No Clearance yet from Germany for Six Airbus A400M Airlifter Sale to U.A.E.

Germany is still dilly dallying over selling six A400M airlifters to the U.A.E., years after it pulled the plug on weapons exports to the country for its involvement in the Yemen War.

The arms sales ban against Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. came into force in 2018. Germany has rejected the sale of 48 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets to Riyadh, which is also accused of orchestrating the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

French publication LA Tribune wrote on Tuesday that the A400M deal is still pending.

Sara Nanni, the defense policy spokesperson of the German Greens, welcomed the decision to not allow Eurofighter deliveries to Saudi Arabia, and stressed the Emirates should not get the A400M.

“They will use it to distribute weapons in the region — this will achieve the opposite of prevention and stability,” Nanni told POLITICO.

In January this year, the U.A.E. agreed to team up with South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to design a new transport plane.

KAI wants to develop a next-generation multirole transport aircraft that is positioned to bridge the size and capability gap between Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Super Hercules and Airbus’ A400M. The company unveiled the concept aircraft, known as MC-X, last year.