LUFTWAFFE A400 MILITARY
G
ermany originally
ordered 53 A400M
Atlas aircraft to
replace its aging
twin engine Transall
C-160Ds, which
are planned to
leave service
around 2021. The
Luftwaffe now
plans to accept only 40 of the four-engine
machines. AIR International recently visited
Wunstorf Air Base near Hanover to report on
the transition from Transall to Atlas.Challenges
Introducing a new aircraft to an air force is
rarely a walk in the park. Too often political
decisions and teething problems plague a
planned smooth introduction into service.
The German Luftwaffe has found this to be
the case with its A400M transport aircraft
and it is still facing some tough challenges
from both a technical and image-building
perspective. German media has, over the
years, painted a dark picture of the new
workhorse with epithets such as ‘expensive
non-seller’, ‘loser’ and ‘headache le’. But is
this negative press justi ed? Increasingly theanswer is no. Bright spots are looming on the
horizon, problems are being solved and an
increasing number of aircraft and aircrew are
becoming available for service.A piece of history
The original plans for a new multinational-
developed transport airplane date back to
1982 when Aérospatiale, British Aerospace,
Lockheed and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-
Blohm started making plans for a new
transport aircraft to replace the C-130
Hercules and Transall C-160. The new
aircraft would be positioned between the
All images Frank Visser and Ludo Mennes unless stated