Airbus A400M during a demonstration flight June 20, 2011 at the 2011 Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France. (M. Scott Mahaskey/Staff)

PARIS — The multinational program manager for the A400M military airlifter is due to sign a contract around the end of the year covering a cooperative service support for Britain and France, a French official said June 24.

“They’re aiming for around the end of 2011,” the official said.

The planned signing, covering maintenance and repairs for British and French A400M fleets, by the Organisme Conjoint de Coopération en matière d’armement (OCCAR) would be the first contract to be inked under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed June 21 at the Paris Air Show, which ends June 26.

Officials representing six of the seven launch customers of the A400M signed the MoU, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) procurement office said in a June 22 statement.

Britain, France, Germany and Spain signed June 21, while Belgium — which also signed on behalf of Luxembourg — signed June 22. Turkey is due to sign the MoU in the next few weeks after a parliamentary ratification, the DGA official.

DGA head Laurent Collet-Billon signed for France, the DGA official.

The MoU provides the framework agreement for support for the A400M, the statement said. Under the agreement, there will be a “common core” covering management of aircraft configuration, data management and possibly spares, the DGA official said.

The MoU will also be the framework agreement for French-U.K. cooperation for all other support activities, including maintenance and repairs, the DGA official said. Collaborative support for British and French A400M aircraft was one of the projects agreed under the Nov. 2, 2010, Lancaster House treaty on bilateral defense cooperation.

— Pierre Tran