June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Lockheed Martin Corp. said France and the U.K., two countries hit by the four-year delay in Airbus SAS’s A400M military transport, have sought data on the availability of alternatives with the C-130J Super Hercules.

The U.K., which already flies the C-130J, asked for information about the availability of additional aircraft directly through Lockheed, while France requested details on a government-to-government basis, Ross Reynolds, Lockheed’s vice president for C-130, said in an interview in Paris yesterday. Lockheed is “ready to talk to any user,” Chief Executive Robert Stevens said.

“It is very evident to us and I think in the reporting that EADS and Airbus have offered that the A400M is under increasing stress,” Stevens said in an interview yesterday ahead of this week’s Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. “We’ve been delivering good value to customers, that customer population has been expanding and demand for this airplane continues to grow.”

Lockheed is in the process of doubling C-130J output to 24 planes next year from 12 last year, and could add to that if demand increases from A400M customers, Reynolds said. Even next year’s rate wouldn’t return output to the peak of about 30 aircraft in the early 1990s, he said.

The A400M’s biggest customers are Germany and France, with contracts for 60 and 50 planes respectively. Britain, Spain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg have ordered a total of 70. The partner nations agreed this month to stick with the A400M project, giving themselves six months to negotiate new terms in the 20 billion-euro ($28 billion) program.

Leases Vs Purchases

Available options for A400M customers with Lockheed’s C- 130J include leasing, buying, or leasing with an option to buy, Reynolds said.

“Given the penetration of the C130, with many different models across the years in pretty much every European air force, you’d say that the plane would have pretty good prospects for sales in Europe,” said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London. “Selling to the A400M nations is another issue. If they actually buy C130s, that cuts the requirement for A400Ms. I wonder if they’d look more at leases than purchases.”

A400M deliveries were to start this year, beginning with France’s orders. A prototype has yet to fly amid difficulties with the engine and software that manages it. Airbus’s failure to get the plane airborne gave countries the right, beginning April 1, to pull out.

Rolls-Royce, Safran

The A400M engine had its first flight test in December when it was mounted on a Lockheed C-130 transport. The engine is being produced by Europrop International, which includes Rolls- Royce Plc, MTU Aero Engines Holding AG, Safran SA and Spain’s Industria de Turbo Propulsores SA.

“This will be an outstanding airplane very much ahead of other airplanes of this category, with the performance it will achieve,” Louis Gallois, CEO of Airbus parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., said at a June 13 briefing.

Lockheed this month received an order from the Sultanate of Oman for a C-130J aircraft, which brings to 11 the number of countries that have purchased the plane. In addition to the U.S., other nations that are operating or have ordered the C- 130J include Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Iraq, Italy, Norway, Qatar and the U.K.

Lockheed has 263 orders for the C-130J, and has delivered 173 of the planes. Lockheed’s performance on the program to date is one of the plane’s best selling points, CEO Stevens said.

Hercules Update

The C-130J is an update of the C-130 Hercules aircraft, of which more than 2,300 planes were sold to more than 60 countries. Lockheed’s C-130J has conducted combat resupply and troop deployment missions since 2002.

Lockheed reported sales of $42.7 billion last year, including $11.5 billion, or 27 percent, from its aeronautics unit. The aircraft division also makes fighter planes such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-22 Raptor stealth jet.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edmond Lococo in Paris at elococo@bloomberg.net; Andrea Rothman in Paris at aerothman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 14, 2009 18:06 EDT