RAF received its penultimate Atlas A400M, only one more to go

The Royal Air Force took delivery of 21 of the 22 A400Ms ordered from Airbus Defence and Space. The ZM420-registered aircraft landed yesterday at RAF Brize Norton Base.

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Since the first delivery of the A400M to the UK back in 2014, the Royal Air Force has performed several key missions counting this new-generation transport aircraft as a major asset and highlighting its range and payload. The last Atlas for the RAF will be delivered in 2023.

During the Kabul evacuation, the RAF evacuated more than 15,000 people with more than 100 evacuation flights, 31 of which were conducted by the A400M. Among other things, the RAF also completed a nine-hour round-trip mission with a UK A400M to perform an aerial refueling in support of a British Army training exercise in Estonia.

The A400M was launched in 2003 to meet the combined needs of seven European nations grouped in OCCAR (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom), joined by Malaysia in 2005. This is one of the main reasons for its extreme versatility, and why 10 countries already have the new-generation transport aircraft in their fleets.

“The A400M is becoming a key asset for our customers’ military air transport activities and operations, and missions like this show that we are always on duty for them, as they are always on duty for everyone else when it matters most”, said Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space.

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With its A400M, Airbus aims to meet the diverse needs of nations around the world for military and humanitarian missions for the benefit of society.

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Another important milestone was the long-range deployment of A400Ms from the RAF, Luftwaffe and Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace to Australia to participate in the Pitch Black 2022 international exercises, demonstrating the aircraft’s ability to rapidly intervene around the globe.