France has confirmed that it intends to purchase 4 new Lockheed Martin C-130 Super Hercules transport aircraft. This decision means that the French are bypassing the troubled Airbus A400M transport. This points to trouble for the Airbus transport, as France is a major stakeholder in Airbus, and home to its headquarters just outside of Toulouse. The Airbus A400M Atlas was planned by Airbus to be a strategic transport aircraft to replace the older designed Lockheed Martin C-130/C-160, and the Boeing C-17 transport, which was recently discontinued.
