Initiated in 1981 as a replacement for European-operated Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and C160 Transall tactical transports, the now-Airbus Military A400M project has also previously been referred to as the Future International Military Aircraft and the Future Large Aircraft.

Dominated by industrial giant EADS and managed by Europe’s OCCAR procurement agency, the A400M was formally launched by seven nations – Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK – in May 2003. Their combined €20 billion ($29.5 billion) development and production order is for 180 of the aircraft.

The programme’s first production aircraft – MSN001 – was rolled out at Airbus Military’s final assembly facility at San Pablo airport near Seville, Spain on 26 June 2008, with major assemblies having come together at the site from facilities throughout Europe.

First flight of the aircraft is due to take place on 11 December 2009, one month after it was handed over to Airbus’s multinational flight test team.

The A400M’s most distinguishable features are its massive propellers, mounted on four TP400-D6 turboprop engines developed by the four-nation Europrop International consortium. Development and testing issues encountered with the new propulsion system contributed to delays to the A400M’s first flight, from an original target of early 2008.

After bringing the A400M programme within the Airbus organisation during 2009, EADS announced that the first delivery of the type would come three years after the first flight event, with the type’s entry into service to occur in 2012.

Export success has so far come from Malaysia, which has ordered four aircraft, but South Africa in November 2009 cancelled its contract for eight examples.

With a maximum payload of around 37t, the A400M’s lift capacity places the design between the new-generation C-130J and Boeing’s larger C-17 strategic transport, both of which are rivals to its future order book.

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