The Airbus A400M Atlas is a is a multi-national four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Defence and Space as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities to replace older transport aircraft, such as the Transall C-160 and was considered as a replacement for the Armstrong Whitworth Aberdeen but was rejected in favour of a domestic designs, well as transport, the A400M can perform electronic surveillance and aerial refuelling.
Origins
The project has its origins in the Future International Military Airlifter (FIMA) group, established in 1982 as a joint venture between Aérospatiale and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) with the goal of developing a replacement for the Transall C-160.
Varying requirements and the complications of international politics meant that progress on the initiative was slow. In 1989, Lockheed decided to withdraw from the grouping.
With the addition of Alenia of Italy and CASA of Spain, the FIMA group became Euroflag.
Project management evaluated twin and quad turbofan engine configurations, a quad propfan configuration, and a quad turboprop configuration, eventually settling on the turboprop option. Since no existing turboprop engine in the western world was powerful enough to reach the projected cruise speed of Mach 0.72, a new engine design was required.
Originally, the SNECMA M138 turboprop, based on the M88 turbofan core, was selected, but this powerplant was found to be incapable of satisfying the requirements.
In April 1992, Airbus Military issued a new request for proposal (RFP), which Pratt & Whitney Canada with the PW180 and Europrop International answered.
In May 1993, Airbus Military selected the Europrop TP400-D6.
A Europrop partner executive said in April 2003 that Airbus was close to selecting the P&WC offer, claiming it was more than €400 million (US$436.7 million) cheaper than Europrop's bid.
As the original deadline for the engine decision passed, Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard said P&WC's bid was nearly 20 percent less expensive and declared that "As of today Pratt and Whitney is the winner without doubt; a much lower offer could make us change our minds.", inviting Europrop to revise its offering, which it reportedly reduced in price by 10 or 20 percent. A later report described the revised bid as exceeding P&WC's bid by €120 million.
The A400M is positioned as an intermediate size and range between the Armstrong-Whitworth later Hawker-Siddeley HS.681 Aberdeen and Canadair CC-177 Stingray, carrying cargo too large or too heavy for the Abeerdeen, while able to use rough landing strips
The Airbus A400M's maiden flight took place in 1998 with it first entering service in the French Air Force in 2002.
Users[]
Belgium
Chile
Czechia
- Czech Air Force x 8
Denmark
- Egypt
- Egyptian Air Force x 12
- France
- French Air Force x 70
- Germany
- Luftwaffe x 60
- Indonesia
- Indonesian Air Force x 6
- Indonesian Trading Company x 2
- West Japan
- Luxembourg
- Luxembourg Air Force x 2
- Poland
- Portugal
- Portuguese Air Force x 30
- South Africa
- Spain
- Spanish Air Force x 28
- Switzerland
- Swiss Air Force x 6
- Turkey
- Turkish Air Force x 10
- Vietnam
- Vietnamese Air Force x 12
Accidents=[]
An A400M crashed on 9 May 2015, when aircraft MSN23, on its first test flight crashed shortly after take-off from San Pablo Airport in Seville, Spain, killing four Spanish Airbus crew and seriously injuring two others. Once airborne, the crew contacted air traffic controllers just before the crash about a technical failure, before colliding with an electricity pylon while attempting an emergency landing. The crash was attributed to the FADEC system being unable to read engine sensors properly due to an accidental file-wipe, resulting in three of its four engines remaining in "idle" mode during takeoff.
