EUROPEAN planemaker Airbus has won nearly 200 orders for its A400M military transport plane, which will make its long-awaited maiden flight this summer with no further delays, the firm's chief said on Wednesday.

In January Airbus, owned by European aerospace group EADS DE , said that the A400M, a 20-billion-euro (S$41.7 billion) project that has spanned two decades due to funding disputes, will be delayed for between 6-12 months due to engine problems.

'We intend to fly the aircraft in summer this year,' Chief Executive Tom Enders told reporters at a press conference at the Singapore Airshow.

'We are in the time frame that we have predicted, that is, up to one year,' Mr Enders said when asked about further delays to the A400M project. He said Airbus expects to receive another 200 orders for the military jet.

The A400M is designed to provide Europe with a large transport plane that can fly troops and equipment into conflict zones or assist in humanitarian missions. Germany, France, Spain and Britain are lined up as its biggest customers.

The A400M so far has 192 orders including 180 from the seven launch nations - Germany, France, Spain, the UK, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg - as well as eight from South Africa and four from Malaysia.

Enders said Airbus, has not received any cancellations for the A400M orders, and that the engine for the aircraft would be tested in April.

The aircraft could fly with engines from France's Safran and Britain's Rolls-Royce The development of the A400M, whose four turboprop engines are among the largest ever built, was being closely watched by the industry partly because the technology used is expected to feed into advances in Airbus airliners.

The A400M's main rivals are the Lockheed-Martin's C130J Hercules and the larger C-17 Globemaster from Boeing Co., whose production the U.S. company is expected to halt around the end of 2009.

Separately, Mr Enders said Airbus had submitted a 'very competitive' offer for the $40 billion deal with the US Pentagon for a new generation of jet-refueling tankers.

EADS has teamed up with US defence contractor Northrop Grumman Corp to vie for the contract against Chicago-based Boeing.

A winner-takes-all award is expected to be announced at the end of February, a US military official said earlier this month.

'We made a very competitive offer, we get strong support from political constituencies, especially in the south of the US,' Mr Enders said, adding it was significant for Airbus to compete against its US rival Boeing for a Pentagon deal.

'For us this is a win in any case because who would have thought, go back five years, that we could compete with Boeing on their home turf,' Mr Enders said. -- REUTERS