An-124 from the Ukrainian carrier Antonov – photo: Peter Bakema / Wikipedia / CC licence

Sideinfo: The member armies of the Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) under the lead of the German armed forces accepted the offer of the Antonov SALIS GmbH to deliver military oversized cargo with An-124 from 2019 until 2021. It is said from military circles that the required price per flying hour ist „fair“ in the context that the Ukrainian company is now de facto monopolist for the service (We will see what that means at the end…). The renegotiation had become necessary after the Russian company Volga-Dnepr declared in April to step out of SALIS at the end of this year. Now the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is preparing a draft agreement. It should be finalized and agreed by the SALIS partner armies until October 2018. For more info see „SALIS Verhandlungen – Bundeswehr Position und kommender Offenbarungseid“ on pivotarea (in German).