France may buy 4 Lockheed C130s given problems with Airbus A400M

PARIS: France's defence ministry has pencilled several hundreds of millions of euros into its latest defence budget for the possible purchase of four Lockheed-Martin C130 Hercules military transport planes due to problems with the rival Airbus A400M, a defence ministry source said on Wednesday.

The source said a decision on whether to actually make the purchase would be made before the end of this year.

"We have to address the problem presented to tactical air transport by the overuse of the Transall and the problems over deliveries of the A400M," said the source. The Franco-German C160 Transall is an older military transport plane.

On Tuesday, Airbus ordered engine software checks to be carried out on A400Ms following a fatal crash of one of the troop and cargo carriers on May 9.

In April, the French defence procurement agency denied a report in French aviation magazine Air et Cosmos that it was considering the purchase of four C130 Hercules airlifters.