Airbus Military to deliver multi-role transport aircraft to UAE

Abu Dhabi: Airbus Military will deliver the first of the three A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft ordered by the UAE Armed Forces in 2011, a company official told to a local media at IDEX 2009 show. Eric Forest, Assistant Marketing Manager for Defence Products at Airbus Military, said Airbus Military currently manufactures five different types of military aircraft, whose prices range from 25 million euros to 200 million euros per aircraft, depending on the configuration sought by the customer. "We currently have 25 MRTTs on our order book. The average price of an MRTT is 180 million euros and has its assembly line in France. The first aircraft will be delivered to Australia at the end of this year," he added. Forest said at IDEX 2009, they have been several enquiries from prospective customers regarding their MRTT aircraft and the A-400M versatile airlifter, but they haven't quite been able to increase the size of their orderbook. He added, "Our order book for A-400M aircraft that can undertake aerial refueling missions is 180 aircraft. The first of these aircraft, having its assembly line in Spain, will be delivered in 2012. The average price of one such aircraft is 100 million euros," Forest said.