First Completed A400M Rolled Out

Airbus Military has rolled out the first complete A400M military transport aircraft from its final assembly line facility in Seville, Spain. Although “complete”, the new aircraft has yet to fly and no date has yet been set for its first flight, which is, nevertheless, expected in 2008.

The A400M has been designed to fit a requirement for a new military airlifter for European air forces, and incorporates significant advances in state-of-the-art materials and technology such as carbon composite structures, electronic flight controls and its automated cargo handling system.

The programme was formally launched under a single contract in 2003 with 180 orders for seven European launch customers, and represented the most ambitious military procurement programme ever undertaken in Europe. The launch customer nations—Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom—were subsequently joined by Malaysia and South Africa, whose requirements increased the total number of commitments for the new airlifter to 192.

The initial contract, worth some 20 billion Euros was signed with a single interface between Airbus Military and OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coordination en matière d’Armement), the contractual body representing all seven European customer nations).

According to Airbus, versatility is the characteristic that best describes the A400M, it being conceived with both tactical and strategic capability. With a payload of up to 37 tonnes over ranges of up to 4,700 nm, the A400M is designed to carry all loads and vehicles in the European Staff Requirement (ESR) inventory, serve as an aerial delivery platform, and act as an in-flight refueller for both fast jets and helicopters.

The aircraft is the first entirely new military transport aircraft of its category designed in more than 30 years, and it has twice the capacity and payload of the current aircraft types that it will replace.