The A400M comes of age
The A400M multirole military transport aircraft designed by Airbus Military is flying high. Entering service in 2013, the “Atlas” is reaching its mature phase and continues to prove itself in operations beyond Europe. All of which is generating a great deal of sales interest, as Pierre Jorant, TP400 Program Director at Safran Aircraft Engines, explains.
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“We’re reaching the end of the technical maturity phase, with all major engine developments near completion. In 2023, we will have just one more modification to make, on the propeller brake,” says Pierre Jorant.
Each Airbus A400M is fitted with four TP400s, the 11,620 shp (shaft horsepower) turboprop engine produced by Europrop International (EPI). EPI is a consortium of four European engine manufacturers: Great Britain’s Rolls-Royce, Spain’s Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP), Germany’s MTU Aero Engines and France’s Safran, the lead partner with a 32% program share. The Group supplies a wide range of the military transport’s systems and components as well, including wiring, computers, landing systems, crew seats and fuel distribution systems. (For the full story, watch the video: “Safran on board the A400M”).
The A400M is now ramping up to full operational maturity, as shown by recent achievements such as the evacuation of Covid-19 patients and the repatriation of French nationals from Afghanistan.
“The success of these operations and their visibility on the global scene have led to a resurgence in commercial interest for export. That’s what we saw in 2021, when Indonesia and Kazakhstan both placed orders for A400Ms, and we currently have two new tenders in the pipeline,” says Pierre Jorant.
These latest orders will add to the A400M’s already strong backlog and will help to bolster production workload over the coming years.
The annual delivery rate is now eight aircraft, which represents 34 engines a year for EPI including spares.
The A400M has logged 480,000 flight hours to date, with 108 aircraft in operation and activity growing 10% annually.
KEY FIGURES
• Capacity: 116 soldiers or 37.6 metric tons of cargo.
• Cargo hold: 17 m (56 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft) wide, i.e. big enough to carry a helicopter or several armored vehicles.
• Maximum speed: 780 km/h (421 knots).
“With more and more A400Ms flying a growing number of missions, MRO will experience substantial growth in the years to come and we need to be prepared,” adds Pierre Jorant. “From this standpoint, a new support contract is being negotiated between EPI and OCCAR(1) to reduce the total cost of ownership. In addition, a support transformation plan has been launched with EPI and our program partners, to radically improve MRO performance and further improve A400M uptime.”
Backlog
- Launch nations within OCCAR
Germany: 53
United Kingdom: 22
France: 50
Spain: 27
Belgium: 7
Luxembourg: 1
Turkey: 10 - Export orders
Malaysia: 4
Kazakhstan: 2
Indonesia: 2 + 4 options
50 aircraft are slated for export in total.
Watch the video “Safran’s contribution to the A400M” for more insights
(1) OCCAR: The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation is a European intergovernmental organization that facilitates and manages collaborative armament programs. Its member states are France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium and Spain. Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Turkey are involved in OCCAR programs as non-member participating states.
