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A400M Flight Testing Progress

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A400M Flight Testing Progress

Old 1st May 2014, 15:13
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Is that a Vickers a la WWI on that contraption?! And they want to impress the MOD?!
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Old 1st May 2014, 16:38
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..and what looks like an old British Seagull outboard motor on the back ( stern? ).
Excellent!
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Old 1st May 2014, 16:41
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s that a Vickers a la WWI on that contraption?!
Did WW1 end in 1968 then?
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Old 25th Jun 2014, 22:29
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Back to reality

Extract from AWST 16 June.

"... although the Standard Operating Clearance (SOC) 1, ... will now be introduced on the first two UK RAF aircraft, MSN15 and 16, which are due for delivery in September. A400Ms to date have been delivered with basic logistics capabilities such as general transport of troops and loads, medevac flights and aircraft raising and kneeling to ease loading. These capabilities have allowed the French Air Force to conduct strategic airlift flights to Mali and French Guyana. [sic]

SOC 1 enables aerial delivery of paratroopers, tactical communications management, combat offload of vehicles, unpaved runway operations and defensive aids and fuel inerting systems. It also delivers a specific UK requirement of wedge-based paradrops, using a device to the aircraft ramp, so that equipment can be paradropped without affecting the aircraft's ability to drop paratroopers from the doors in the rear fuselage.

When it arrives in 2015, SOC1.5 will give the A400M a full defensive-aids-suite capability as well as the ability to deliver loads from the air and be refueled in flight. The last SOC iteration due in 2018 will add an all weather, low-level flight capability using sensors and terrain referencing."

Exciting times ?


LFH
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Old 26th Jun 2014, 08:03
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Snoop

Nice pic, showing the spirit of international collaboration: Vickers MG at the front, mid-mounted .50 Cal and an Anzani outboard at the rear; all mounted on what looks like a VW Golf body!
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Old 7th Sep 2014, 11:21
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It's mainly the capability achieved for short/rough landing requirements. TP400-D series is a bit different
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Old 28th Jan 2015, 14:53
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Flight Global article on production problems. Airbus chief Enders promises action on A400M

“We have problems – I admit that,” Enders said while addressing an Airbus Group reception in London on 27 January. “We have additional delays and I very much regret that we are unable to meet the commitments made to our customers several years ago.

“We are taking corrective action as fast as we can,” he says, adding that the issue will have “management and organisational consequences”.
The last sentence presumably is corporate speak for "heads will roll".
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Old 29th Jan 2015, 12:16
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News from Airbus Defence & Space

Airbus Defence and Space announces management and organisational changes in Military Aircraft, A400M Business Segment

my bold
Airbus Defence and Space has named Fernando Alonso (58) as Head of its Military Aircraft business unit as per 1st of March. Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, will act as interim Head of Military Aircraft until this date. Fernando Alonso replaces Domingo Ureña-Raso (56), who has resigned from his position.

Fernando Alonso has been working with Airbus for many years and has a profound knowledge of the A400M as well as the other military aircraft programmes. Since 2007, Fernando Alonso has served as Head of Flight Test Operations at Airbus.

Further to the top management changes, the A400M programme will be restructured.
These organisational changes are designed to allow more efficient operations inside the Airbus Defence and Space Division and to put the A400M programme as well as its industrialisation in a position to best address currently existing shortfalls:
· Responsibility for all industrial-related activities is being shifted to the Operations organisation, which is led by Pilar Albiac-Murillo.
· Programme-related activities such as development and customer deliveries will remain in the scope of the Military Aircraft business unit, under the lead of Rafael Tentor, who serves as Head of the A400M programme.

“I expect that the new team will rapidly address existing shortfalls in the most efficient way”, said Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. “Every pilot who has flown the A400M to date praises the aircraft’s performance. It has even already been deployed in military operations and it will be a strategic asset to any of our customer nations’ Air Forces. But as for the integration of military capabilities and the industrial ramp-up in particular, we have not been performing at the level which had been expected from us. That is unacceptable and we will fix that. We are fully conscious of how dependent the customer nations are on this new airlifter and therefore take their concerns very seriously. We will do our utmost to overcome them so the customers receive the aircraft they need in the shortest time possible.”

The current aircraft in service are showing good performance with the aircraft exceeding its specifications in its strategic, logistical role.

The military capabilities consisting of aerial delivery, cargo handling system, Defensive Aids Subsystems (DASS) and air-to-air refuelling with pods will be integrated in the second half of 2015, following certification and qualification for each capability. Flight testing of these capabilities is continuing at a high pace. Additional military capabilities will be integrated gradually up till 2018 as contractually agreed.

We are continuing our intense and constructive discussion with OCCAR and the customer nations regarding the delivery schedule and will communicate on this once those have been concluded. With regard to any potential financial impact of the revised delivery schedule a review is currently underway as indicated in November and its results are expected to be communicated at the Group’s 2014 Annual Results Disclosure on 27 February 2015.
Head(s) appear to have rolled

airsound
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Old 29th Jan 2015, 12:39
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Fernando Alonso? I thought he was a car jockey.
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Old 9th Feb 2015, 16:49
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City of Bristol

"City of Bristol"

How about we wait for the next one and celebrate a "Pair of Bristols"

Seriously, are our aircraft so few in numbers that we now have high profile naming ceromonies when a new one is delivered ?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/u...ity-of-bristol

If we are to follow the naval tradition of naming platforms can we not be a bit more imaginative and add some art work also ? eg Mamphis Belle,Ratlin Rita, Heavenly Body, Maid of Moray and of course Enola Gay ( scrub the last one - we can use that on the Armed Forces float at next years London parade)

Particular favourite is "Pussy in boots"

Lets see how long this post lasts - start the clock!

Last edited by Bannock; 9th Feb 2015 at 18:09.
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Old 9th Feb 2015, 17:56
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It's a longstanding RAF tradition - VC10, Comet and Brittania (to name 3) all had names
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Old 9th Feb 2015, 17:56
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Do we have another 21 Cities worthy of being applied to these aircraft?
My favorite named British aircraft was called 'Fochinell' which its Scotish pilot insisted was his family's moto.
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Old 2nd Dec 2015, 16:19
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Seems that Spain has "delayed" their order for full buy, and will only take 14 A400's for now- which is @half their intended order. Allows for future buy, but who knows if that will ever happen. Can't be good for the program.

Spain and Airbus Agree Temporary Reduction In A400M Acquisition (excerpt)

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Old 2nd Dec 2015, 17:01
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Didn't the same happen with the Eurofighter/Typhoon, that once workload has been distributed based on initial orders, cancellations erase some of those orders?
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Old 2nd Dec 2015, 18:12
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It seems that Germany, the UK and now Spain have reduced their orders from original announcments, with both Germany and Spain indicating they hoped to sell off some of their orders to other buyers. Buyers market perhaps....but is anyone knocking?
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Old 24th Aug 2016, 17:06
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Video: A400M carries out sand strip landing tests

Interesting video of the latest tests. (Flight Global)

Airbus Defence & Space has carried out flight testing of its A400M transport on a specially prepared sand runway during certification demonstrations in Woodridge, UK.

The surface is the last of three unprepared landing strips that the company is certifying the aircraft to operate from, and involved aircraft MSN2 performing three weeks of testing in August.
This will now be followed by a final week of tests during which the Atlas will carry a higher payload, the company says.

“The A400M demonstrated excellent performance in taxiing manoeuvres, such as U-turns, and during take-off and landing on the 1,600m [5,250ft] strip,” Airbus says.
Previous testing saw the transport certificated to take off and land on a gravel surface during trials in Ablitas, Spain, while certification from a grass runway took place at Écury-sur-Coole, in France, in October 2015.

To date, 31 aircraft have been delivered, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows, including nine each to the Royal Air Force and French air force.
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Old 25th Jun 2017, 18:11
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This year A400M low level training in Wales has started.

https://youtu.be/09l-Wc_33fk
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Old 25th Jun 2017, 21:43
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Stunning to see a big aircraft flown tactically
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Old 13th Feb 2018, 07:12
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Exclusive: Europe's A400M army plane may see some features axed

SINGAPORE/BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe’s new troop transporter may never go into battle with all the promised military capabilities after buyers of the A400M agreed to let Airbus negotiate an opt-out for features deemed too difficult to build.

A document signed last week between Airbus and seven NATO nations, and seen by Reuters, allows the planemaker to negotiate deals with the individual buyers so that some of the complex add-on features can be removed from the official specifications.

The new “declaration of intent” appears to mark the first time the buyers have recognized that not all the features designed to outdo competing U.S. aircraft will be available. The agreement also recognizes that Airbus needs more time to deliver the plane than originally planned and paves the way for negotiations over a new delivery schedule.

In return for these concessions, the planemaker has pledged to provide “all necessary support and resources to the A400M program” after chronic delays and glitches with Europe’s largest defense project, which have pushed it well beyond the original budget of 20 billion euros ($24.5 billion).

The agency representing buyers Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey did not respond to a request for comment. Airbus said it could not comment on confidential negotiations.

It was unclear what complex add-on features - known as “permanent non-compliance” items - could be removed from the plane’s specifications as they were not listed in the document.

A source briefed on the agreement, who asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of the matter, said countries had reasoned that it was better in some cases to accept partial progress towards a specific capability than to press for 100-percent achievement. “This means there will be compromises. Certain capabilities will not be delivered,” the person said......

Under last week’s deal, Airbus has re-committed to bringing new deliveries up to the final operational standard, known as “SOC3,” which includes flights at low level. It must also retrofit earlier planes in two stages by April 2027. Airbus must meanwhile pay or give credit notes for all damages for delays due as of last week, when the agreement was signed: a move that underscores likely fourth-quarter charges......

The agreement calls, however, for an easing of key cash-retention clauses which had allowed buyers to freeze payments to Airbus because of equipment problems. Instead, these will be modified to introduce “suitable incentivization mechanisms”.
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Old 13th Feb 2018, 14:36
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What's going on at Airbus that they can't deliver a transport airplane? These military capabilities are nothing new or unique. Indeed other aircraft have been providing these capabilities for nigh on a half century now. What is going on?

Last edited by KenV; 14th Feb 2018 at 13:54.
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