Germany pushes Airbus for cost cuts on A400Ms: paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's defense ministry is demanding price cuts and longer cancellation periods on the A400M military airlifters it has ordered from Airbus, but which will be delivered later and less equipped than planned, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Bild am Sonntag quoted from a letter from the defense ministry to the finance ministry and the court of auditors, in which it said the ministry was also pushing Airbus to disclose its "further planning and connected project risks". It has long been known that A400M military airlifters Germany bought would be delivered later than initially planned and would be costlier. The newspaper said Berlin was pushing for "price reductions for lower performance as well as continued rights to terminate the contracts" and would decide on a case-by-case basis whether to take individual A400Ms depending on their equipment. A ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, but said the ministry was in close contact with the company. The army will receive one plane from Airbus Military in November as planned, but the plane will not have the full military capabilities the army has ordered. (Reporting by Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Mark Potter)