Flight International - 10Dec2019

24 | Flight International | 10-16 December 2019 flightglobal.com

ANNIVERSARY

system that was the result of national

workshare requirements.

After more than two years of negotiations,

OCCAR signed a so-called contract

“re-baselining” agreement with Airbus in

June 2019. This established the timeline for

delivering remaining tactical capabilities,

removed the threat of further financial

damages and slowed annual output – only

eight will be delivered in 2020 – in a step that

will extend production activities until 2030,

keeping the door open for future exports.

Crucially for Airbus, the financial impact of

this revised deal was described by OCCAR as

being “cost neutral”.

Speaking at the Paris air show the same

month, Airbus Defence & Space head of mili-

tary aircraft Alberto Gutierrez said the new

deal had been forged in part after the compa-

ny fully met its contractual requirements for

the first time during 2018.

With programme stability seemingly now

in place – albeit at the third time of asking,

what might the coming decade hold in store

for the Atlas?

By mid-October, a total of 85 A400Ms had

been delivered to six nations, leaving 89 to

follow, according to the company’s current

orderbook. Germany is the type’s clear fleet

leader today, with 31 in use. Three of these

are employed in the tanker role, including in

support of operations in the Middle East. It is

followed by the UK Royal Air Force, which

has received 20 examples, and the French air

force, which has 15. Turkey has received all

but one of its contracted 10 units, while

Spain has made a slow start, with just six of

its 27 on-order examples fielded so far.

Malaysia has taken all four of its transports,

while Belgium will receive a first of seven in

2020, along with another funded by

Luxembourg.

Operational use of the type has now

topped the 60,000 flight hour mark, Airbus

says.

Nations including Chile, Indonesia, Mexi-

co and Saudi Arabia have at various points

been eyed as potential future buyers, and Gut-

ierrez also believes that India is emerging as a

possible candidate. But to close future sales,

Airbus needs to have the support of a

satisfied base of core customers, making

its delivery against their re-baselining

contract essential.

Gutierrez says the military personnel

who operate the Atlas love the platform,

but concedes that its reliability and avail-

ability need to improve further. With

Boeing already having ended production

of the C-17, competition remains from the

C-130J, which recently gained selection

in New Zealand – another previous Atlas

target – and Embraer’s C/KC-390 twinjet.

“There is clear export potential, with a

number of countries expressing interest in

the A400M,” Gutierrez says, adding: “This

needs to be part of our government-to-

government sales strategy.” His view is

echoed by Airbus Defence & Space chief

executive Dirk Hoke, who says the company

is “very optimistic that the speed of discus-

sions for export will increase, as we have

delivered important capabilities to our

customers”.

Airbus officials decline to speculate on the

potential timing of a next export order, but

Gutierrez says he would like to see this hap-

pen “the sooner the better”. He adds that feed-

back from the A400M user group shows that

the aircraft is delivering “capabilities that

even the air forces were not aware of”.

GAINING LIFT

Pointing to the 40,000ft operating altitude and

up to Mach 0.72 cruise performance of the

Atlas, Airbus Defence & Space head of mar-

keting Ioannis Papachristofilou notes: “The

aircraft is now proving its game-changing

characteristics.” Giving as an example its

15-21 DECEMBER 2009

FLIGHT

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TIMES AHEAD Getting airborne is just start of long credibility

battle for Airbus’s delay-plagued programme

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transport powers up to prove its credentials 25

BOOST FOR 747-8I Boeing’s reply to A380 has struggled for orders.

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A-Z OF AIR FORCES WE DETAIL EVERY NATION’S MILITARY

AIRCRAFT FLEETSPECIAL SURVEY

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11-17 June 2013 | Flight International | 93

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92 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2013

FLIGHT TESTPARIS

SPECIAL REPORTPARIS

As Airbus Military prepares to deliver its first production example to the French air force,

Europe’s new airlift and refuelling asset through its pacesFlight International puts

A five-strong Grizzly has been used since development fleet

December 2009

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T

he A400M is Airbus Military’s first bespoke product and traces its roots to a European Staff Requirement for a more -

broad terms the type would replace the C160 Transall and Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules capable airlifter for the 21st century. In

of purchasing countries’ air forces. The eight partner nations specified an aircraft that could perform both tactical and strategic airlift roles.

alised that in an era of tight budgets, any new Aerospace Industries and Belgium’s Flabel re-Airbus Military and project partners Turkish

aircraft would have to be able to fulfil a number of roles. In addition to transport duties, the A400M would be designed from the outset to

provide an aerial refuelling capability. It would be no mere form/fit/function replacement for the C-130; but offer dramatically improved

performance and operational capabilities.

rolled out from Airbus Military’s Seville pro-duction facility in Spain on 26 June 2008. The The first A400M development aircraft was

medium transport features the largest Western turboprop engines to date swinging massive eight-bladed scimitar propellers. The first

came nicknamed, was flown on 11 December 2009. Following an extensive developmental Grizzly, as the five developmental aircraft be-

programme, Airbus Military is set to deliver the first operational A400M, or Atlas, to the French air force in late June or early July 2013.

In advance of the milestone being achieved, Flight Internationalto fly the new-generation product. was invited to Toulouse

HEAVY LIFTINGFrom an overall size perspective the A400M slots neatly between the C-130J-30 Super Her-

cules airlifters, the business end of the A400M fea- and the Boeing C-17. Like both these US tures a flat-floored cargo hold with an aft-mounted ramp.(88 x 108in) cargo pallets: one more than the C-130J-30 and nine fewer than the C-17. Two The A400M can carry a total of nine 463L

variants of the LD7 civil pallet can also be transported, with dimensions of 88 x 125in and 96 x 125in. All three airlifters can be oper-

ated with a single loadmaster, working from a dedicated station in the cargo hold.While palletised cargo capability is one meas-

ure of a transport’s usefulness, the ability to carry outsized loads has assumed greater importance. Pallets can be loaded on any number of civil

bases. Moving armoured fighting vehicles and helicopters for deploying rapid reaction forces freighters and landed at in-theatre logistics

demands a voluminous cargo hold. The A400M has demonstrated the ability to load both the NH Industries NH90 and Eurocopter EC725 heli-

copters with minimal disassembly. Airbus Mili-tary is confident it will even be able to load a Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.

spectable 37t maximum payload, the A400M has a unique aerial tanker capability. Several In addition to its large cargo hold and re-

variants of the C-130 can refuel slow-moving

aircraft and helicopters from wing-mounted hose and drogue units. This capability has proven to be an effective force multiplier for

combat search and rescue operations, as well as special operations missions. With a top speed of less than Mach 0.58 the

C-130J would struggle to refuel tactical jets. The A400M has a top-end calibrated airspeed giving it the ability to refuel fighters, but it will

also support helicopters flying as slow as 105kt (194km/h). It comes plumbed for aerial tanking duties, with the option for two wing-

is from the A400M’s normal fuel system, but mounted pods as well as a ramp centerline-mounted hose and drum unit. Offloaded fuel

additional capability can be realised with the installation of optional pallet-mounted cargo hold fuel tanks. These are connected directly

to the aircraft’s fuel system and controlled by the centralised fuel management system.In terms of range and payload, compared to

the C130-J the A400M excels. At cruise, the Super Hercules has a true airspeed in the region of 348kt, while the A400M can comfortably

cruise at 422kt. In general terms the A400M can carry the same payload twice as far, or twice the payload the same distance. Compared to the

C-17, which cruises at speeds between M0.74 and M0.77, the more fuel-efficient A400M cruis-es in the M0.68-0.72 range.

can be illustrated by France’s recent Mali op-erations. With the A400M, according to Air-How this plays out in operational terms

the French forces could have been deployed more rapidly, and with a dramatic reduction bus Military chief test pilot Ed Strongman,

in total air movements.south of France and arrival in Bamako, Mali, Assuming staging out of Istres air base in the

the A400M would require only 5h 30min to transport 31t of cargo. The air force’s current Transall would require 10h to deliver only 5t,

while a C-130 would need 7h 30min to deliver 13t. “While C-17s were used to deliver outsized cargo and fighting vehicles, it was to Bamako,

which was 900km [486nm] from the front lines,” says Strongman.

Blagnac, with Strongman acting as the pilot in FIRST IMPRESSIONSOur preview flight was flown out of Toulouse

command. Prior to the flight he introduced me to the A400M and our proposed flight profile with a session in a fixed-base engineering de-

MSN6/F-WWMZ/Grizzly 5, was production-representative, with the exception of some velopmental simulator. The preview aircraft,

software loadings. The aircraft was configured with an air refuelling receiver probe, but did not have wing-mounted pods installed.

facility, the A400M looked out of place, sur-rounded by a large variety and number of Parked on the ramp at Airbus’s Toulouse

civil airliners. While the grey camouflage paint is new, it lacks the shine of a passenger aircraft.

is not your typical Airbus. The high wing, four Europrop International TP400-D6 turboprop The A400M’s appearance screams that this

gear pontoons all say military transport. The general configuration of the A400M is the engines and fuselage-mounted main landing

same as the venerable Hercules. aircraft that is more akin to the C-17. In place Closer examination however, reveals an

of the C-130’s straight, highly cambered wing, the A400M has a thin supercritical one with 15 ̊ of sweep. Instead of a fuselage-

mounted horizontal stabiliser and elevator, it has a high-mounted all-moving T-tail. The propeller-driven A400M was built for speed.

GETTING TO

GRIPS WITH

THE A400M

The aircraft’s flightdeck was developed from the A380 and adapted to military requirements

MIKE GERZANICS TOULOUSE

Craig Hoyle/Flightglobal

Airbus Military

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Flight test

flagged

type‘s early

potential