A400 M, first military AIRBUS

[HAIDER]

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[Imran Khan]

COOOOOL i like to see this as replace of our c-130s

 

[mujahideen]

What is the cost of this plane?

 

[Neo]

A400M Future Large Aircraft - FLA​

Avion de Transport Futur - ATF​

The A400M is a military transport aircraft designed to meet the requirements of eight European Air Forces (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom) to replace their fleets of C-130 Hercules and C-160 Transall. These aircraft are currently in service and will become obsolete in the next century. With the A400M, the goal is to standardize Europe's fleet of tactical transports. The relatively larger production run allows greater production rates which will then reduce the prices per aircraft for airframe, engines and spare parts. Moreover, this will provide for an improved interoperability level and the option of consolidating major maintenance operations in a joint industrial consortium. The harmonized military requirements of eight countries have been published in the "European Staff Requirement" (ESR).

The total number of aircraft required by these countries amounts to approximately 300. At the July 2000 Farnborough Air Show today, a joint declaration indicated an intent to buy a total of 225 European A400M military transport aircraft. The nations intend to procure, in an initial order, aircraft in the following numbers which will be sufficient to launch the program; Belgium 7 aircraft, France 50 aircraft, Germany 73 aircraft, Italy 16 aircraft, Luxembourg 1 aircraft in close co-operation with Belgium, Spain 27 aircraft, Turkey 26 aircraft and the United Kingdom 25 aircraft.

Following discussions, OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d'Armement), representing Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey, and United Kingdom signed the A400M program contract on December 18, 2001, committing to a total of 196 aircraft. This number has subsequently been revised downwards in the light of budgetary constraints, In December 2002 Berlin decided that it would cut its order for the Airbus A400M from 73 to 60. This was certain to raise the overall costs for all eight European countries involved in its production.

The program was launched in the spring of 2003 on the basis of 180 aircraft for seven European NATO nations, with first deliveries in 2009. Delivery of the first series aircraft were iniitally planned for the year 2005.

The acquisition price is only a portion of the total costs of owning and operating an aircraft. The Life Cycle Costs (LCC) are also affected by downstream operating costs such as fuel and maintenance. These will vary for each type of aircraft owing to many factors such as types of engine, aircraft size, and technology employed. A fair comparison can be obtained by calculating the LCC corresponding to the aircraft fleet required to perfom a typical mission.

A fleet of 50 A400M airlifters represents a US$ 4bn acquisition cost and a US$ 10bn 30-year life cycle cost. When compared to a corresponding fleet of competing aircraft required to perform identical missions, the A400M will have the lowest 30-year life cycle cost.

CASA, Aerospatiale, Airbus, Alenia, British Aerospace, DASA, Flabel, Ogma and TAI are taking part in A400M (anteriormente FLA, Future Large Aircraft) programme under the management of Airbus Military. The new company's responsibility is to manage the development program of the Airbus A400M military transport, formerly known as the FLA (Future Large Aircraft). The new designation denotes that the aircraft is the first of a new series of military transports, complementary to the existing range of civil airliners produced by Airbus Industrie.

The A400M has a classic high wing configuration, fuselage with ramp and large rear door, high flotation retractable landing gear and "T" tail. Its four turboprops provide it with a cruise speed of 0.72 mach at altitudes of up to 40,000 feet. Its cabin is 22.65 m long, including the ramp, 4 m wide at floor level and 3.85 m high, making it suitable for the transport of bulky cargo like helicopters, heavy vehicles, missile batteries and light vehicles placed side by side.

The A400M will offer longer range, higher payload and capacity, faster cruise speed, and improved levels of tactical performance compared to the aircraft it will replace. Through the use of proven advanced technology developed by Airbus Industrie and its partner companies, the A400M will also bring commercial levels of reliability and cost-effectiveness to military airlift operations.

An important argument in favor of the A400M is the changed geopolitical situation on account of which crisis-oriented and quick-reaction air transport increasingly gains in importance. As a result, the demand for transport aircraft for humanitarian and military applications, as for instance for UNO and NATO missions, continues to grow. Another reason lies in the fact that transporters such as the Transall C-160 and the Hercules C-130 which today are in operation throughout Europe will gradually have to be replaced with new aircraft.

In 1994 the UK decided to procure 25 C130J Hercules aircraft from Lockhead Martin as a first tranche replacement for its ageing C130K Hercules aircraft. The UK also rejoined the European programme to determine the scope for replacing the remainder of the C130K fleet with the proposed Future Large Aircraft (now A400M). A competition was conducted by 4 of the 7 nations to consider the Boeing C-17 and Lockhead Martin C130J alongside the A400M.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) issued by the British Government in July 1998 made a very strong case for the need for a dramatically improved air transport capability to support the proposed Joint Rapid Reaction Forces. However, as of early 1999 the French Air Force was considering a range of options for a new military transport aircraft, including the Airbus Future Large Aircraft, the Russian An-70 and a mix of C-17s and C-130Js. Lockheed Martin has proposed the C-130J-30 to Belgium, France, Spain and the UK in competition with the proposed European Airbus A400M. The European home market for FLA represents some 300 aircraft. Outside Europe a sizeable market can be identified for a military transport aircraft in the FLA category.

Germany is leading a NATO partnership that will lease up to 20 C-17 or An-124 airlifters for use until the A400M is in full production. This would be the airlift-equivalent of NATO's E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System squadron. This initiative could see NATO either lease or purchase a squadron of heavy-lift aircraft, with the Boeing C-17 and the Ukrainian Antonov An-124 in the frame. While the latter candidate may prove politically attractive to Berlin, the C-17 option will provide interoperability with the US Air Force. The British have four C-17 aircraft on lease from Boeing, ostensibly as a stopgap until the A400M is delivered.

In June 1999 the M138 engine won in Airbus Industrie's downselect on engines to power its emerging A400M military transport. The M138 is jointly developed and manufactured by Snecma (France), MTU München (Germany), FiatAvio (Italy) and ITP (Spain). The M138's core is identical to that of Snecma's M88, which powers the French Rafale combat aircraft. The M138 also incorporates technologies matured under the Advanced Ducted Propfan (ADP) demonstrator project.

In May 2003 Airbus Military announced that the engine selected to power the A400M will be the TP400-D6, to be developed and manufactured by EPI (EuroProp International), a European consortium. The chosen engine, offered in response to a second RFP (Request for Proposal) issued by Airbus Military in April 2002, is an entirely new design in the ten thousand horsepower category, based on proven technology and incorporating three-shaft civil aero engine architecture. The TP400-D6 fully meets the required specification. The choice of the TP400-D6 was the result of an exhaustive evaluation of two separate engine proposals submitted by Pratt & Whitney Canada and EPI. EPI is a European joint venture company consisting of Rolls-Royce, Snecma Moteurs, MTU Aero Engines and Industria de Turbopropulsores (ITP), brought together to manage the programme. The TP400-D6 will be the most powerful turbo-prop engine ever produced in the western world and, combined with the aircraft's aerodynamic qualities, will make the A400M the world's fastest new-generation turbo-prop aircraft.

The A400M will be the most advanced military Turboprop airlifter and will be fully equipped as an air-to-air refueller. Currently seven European Nations have ordered a total of 180 A400Ms.

A400M Future Large Aircraft - FLA

 

[Neo]

What is the cost of this plane?

Approx. $80-90 million a piece.

 

[shehbazi2001]

Do u guys know why are the propeller blades of this plane are swept and not straight.....

I know it and can tell you but first you guys give it a try.......

Even in the C-130J, the blades are not straight......Now the blades of even the fans in the turbofan engines are not straight and getting swept......

There are two types ......forward swept blades and other backward swept blades....

 

[HAIDER]

Provide more thrust or help in short landing and take off .....

 

[shehbazi2001]

Primarily, the blades are swept for reducing the noise........plus you see that number of blades have increased to eight on each engine.....this means that to get the same thrust, the propeller rpm (rounds per minute) can be reduced, further reducing the noise......;

Reduced noise is going to be the requirement of future aviation but this also makes an aircraft stealthier.......because noise can also be used to detect incoming aircrafts......In second world war, Britain used this to detect german bombers in addition to radar..;

When there are two engines on an aircraft, we know that they rotate in opposite directions to each other........

Once in UET Peshawar, guys wanted to do a project of a two-engined scale aircraft and they bought two engines but they forgot to buy one in clockwise rotation and other in counter-clockwise rotation, therefore the flight could not be done......then a single-engined scale RC plane was made and flown......

Due to the blade sweep, we note another thing in 4-engined aircrafts...on each wing, the two engines rotate in opposite directions......in early C-130 we cant note it visually because all engine propeller look the same....