Although it experienced a problematic birth, the A400M Atlas is undoubtedly
a highly capable military transport aircraft. It is now in the skies after a painful process,
but the aircraft has not yet achieved the level of international commercial success
expected by the project partners. As the Weapon Detective, we are investigating
the A400M, the good but unlucky aircraft. Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel,
before we start and give us a thumbs up if you like our video. To be notified of our new video,
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When it comes to the A400M, it is possible to find a lot of information from the very
beginning about things that did not go well. In our video, we will try to focus
on the factors underlying that cause these problems rather than listing each problem.
But, before that, let's take a brief look at the history of the programme
and the technical capabilities of the aircraft to build a solid foundation.
The first step, which paved the way for the development of the A400M,
was taken with establishing the Future International Military Airlifter,
shortly FIMA, group, in 1982. Aérospatiale, British Aerospace, and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm,
which were leading European aviation companies at that time, partnered with US Lockheed under
this group to develop a new military transport aircraft as a replacement of the C-130 and C-160s.
However, each country in the group had its own unique requirements
and political agenda. Finding a solution that could satisfy everyone was a complicated task.
As the discussions continued nonstop, the process delated and eventually got stuck.
So, in 1989, Lockheed withdrew from the FIMA and began to work on the C-130J Super Hercules.
But, in a short time, Alenia of Italy and CASA of Spain joined
the group. Now the FIMA became the Euroflag. In 1989, Euroflag began to carry out a feasibility
study under the Future Large Aircraft, shortly FLA, programme. In 1991, France, Germany, Italy,
and Spain signed an agreement to work together. After a while, Belgium, Portugal, Turkey,
and the UK were involved in the project. The UK, which had initially limited its participation only
to industrial cooperation, later increased its partnership to the national participant level.
But, the First Cold War ended, and the military requirements
of the participating countries changed. Initially, the aircraft was being developed
for tactical purposes. But, now, the major participants were demanding an aircraft, which can
also be used for strategic missions. Besides, they decreased the number of aircraft orders due to
budget cuts. One of the main participants, France, reduced its economic support to the programme.
The UK bought some C-17s because of an urgent need.
The project entered the new millennium in crisis. Germany, which was expected to place
the largest order, had started negotiations with Ukraine for joint production of the An-70.
Italy and Portugal withdrew. However, on May 27, 2003, Belgium,
France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey, and the UK decided to continue the programme.
The A400M performed its first flight on December 11, 2009.
Four years later the aircraft became operational.
The letter "A" of the A400M refers to Airbus the letter "M" refers to Military.
As you know, Airbus uses code 300 for commercial airliners, such as the A310 and A330.
For this reason, it was preferred to use code 400 for military aircraft.
Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain,
Turkey, and the UK are current users of the A400M. The crew of the A400M is three-person.
The aircraft is 45.1 metres long, 14.7 metres high. Its wingspan is 42.4 metres.
The maximum take-off weight of the A400M is 141 tons. On its official site, Airbus Defence and
Space announces the maximum cruising speed of the aircraft at 802 kilometres per hour.
The powerplant consists of four 8,200 kilowatt TP400-D6 turboprops. The service ceiling is about
12,200 metres, in other words, 40,000 feet. The aircraft can carry 37 tons of cargo at a range of
3,300 kilometres and 20 tons of cargo at a range of 6,300 kilometres.
Different official sources have different figures on their site.
For example, the Royal Air Force states that the A400M
has a maximum speed of 741 kilometres per hour. The institution responsible for the management
of this programme, OCCAR, says that the maximum payload is 32 tons, not 37 tons.
Although the A400M has the same operating costs, for the tactical airlift missions, it has a much
larger internal volume and approximately twice the carrying capacity compared to the C-130J.
For its tactical missions, the A400M can perform turns of up to
3 g. Its roll rate is 35 degrees per second. You can find more detailed information on the
capabilities of the aircraft from many sources. However, as we mentioned before, we will try to
find some answers to the misfortunes of the A400M. The aviation industries of the participating
countries have combined their capabilities under the roof of the Airbus Military for the
development of the A400M. All partners thought, "many hands make light work".
But why did things not go as planned? To answer this question, we should answer another
question first. Does democracy always work? If we are talking about governing a modern
society, the answer may be yes. But in a military project,
democracy may not work that well. This problem also revealed itself in
the multinational A400M programme. When countries with different military requirements and political
agendas come together, it is not easy to reach a consensus that will satisfy them all.
The A400M has tried to answer the demands of all participants. Among the programme partners,
there was no sole leader, which can dictate its own demands to others.
Even when a country is working on a development project alone,
it is difficult to make all parties happy. For example, the soldier always demands the
best systems, which are expensive. But, the taxpayers want to
spend less money on defence. Meanwhile, the industrialist
always desires to make more profit. There are always anti-militarist groups.
But, no defence industry employees want to lose their jobs.
Still, for a national programme, reaching a consensus is comparatively easier than the
multinational one. Because all countries have their own agendas and national priorities, which
generally contradict the other partners. So, the A400M has experienced all of these negative facts.
The endless debates between the partners caused some serious delays.
The delays caused cost increases. The cost increase caused new debates. Overcoming
this nightmarish vicious circle was not easy. Unlike the A400M, the multinational F-35 is the
fruit of the non-democratic project management model.
Of course, some serious and expensive problems have also arisen in this programme. Although,
the USA manages the JSF Programme single-handedly, reaching a consensus between three branches of the
US Armed Forces was not easy. Yet, Washington has not given a chance to the other participants to
discuss the design and capability of the aircraft. The USA even dictated the radar and targeting
system to be used on the F-35 to all users. The Lightning II's internal weapon bays
have not been shaped according to the domestic weapon systems of the user countries.
Users of the aircraft have to reshape their missiles and bombs.
Similarly, the legendary C-130 was not a product of a democratic programme.
The USA developed this aircraft for its own needs.
Its cargo volume was suitable for the size of the M113.
Many countries, which has bigger and heavier vehicles than the M113,
still acquired the Hercules. Because they had to. There was no feasible alternative.
Simply, the USA had said that “my way or the highway”, and it succeeded.
Of course, the A400M's partners do not have such a dictating power.
Still, in terms of size and payload capacity, the A400M fills the gap between the C-130J and C-17.
Maybe the USA does not need the same class military transport aircraft as the A400M,
but many other countries do. Paralleling with the increasing
need for ballistic protection, the weight of armoured vehicles is increasing day by day.
While the C-130 is insufficient to transport some of these new vehicles,
the C-17 is too big and too expensive.
Maybe, the A400M has not yet achieved a big success in the international market.
But, many countries still need the same class military transport aircraft.
For example, Indonesia, which began to operate the Harimau Hitam,
is highly interested in the A400M. The C-130J cannot transport this new 32-ton medium tank.
And the carrying capacity of the expensive C-17 is beyond what Indonesia needs.
This makes the A400M the most feasible solution. Also, the aircraft offers the same feasible
solution for the new armoured vehicles of the West, such as British Ajax or German Puma.
Still, we should add that the unit cost of the A400M is currently close to that of the C-17.
Yet, its 30-year lifecycle costs are nearly half of the Globemaster III's.
In 2019, Airbus Defence and Space solved some important problems of the aircraft.
Now, the A400M has air refuelling capability for helicopters.
Also, the aircraft successfully performed a certification flight test for the simultaneous
airdrop of 80 fully equipped paratroopers from both side doors on a single pass.
As the child of a multinational programme, the A400M had a difficult pregnancy, birth
and infancy. However, it gains health day by day and proves itself in overseas military operations
and humanitarian activities. At first glance, it seems to have lost many potential customers
to the C-130J and C-17. However, the A400M is not actually a rival of the Super Hercules or
Globemaster III. It actually fills an important gap between them. Europe may
not have the dictating power same as the USA. However, the real needs have this power. So,
we can foresee that more countries would be the user of the A400M in the future.
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