PARIS (AP) -- Airbus parent company EADS is throttling back on production of its new A400M military transport aircraft in response to delays in the delivery of its propulsion system, a spokeswoman for the program said Tuesday.
"We decided a production slowdown some days ago to adapt to continuing uncertainties with the propulsion system," said spokeswoman Barbara Kracht. She declined to provide any further details on changes to the production schedule.
Kracht dismissed a report Tuesday in French business daily Les Echos that EADS was "suspending" production of the A400M, insisting, "It was not a production stop."
EADS has described the A400M as Europe's most ambitious military procurement program ever.
Two of the aircraft have been completed and four others are in various stages of production, Les Echos' report said. The aircraft's first delivery is scheduled for the end of 2010, one year later than originally planned, the report said.
In September, EADS indefinitely postponed the A400M's first flight because of delays in the development of its propulsion system — the engines, propellers and related electronics.
