Britain presses Airbus on A400M costs

DUBAI (Reuters) - Britain needs all 25 military transport planes on order from Airbus and expects the plane maker to come up with a plan to tackle cost overruns by mid-December, the Royal Air Force head said on Saturday.

Britain is one of seven European NATO countries that ordered the A400M, whose future has been threatened by delays and increased costs.

"We are saying 25 is the answer, what is the question," Air Chief Marshall Sir Stephen Dalton, head of the Royal Air Force told Reuters at a military conference in Dubai.

"We have got to stand firm and challenge industry," he said.

"They have got to come back in the middle of next month and tell us what can be done."

Dalton said negotiators were looking at whether Europe's biggest defence contract could be saved by reshuffling upfront costs and finding more efficient ways to carry out aircraft maintenance, one of the costliest parts of military procurement.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing Raissa Kasolowsky)