SEVILLE, Spain (AP) -- Airbus has unveiled its A400M military transport plane at a ceremony in Spain.
The hulking, gray aircraft with a black nose and four black propellers is designed to replace Lockheed Martin Corp.'s aging C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force as well as the retired C-160 Transall transport aircraft developed by a French and German consortium.
Airbus parent company EADS says the new plane represents the most ambitious military procurement program ever undertaken in Europe. The project started in 2003 when seven NATO countries ordered 180 of the planes.
EADS CEO Louis Gallois hailed the culmination of the project Thursday in Seville where the aircraft final assembly line is located.
