Airbus A400M - Atlas C1

Another of the frequent flights over Gloucester just now but the altitude, no more than 500' does seem a bit odd. A bit early for the annual opening of our nearest airbase and too low to be the usual circuits they have been flying off and on for a while. I can't think of a local exercise area near here needing an A400 M so it might possibly be flight training.
 
Some details regarding Tom Cruise famously awesome stunt in Mission Impossible:
During this period, the aircraft took off with Cruise attached eight times before the team got the sequence that they wanted. The filming took place at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, UK. At times, the plane was 5,000 feet above the ground. Elswit adds that:

“They go up, get altitude, make a complete circuit, and land. I think it’s up in the air for about 6-8 minutes before it lands again. It had to be at least 1,000 ft. up.”
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simpleflying.com

How Tom Cruise Held Onto The Side Of A Flying Airbus A400M

US actor Tom Cruise is known for starring in the action-packed Mission: Impossible film series. These movies often…
simpleflying.com simpleflying.com
 
RAF Brize Norton is just down the road from me so I have grown up watching Belfasts, VC10s, C130s, C17s, Voyagers and now A400s doing their circuits or flying in and out. Would love to have seen 681s too. But the A400s sometimes remind me of them.
 
If anyone is waching the en masse tragedy unfolding before our eyes in Afghanistan and the mass air mobility from USAF, RAF, RCAF, and now Luftwaffe. The latter have their A400M transporting pair of Airbus Helicopters H145M LUH SOF (Light Utility Helicopter Special Operations Force)

www.bundeswehr.de

Evakuierung aus Afghanistan 2021

Die Bundeswehr unterstützt die Evakuierungsoperation des Auswärtigen Amtes: Aktuelle Entwicklungen und Hintergrundinformationen.
www.bundeswehr.de www.bundeswehr.de
 
Watching it unfold I've been having a terrible sense of deja vu as I've just been writing about the 1929 Kabul Airlift. Thus ends Britain's 4th Afghan war.

Chris
 
The UK Ministry of Defence has issued a £50 million ($69 million) tender for a Medium Weight Aerial Delivery (MWAD) system to airdrop equipment and vehicles from A400M “Atlas” transport aircraft.

The notice specifies that the system should be able to safely drop 16,000 kgs (35,274 pounds) of payload into drop-zones and include a platform, parachutes, and ancillary equipment “to enable their extraction” from the Airbus aircraft.
[...]
The notice stipulates that 40 MWAD systems of up to 32 feet (9.7 meters) in length should be delivered by 22 Jul 2031.

“The duration of the contract shall include a manufacture and transition phase followed by a 7 (seven) year support phase from Initial Operating Capability (IOC) (plus Options to extend by an additional 3 years),” the notice stipulates.
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www.thedefensepost.com

UK to Purchase Vehicle Airdrop Systems for A400M 'Atlas' Aircraft

The UK issued a £50 million tender for a Medium Weight Aerial Delivery system to airdrop equipment and vehicles from A400M "Atlas" aircraft.
www.thedefensepost.com www.thedefensepost.com
 
A bit of more details concerning French A400 usage in Kabul evacuation:

26 vols ont été effectués entre Kaboul et les Émirats Arabes Unis où les évacués d'Afghanistan embarquaient dans des Airbus à destination de la France. Il y a eu 16 vols entre les Émirats et Paris.
[...]
"Nous sommes repartis avec plus de 220 personnes alors que l'avion a une capacité de 116 sièges passagers."
Lieutenant-colonel Nicolas

------------------///---------------------

26 flights were made between Kabul and the United Arab Emirates where evacuees from Afghanistan boarded Airbus bound for France. There were 16 flights between the Emirates and Paris [total 2600 evacuee]
[...]
"We left with more than 220 people while the plane has a capacity of 116 passenger seats."
Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolas
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www.francetvinfo.fr

Évacuations d'Afghanistan : "Une vraie mission de guerre", témoigne un pilote de l'Armée de l'air française

Le lieutenant-colonel Nicolas a effectué plusieurs missions au Sahel. Le 16 août dernier, il était le premier pilote de l'armée française à atterrir à Kaboul dans le cadre de l'opération Apagan, visant à évacuer Afghans et Français menacés de mort par les talibans.
www.francetvinfo.fr www.francetvinfo.fr
 
Another customer for A400M as Kazakhstan has ordered a pair

www.airbus.com

The Republic of Kazakhstan orders two Airbus A400Ms

The Republic of Kazakhstan has placed an order for two Airbus A400M aircraft and becomes the ninth operator together with Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Malaysia and Luxembourg.
www.airbus.com www.airbus.com

cheers
 

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Kazakhstan ? O RLY ? were they impressed by the Afghan air lift ? Oh well, as long as they don't put Borat as pilot, everything should be allright.
 
In theory Airbus should be hoovering up the large transport market.
I don't think there is any Western competitor that comes close to this segment now?
 
These two aircrafts orded by Kazakhstan have no aerial refueling probe so far. It would be the first A400M order without an aerial refueling probe.
The Royal Air Force helped Airbus to sell the A400M to Kazakhstan last year.
Source:
www.gov.uk

Royal Air Force A400M showcased in Kazakhstan

During a recent visit, which promoted the bilateral military co-operation between the UK and Kazakhstan, the capability of the RAF A400M was showcased to the Kazakh Government.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
fightingirish said:
These two aircrafts orded by Kazakhstan have no aerial refueling probe so far. It would be the first A400M order without an aerial refueling probe.
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I am now just realizing the A400M cannot be refueled by a boom :D

Edit: Slightly incorrect, the boom receptacle is possible but not funded. Seems like the aircrafts are all plumbed for aerial refueling and the probe is removable, Kazakhstan could have probes if they really wanted too. Il-78s not compatible most likely?

A400M as a Tanker PDF

Screen Shot 2021-09-01 at 8.44.31 PM.png
 
a400m-indonesia-in-flight-hd.jpg


www.airbus.com

Indonesia Ministry of Defence orders two Airbus A400Ms

The Indonesia Ministry of Defence has placed an order for two Airbus A400M aircraft in multirole tanker and transport configuration.
www.airbus.com www.airbus.com
 
Does anyone know if the Turkish Air Force has managed to retrieve the 2 A400M that got stranded at Boryspil Airport near Kiev when the Russian attack started?
 
timmymagic said:
Does anyone know if the Turkish Air Force has managed to retrieve the 2 A400M that got stranded at Boryspil Airport near Kiev when the Russian attack started?
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I tried to check for new articles but they all date back to at least one month ago, so I decided to check Sentinel 2 Imagery and yes, it seems like they are still there.
 
TomcatViP said:
Probably down for maintenance and no Turkish personnel can be brought in.
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They'll need some extensive checks for sure after 120 days unattended, but I'm still surprised that the Turks haven't come up with a scheme to get them out at low level. Mind you the biggest risk would be engagement by Ukrainian air defences at present. I suspect the Ukrainian's don't have the time and energy to organise the extraction at present.
 
@timmymagic : IMOHO, as it would have meant having Turkish military personnels in a zone of conflict for quite a long period of time when retribution strike from Russians was a highly plausible hypothesis, the risks were too high.

It would have been too easy for the Russian regime to address a bloody message.
 
Presumably there may be an unwritten understanding between Russia and Turkey; Russia doesn’t go after them on the ground on the understanding that they won’t be used to to ferry more equipment to the Ukrainians (and having them stuck on the ground ensures that they don’t/ can’t be so used).

Now that informal understanding may have assumed the conflict would be over by now so stuck in a kind of limbo (with Turkey taking steps to get them airworthy and flying risking breaching the potential arrangement).
 
Grey Havoc said:
www.telegraph.co.uk

Paratroopers ‘fly under the radar’ in milestone trials

The RAF needs to show its new Atlas aircraft is capable of conducting low-level parachuting before the Hercules fleet is retired
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

Alternate link in case the paywall is acting up again:
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Damn those paywall’s. Anyway I wonder when the RAF will be testing the Para drops? I would have thought that they tested them out to see if the Atlas was capable when they first reached IOC.
 
I suspect that some civil servants thought they would save money by delaying and stretching out things. Pennywise and pound foolish as ever.
 
FighterJock said:
Damn those paywall’s. Anyway I wonder when the RAF will be testing the Para drops? I would have thought that they tested them out to see if the Atlas was capable when they first reached IOC.
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There were significant issues with the initial paratroop drop solution on A400. Took some time to resolve. The French only managed to get it all sorted with a load of effort last year. Suspect the UK was letting them take the lead.
 
timmymagic said:
FighterJock said:
Damn those paywall’s. Anyway I wonder when the RAF will be testing the Para drops? I would have thought that they tested them out to see if the Atlas was capable when they first reached IOC.
Click to expand...
There were significant issues with the initial paratroop drop solution on A400. Took some time to resolve. The French only managed to get it all sorted with a load of effort last year. Suspect the UK was letting them take the lead.
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Let’s wait and see when the RAF does the Atlas Para drop tests, I would think that the RAF do them in the Spring or Summer of next year, I cannot see them doing the drops in November or December.
 
So what was the hold up? Just the lack of an air corridor to guarantee safe passage?
 
H_K said:
So what was the hold up? Just the lack of an air corridor to guarantee safe passage?
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That will be the main part of it. I suspect towards the end it will have been the need to do some hefty maintenance and checks as they'd been left outside with no ground crew for 10 months.
 

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