Airbus officials signed a new declaration of intent Wednesday, with the launch customer nations for its A400M aircraft, to structure new contract details later in 2018 to stop future losses with the program.

The new agreement includes details to delay the delivery plan for future A400M’s and provide a timeline for developing improved military capabilities.

Airbus Group A400M. Photo: Airbus Group
Airbus Group A400M. Photo: Airbus Group

Wednesday’s meeting included Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR)  officials and representatives from the seven A400M launch customer nations: Germany, France, U.K., Spain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg.

“This agreement with our customers is an important step to further mitigate risks remaining on the A400M program. I thank the nations for their support in this complex effort and hope for their continued engagement until we sign a mutually beneficial contract amendment,” Airbus CEO Tom Enders said in a statement.

This agreement comes after the military transport aircraft program has suffered several setbacks, including known software vulnerabilities that caused a crash in 2014.

The declaration of intent deal may reflect losses the company suffered with delays of the A400M program, according to Airbus. A full assessment is expected to be provided on Feb. 15.

“On this basis, Airbus remains committed to the A400M and to providing our customers’ air forces with the best-ever military transport aircraft. However, since its inception in 2003, this program has suffered not only from a number of operational issues but, more importantly, under a flawed contractual set-up and insufficient budget which resulted in significant losses for Airbus as prime contractor. We have a good chance to stop or at least reduce the bleeding now and deliver the capabilities our customers need,” Enders said.