The long-delayed Airbus A400M military transport plane preparing to land after its first test flight on Mar. 9, 2010. (Getty Images)

Associated Press | Unbowed in its push into the lucrative U.S. defense market, Airbus said Monday it is aiming to sell about 210 of its much delayed A400M military airlifters to the United States.

The comments from Domingo Urena, chief of Airbus Military, come as parent company EADS still smarts from a move last week by U.S. partner Northrop Grumman Corp. to pull out of their combined bid for a massive $35 billion contract to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.

Northrop explained it didn’t think it could win, and EADS said it couldn’t bid alone. The move has all but ensured Chicago-based Boeing of victory — and prompted protests by French and EU leaders of alleged American protectionism.

Speaking to reporters Monday in Paris, Urena focused on the A400M and said Airbus Military hopes to sell 500 of the planes to countries not in the original program over the next three decades — including 210 in the United States.

Marketing promotion for the A400M will rev up in the second half of this year, Urena said, and “for us, the United States is a key country.”

The ambition for U.S. sales for the A400M shows Airbus will press on in the U.S. despite homegrown competition for military airlifters, notably from Boeing’s C-17 and Lockheed Martin’s C-130.

Urena said it’s too early to tell whether he would seek a partner to help sell the transporter in the United States, but would not rule out the option.

“It is clear that in the American market, if we have an American partner, in effect that gives us an opening,” he said.

Urena hinted that Airbus could seek to ally with Northrop on the A400M: “Northrop Grumman is among the companies of reference in defense in the United States — but it’s not the only one.”