Airbus A400M – modern military transporter and all-around talent

Getting the Airbus A400M ready to enter service—tailored to the requirements of the air forces in seven Western European nations and Turkey—was a long and difficult road. When development began in 2000, Airbus was already hard at work on the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the A380; now the company had to juggle two mammoth tasks at once. Both projects presented Airbus with unprecedented challenges—financial, technical, and political.

This was the first time that Airbus had developed a turboprop aircraft, and was also its first foray into the field of purely military projects. On top of that, it had to integrate a completely redesigned European engine and at the same time reconcile the different requirements of various air forces. The first A400Ms were delivered to the French Air Force in 2013; the German Air Force received its first aircraft on December 18, 2014. Today, some ten years later, one thing is certain: the A400M is an indispensable part of military aviation. It offers twice the payload and range of its predecessors—a true quantum leap.

The military transporter has already proven itself time and again in crises; for instance, during the evacuation from Kabul in 2021 and while conducting earthquake relief in Turkey in 2023. During the ten-day rescue mission on unlit runways at Kabul Airport alone, the A400M brought a total of 5,347 people to safety in the German Armed Forces’ largest evacuation operation to date. The A400M was deployed again in June 2025, when the Bundeswehr evacuated German nationals from Israel during an Iranian attack. This aircraft’s ability to operate quickly and reliably under immense time pressure and in uncertain situations makes it a key instrument of Germany’s crisis response capability.

By October 2024, the 47 aircraft delivered to the Bundeswehr so far had completed over 50,000 flight hours. They now feature in almost all its international missions. By 2026, it will have taken delivery of all 53 aircraft ordered.

Airbus A400M – Facts, figures, dates

• The A400M can transport up to 37 metric tons of freight over distances of some 3,000 kilometers. In tactical use, the guaranteed payload is 25 metric tons. Examples of what the aircraft can load via its drive-on rear ramp range from a medium-sized NH90 transport helicopter to a Puma infantry fighting vehicle or up to six Wolf infantry utility vehicles.

• The cargo hold of the A400M is 17.70 meters long, 4 meters high, and 3.85 meters wide. It offers space for up to 116 fully equipped soldiers plus up to nine standard military pallets. On medevac missions, the aircraft serves as a flying intensive care unit capable of accommodating up to 66 NATO-standard medical stretchers and a 25-strong medical team. During the evacuation from Kabul, in some instances up to 213 people were transported simultaneously on the floor of the cargo hold—secured with safety belts.

• A total of 178 aircraft were on order by the end of 2024, of which 131 have already been delivered to the participating nations—including 47 to the German Armed Forces. France currently operates 25 A400Ms, the United Kingdom 22, Spain 14, and Turkey 10. Four other air forces—including those of Kazakhstan and Malaysia—also use the military transporter. A contract signed at the Paris Air Show in June 2025 secures the production of the A400M until at least spring 2029 and confirms the partner nations’ long-term confidence in the program.

• The A400M is versatile: it can perform low-altitude flights as well as long-haul flights in commercial air corridors at altitudes of up to 12,000 meters. Back in 2015, it completed a transatlantic flight from Ramstein, Germany, to Washington, D.C., in just one day. By comparison, its predecessor, the Transall C-160, took three days to fly the same route.

• In 2022, an A400M circumnavigated the globe—a first for the European military transporter. It took just 64 flight hours to cover a distance of some 46,000 kilometers. While crossing the Pacific Ocean, its only stops were in Papeete on Tahiti and on Easter Island.

• Germany is the first country to use the A400M as a tanker aircraft—for aerial refueling of fighter jets and other A400Ms.

• The A400M also acts as an “angel of the air”—for example, in February 2023, when three aircraft transported a total of 394 metric tons of relief supplies after the devastating earthquake in Turkey. That same year, the German Air Force deployed an A400M for an airdrop over Gaza: in the course of 21 flights, it dropped 430 pallets carrying a total of 220 metric tons of relief supplies for the civilian population.

• Airbus has opened a production site in Seville, southern Spain, specifically to produce the A400M.

• The A400M has appeared in several feature films, including “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” where lead actor Tom Cruise was strapped to the outside of the aircraft during takeoff.

The A400M engine: the TP400-D6

To meet the A400M’s unique requirements, the TP400-D6 is characterized by its advanced aerodynamics and component design, low fuel consumption, low weight, and efficiency across a broad operating range encompassing everything from prolonged low-altitude flights to high cruising speeds. It also features integrated engine and propeller control.

MTU developed the TP400-D6 military turboprop engine together with ITP Aero, Rolls-Royce, and Safran Aircraft Engines. The Europrop International (EPI) consortium was founded to manage engine development, manufacture, and support. MTU is responsible for the TP400-D6’s intermediate-pressure compressor, intermediate-pressure turbine, and intermediate-pressure shaft, and it is also involved in the control system.

A few weeks ago, EPI celebrated the occasion of the 600th engine going into service. Since the start of the program, final assembly of all new engines for all air forces and export customers has taken place in Munich. This is followed by road transport from there to Ludwigsfelde, which is home to the world’s only production test stand for the A400M engines.

Aviation journalist Andreas Spaeth recalls

Initially, the A400M struggled with its reputation. But with each of its appearances at international aviation exhibitions, such as the ILA in Berlin, appreciation for the aircraft grew. Its powerful turboprop engines, the distinctive sound of their four propellers, the aircraft’s steep flight maneuvers, and its extremely short takeoff and landing distances proved increasingly impressive—to me, too.

I was particularly fascinated by its twelve-wheel main landing gear; in comparison, the C-130 Hercules has just four wheels. This means the A400M can take off and land even on gravel runways or the beach. And although many aircraft can theoretically taxi backwards, the precision and control with which the A400M does this, with its engines running and in the tightest of spaces, is unique.

I was also impressed by its interior: it’s just a few steps up to the spacious cockpit, which offers a wide view over the apron. Not quite as high up as the cockpit of a jumbo jet, but comparable to the perspective from the driver’s cab of a large truck. And that’s exactly what the A400M is: an exceptionally versatile flying heavy-lift transporter.