must do so as a business free from political interference”.
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| The first outer wing boxes are now in assembly |
Source: Flight International
