Airbus A400M military transporter plane’s first flight likely in December 2009

The Airbus A400M military transporter aircraft is most likely to make its first flight in December 2009.

The turbo-propeller aircraft is being assembled in Seville, Spain, where it is slated to make its maiden flight.

Photo: A400m military aircraft

The A400M project by Airbus Industrie – the aircraft-making subsidiary of the European consortium European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) – has undergone long delays as well as cost overruns.

Louis Gallois, CEO of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, the biggest aerospace group in Europe, told reporters in Paris that though the EADS has set a deadline of “somewhere between December 2009 and February 2010” for the maiden flight of the Airbus A400M military transporter, the probability for December 2009 is “growing.”

All the European nations involved in the Airbus A400M military transporter project, Gallois added, are striving to keep the project going notwithstanding the huge expenses involved and the ill-effects of the global economic recession.

The Airbus A400M military transporter aircraft, one of the grandest joint military-industrial ventures in Europe, started in 2003 with an order for 180 aircraft from 7 countries – Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Turkey and Luxembourg.

Defence ministers from these 7 countries had agreed in July 2009 to renegotiate the contract for the Airbus A400M military transporter. Another joint meeting of these nations is likely to be held in the middle of October 2009.

Of the 7 nations, Germany will buy the largest number of Airbus A400M military transporter aircraft, with 60 planes on order out of the 180 planes initially commissioned by the 7 NATO nations.

Britain, which has withdrawn its threat to opt out of the Airbus project, is expected either to cut its order for 25 aircraft or would want to spread its orders over a longer period.

The Airbus A400M military transporter plane has been designed to replace Lockheed Martin Corporation’s ageing C-130 Hercules cargo plane (now used by the United States Air Force) and also the retired C-160 Transall transport plane, which was developed by a Franco-German consortium.

The A400M military transporter is expected to have nearly double the cargo capacity of its predecessors and a maximum range of 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometres).

According to the Airbus Industrie, the Airbus A400M military transporter aircraft is a military transporter having a high-set wing and T-tail configuration, 4 turboprop engines, high-flotation retractable landing gear housed in blister fairings, as well as rear-loading ramp/door assembly.

The Airbus Military Company, a subsidiary of Airbus Industrie, is in charge of the Airbus A400M military transporter aircraft project.

The transporter plane, according to the manufacturer, provides high logistic mission efficiency even while meeting the demands of tactical operations. The Airbus A400M can operate on unprepared landing strips even in weather conditions, totally independent of ground support.

The transporter, which has an in-flight refueling capability, also can be quickly converted into an aerial tanker.