The contract signature in Bonn, in May 2003, which finally gave the go-ahead for the development and production of Europe's long-delayed and much-needed A400M strategic airlifter, has led to a flurry of investment decisions by the partners in the programme. Taken mainly from the industrial arrangement adopted for the production of the Airbus civil model range, the A400M programme additionally opens up industrial collaboration to the seven nations that have ordered the aircraft, by applying the principle of "just return", even though so-called "commercial rules" have been largely adopted for the programme. The purchase contract for the 180 aircraft comes to just over ?18 billion. About 15% of the total cost of development, which comes to some ?5 billion, is financed by Airbus Military and its partners.
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