Kazakhstan has ordered two A400M military transport aircraft, announced Wednesday 1er September the Airbus group, of which this aircraft had not attracted a new buyer for fifteen years. The country, which will receive its first aircraft in 2024, joins eight other states using this model.
“The A400M will become the centerpiece of Kazakhstan’s tactical and strategic airlift operations”, said Airbus Defense and Space CEO Michael Schoellhorn, quoted in a statement. From the same source, “This new export contract brings the total number of A400M ordered to 176, and this figure is expected to increase further in the near future”.
Designed to land on basic runways, but also to carry out so-called strategic transport over long distances, to refuel aircraft or drop paratroopers, the A400M has experienced additional costs and delays linked to its complex development and the multiplication of specifications. national techniques. Technological success, it has so far not met the hoped-for export success.
Seven partner countries and one export client so far
Of the 174 planes previously ordered, 170 were ordered when the program was launched in 2003 by the seven partner countries (Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg). It must in particular replace the C-160 Transall and part of the C-130 Hercules of these armies.
Before Kazakhstan’s announcement, the only export customer was Malaysia, with four A400Ms ordered in December 2005. France received its first aircraft in 2013, four years late, and eighteen in total since, called Atlas. It uses them in most of its overseas operations, for example during the last month during the airlift to Kabul.
The development cost of 20 billion euros originally planned has skyrocketed, leading Airbus to spend 6 billion euros in provisions between 2014 and 2019, in particular to pay penalties to client states. The aircraft manufacturer and the States then concluded a revised agreement providing for a new production schedule and new financial conditions. Another setback, an A400M suffered a serious accident during a test flight in Spain in 2015, which killed four people.
Its assembly takes place in Seville (Spain), while its wings are made in the United Kingdom, and its fuselage, in Germany. The aircraft can carry 116 soldiers or 37 tonnes of cargo. The dimensions of its hold – 17 m long and 4 m wide – allow it to carry both a helicopter and armored vehicles. Designed to land on rugged runways of less than 700m and capable of taking off over a distance of 1,150m, it can fly up to 780 km / h, a speed 30% faster than propeller transport aircraft.