Airbus A400M

Airbus Military starts major fatigue tests on A400M

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Airbus Military started major fatigue testing of its A400M transporter this month in Dresden, Germany, the company announced Tuesday.
"The test airframe, known as MSN5001, will be subjected to a punishing regime of loads, 24 hours per day, for an initial four weeks, eventually simulating 160 flights per day," Airbus Military said. "The first 1,665 simulated flights are required for European Aviation Safety Agency type certification of the A400M, but over the next 18 months a total of 25,000 simulated flights will be performed – equating to 2.5 times the A400M's design-life."
Fatigue testing simulates the repeated stresses an aircraft endures in routine service over its lifetime, as opposed to static testing, which subjects an airframe to stresses beyond the most-extreme expected in service.
Airbus Military completed static testing of another A400M test airframe, MSN5000, last September in Madrid, the company said. "That airframe continues to be used for further fatigue tests of composite structures which will last until early 2012."

L'Allemagne veut acheter moins d'A400M que prévu

Berlin ne veut acheter que 40 avions de transport militaire A400M, et non 53 comme prévu, a indiqué mardi le rapporteur du budget Défense du parlement allemand, Jürgen Koppelin.

2011 AFP

LHA a écrit:

The AFSOC plans to buy as many as 37 MC-130Js to replace several aging airframes, including the MC-130E Combat Talon 1, MC-130P Combat Shadow and the AC-130H Spectre.

AFSOC uses such aircraft to insert and support troops clandestinely, flying at low altitude at night.

Lockheed adapted its production line for the MC-130J and HC-130J programmes. Assembly workers now install a system to receive in-flight refuelling on the production line, rather than modifying the aircraft after it exits final assembly.

Il conviendrait que certains s'en rendent compte, et ne l'oublient pas !

A400M undergoes Swedish winter trials

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Pictured is Airbus Military's second A400M development aircraft undergoing cold weather trials earlier this month in Kiruna, northern Sweden.

The aircraft - Grizzly 2 - experienced temperatures as low as -21ºC as it underwent tests on its powerplants. It was accompanied by an Airbus A340-300 carrying support equipment and the test team.

It will experience further cold weather testing in Kiruna and at other locations this winter and next says Airbus Military.

Pictured is [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Military's second [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] development aircraft undergoing cold weather trials earlier this month in Kiruna, northern Sweden.

The aircraft - Grizzly 2 - experienced temperatures as low as -21ºC as it underwent tests on its powerplants. It was accompanied by an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] carrying support equipment and the test team.
It will experience further cold weather testing in Kiruna and at other locations this winter and next says Airbus Military.

A400M starts tanker trials with RAF VC10

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] development aircraft "Grizzly 1" has begun in-flight refuelling receiver trials behind a Vickers VC10 tanker flown by the UK [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
The new test campaign started at Toulouse, France on 15 February, when MSN1 "performed a series of dry contacts with the VC10's fuselage-mounted hose drum unit", says [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
Plans to perform the receiver trials with a VC10 were outlined by the company late last year, when it said aircraft MSN1 would perform dry contacts only over a period of seven to 10 days. However, the current work is now scheduled to conclude late this week.

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Information gathered during this process will inform more detailed work to be conducted later this year using development aircraft "Grizzly 4".
Airbus also recently deployed the second of its current four development aircraft to Kiruna in Sweden to undergo cold weather trials as part of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s test campaign.
The UK plans to retire the last of its VC10s in 2013, with the aged type to be replaced by an eventual fleet of 14 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-based Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft. The first of these should be delivered to RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, late this year.
The RAF's remaining 13 VC10s were delivered to the service between 1966 and 1970, says [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. The aircraft involved in the current trials is K3-standard tanker ZA149

Airbus expects global sales of its A400M military transport plane, a long-delayed project plagued by cost overruns, to reach 400 over the next 30 years, a company official said on Monday.

Didier Vernet, Airbus's head of market development, said Middle East and North African states were expected to order between 50 and 100 planes.

"There are prospects for us when the countries phase out the C-130 and C-17 (US military cargo planes made by Lockheed Martin and Boeing)," he told reporters on the sidelines of a defence exhibition in the UAE capital.
He forecast global demand for military cargo planes to be around 800 over the next 30 years and Airbus's military wing is aiming for half of the market share.

"There are a lot of old aircraft to replace," Vernet said. "The prospects for the coming 30 years are 400 aircraft."
The A400M is designed to transport soldiers and heavy equipment to rugged combat zones. But technical problems have pushed the EUR€20 billion (USD$27 billion) project four years behind schedule and EUR€11 billion over budget.
Last year European government buyers agreed a funding deal to rescue the project.
The seven nations behind the project -- Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey -- have orders totalling 174 planes.

Vernet also said Airbus Military has received orders from Middle Eastern states for its A330 MRT in-flight refuelling and transport aircraft.
He said Saudi Arabia has ordered six planes, the first of which would be delivered in 2012 while the United Arab Emirates has ordered three with the first planned for delivery later this year.

(Reuters)

Grizzly hits EASA test benchmark

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Military's [url=http://www.flightglobal.com/landingpage/airbus a400m.html]A400M[/url] "Grizzly" has completed sufficient simulated flight-cycle testing on a full-scale airframe to achieve civil type certification of the airlifter by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The test specimen at Airbus's Dresden plant, known as MSN5001, has undergone 1,665 cycles, about five times the maximum number of flights expected to be recorded annually by each in-service A400M.
By mid-2012, 25,000 simulated flights will be performed - equating to 2.5 times the A400M´s design-life.
The test programme is required to simulate flights at least one year ahead of the actual operations performed by the aircraft.

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A400M Agreement Paves Way For Engine

PARIS — Europrop International (EPI) and Airbus Military will reach agreement over compensation on engine-related delays with the A400M airlifter “within weeks” following progress between partner nations and management agency Occar toward a finalized, redefined program, a senior official says.
Although financial terms of the agreement have yet to be officially disclosed, the two parties are thought to be negotiating a deal that offers a compromise between the €500 million ($698 million) reportedly sought by Airbus Military from EPI, and €425 million apparently wanted from Airbus by the engine maker. Settlement over the dispute, centered on development delays and blunders related to TP400-D6 engine control software certification, has been affected by delays in redefining the overarching program, says former EPI Executive Vice President Jacques Desclaux.
“Negotiations were a little bit slowed down by the fact there was no agreement at the top level,” says Desclaux, who was appointed in January as chairman and chief executive of PowerJet, the Snecma and NPO Saturn commercial engine joint venture. Broad terms of the revised A400M program were agreed to in January between the nations and Occar (the European Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation), and “that process is close to the end,” Desclaux says, adding that “we are already working to the revised agreement.” Finalization of the financial deal with Airbus will come “within a few weeks,” he adds.
Full-authority digital engine control (Fadec) software with full functionality is now flying on two of the four development aircraft, with software and A400M civil certification planned for the end of 2011. Formal approval of the civil certification of the engine is also due “within weeks” after the submission of around 200 reports to the European Aviation Safety Agency, Desclaux says. Although originally expected as early as last September, the final path to certification has been complicated by the need to show means of compliance for a large turboprop. The process, as developed for commercial turbofans, needed adapting and was “not well tuned for turboprops.” Despite this, Desclaux says the revised process does not “change anything to the engine or its operation.”
The 11,000-shp TP400-D6 is performing well in flight tests and helping Airbus achieve a “high rate” of testing, Desclaux says. “At the aircraft level, Airbus is still confident of certification by the end of the year,” he adds. “From a fleet support perspective, we’re having very few events in terms of engine incidents.” However, Desclaux reveals that two engines have had to be removed owing to foreign object damage sustained during flight testing — one due to debris ingestion while operating on a non-prepared runway and the other due to a probable bird strike. “Nothing failed in the engine, and each time they were able to safely shut down the engine in a controlled way,” he says.
EPI, which consists of partners ITP Group, MTU Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce and Snecma, expects to begin deliveries of initial production TP400s in April 2012, with two shipsets due for delivery by the end of the year. The number will double in 2013 as Airbus slowly ramps up A400M production. Taking lessons learned from the A380, the initial rate increase will be deliberately modest to enable any changes discovered during flight tests to be incorporated early. The rate increase will be more dramatic from 2014 onward, Desclaux adds.

Airbus Military has completed low-speed take-off tests with its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] transport, with the work having provided a spectacular photo opportunity using one of its development aircraft.

Performed at Istres in southern France, the process was intended to determine the A400M’s minimum unstuck speed – the lowest at which it can safely take off.

“The aircraft’s nose was raised until a special ‘bumper’ fitted to the rear fuselage struck the ground at the maximum pitch-up angle of 13º,” Airbus Military says.

The result exceeds its earlier assumption of a 12º limit which had been projected following previous tests conducted
late last year.

Four of an eventual five development aircraft are now involved in a
range of flight test activities ahead of the A400M’s entry into
operational use. Airbus Military should deliver its first of a current
174 production examples under contract in late 2012 or early 2013.

Le moteur de l'Airbus A400M certifié par les autorités civiles européennes

L'Agence européenne de sécurité aérienne (AESA) a annoncé vendredi avoir certifié le moteur de l'avion de transport militaire Airbus A400M, une étape importante pour la certification civile de cet appareil qui a connu un développement mouvementé

A400M on track for early 2013 delivery, says Airbus Military

Deliveries of the [url=http://www.flightglobal.com/landingpage/airbus a400m.html]A400M[/url] transport are on track to start in the first quarter of 2013, with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Military expecting the type to reach its final operating standard around five years later.
Major assemblies for the programme's initial production aircraft, MSN7, will arrive at the company's final assembly site at San Pablo near Seville late this year. It will make its flight debut by the third quarter of next year, before being delivered to the French air force in an initial operating capability standard.
MSN7 is the first of 170 A400Ms to have entered production for partner nations Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Ten others originally set for acceptance by Germany and the UK will be offered for sale once an export strategy has been finalised for the delayed type. "I would prefer to have an aircraft certified and with proven capabilities before going to export," said Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña.

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"We have achieved all of the [programme] milestones for almost two years and are very confident that we will achieve civil certification before the end of this year," said A400M programme head Cédric Gautier. The company plans to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities to its customers next year, although some of these will only become available operationally through five subsequent capability standards scheduled to run between 2013 and 2018.
Gautier said all aircraft handed over before the A400M's final SOC3 standard will be retrofitted to the configuration as part of a renewed contract earlier this year. "This philosophy allows us to de-risk the programme and deliver at the right time to meet the customers' requirements."
While the programme's current main emphasis is on supporting civil certification activities involving the European Aviation Safety Agency, Airbus Military's chief test pilot military Ed Strongman says the test team is already supporting development work in areas such as paratroop delivery and the use of night vision goggles.
Roughly 500 sorties and 1,600 flight hours have been recorded so far using four "Grizzly" test aircraft. A fifth, production-standard MSN6, will be flown for the first time in October. The expanded fleet must log a combined total of 1,000 additional hours before the declaration of initial operating capability.
Airbus Military plans to hand over its first four production A400Ms to France and Turkey in 2013, with deliveries to Germany, the UK and international buyer Malaysia to start the following year. The company is in the process of discussing in-service support and training arrangements with its customers.

Airbus expects Far East orders for tsunami rescue aircraft


Both Japan and New Zealand have inquired about the A400M to handle humanitarian crises


Far Eastern governments have contacted Airbus about ordering its latest military aircraft, which can cost more than $80m (£49m), to tackle humanitarian crises.



The A400M was originally designed for the defence needs of seven European countries, including the UK, Germany and France. Last year, the governments of those nations agreed a ¤3.5bn (£3.04bn) deal to salvage the much-delayed programme.

The aircraft is extremely flexible. Countries such as Japan and New Zealand have looked at buying it for humanitarian aid and rescue purposes after recent tsunamis and earthquakes. The Britain's Department for International Development (DfID) has also looked at the A400M.

Neighbouring Far Eastern governments are understood to have started looking at the possibility of teaming up in partnerships of two to three to afford the aircraft. There is no fixed cost because different clients have their own specifications, but the cost – tens of millions – puts them out of reach for most humanitarian groups.

At present, the Airbus parent company, EADS, is not officially trying to push A400 sales until 2012. But a soft marketing push, including conference presentations, has started.

Ian Elliott, the head of defence marketing at Airbus Military, said: "There's been quite some interest shown from affiliates of NGOs – government departments, like DfID.

"There has been interest from Far Eastern governments. You've only got to look at the disasters in the area to see how the A400 could help."

Mr Elliott added that the A400 had "enormous potential" in disaster relief, anti-piracy and illegal immigration control. For example, the advanced radar and communication facilities could easily track pirates.

He also confirmed that "informal contacts at mid-level staff levels" had started with some countries. "We will kick-off the export campaign next year," he said. "The full potential of this aircraft will really begin demonstrating itself when entering service."

The first delivery of the A400 is expected to be made to France in 2013. The other four initial clients are Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and Turkey.

The news comes after a significant week for Airbus. The World Trade Organisation announced that it was partially overturning a 2010 verdict that the European Union had given Airbus $18bn in illegal subsidies to develop the A380 jumbo. Boeing, its US rival, had challenged the subsidies. Confusingly, both sides claimed victory. Airbus's president, Tom Enders, claimed the group had won on "all the key elements" and Boeing's Jim McNerney said it was "a clear, final win" for the US.

Lord Mandelson, the former European trade commissioner, urged the two parties not to continue the seven-year dispute because of the potential threat from emerging economies.

Demand Appears Strong For A400M

The Airbus A400M should be the leader in the large military transport market within 10 years, reckons Antonio Rodriguez Barberan, senior vice president of commercial business at Airbus Military, “because we will be the only actors left. The [Lockheed Martin] C-130s and [Boeing] C-17s will need replacing by then and their production line is closing down,” he told DTI at the new Airbus Military training center here last month.
But for now his marketing executives are holding their fire. “We are being prudent marketing the A400M,” says Barberan. “The priority this year is certification flights,” which means there are not many slots when the aircraft will be available for demonstration flights. It will nevertheless fly at air shows such as at Paris this month, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Izmir in Turkey for the centennial of the Turkish air force, which will take delivery of its first A400M in mid-2013.
Barberan and his team know which countries to target when they ramp up marketing next year: those with major air forces and a large number of old transport aircraft—such as C-130s, C-17s and Ilyushin Il-76s. “In the next 10 years Asia will be a major market,” he says, except for China, which he believes will likely develop a large military transport aircraft of its own. “But by that time the A400M should be established.” Other candidates include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In the Americas, Mexico meets the criteria, but Brazil does not. Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer launched the KC-390 medium-weight transport aircraft program in 2009, and “so is not likely to be interested,” Barberan says. “In the medium-to-long term the U.S. market is huge and there is a capability gap which the A400M would fill in due time.” This is also true for Australia, which recently procured C-130s, “but in 20 years, when these are becoming old, we will be there.”
No presentations have yet been made to India, “but due to the size of the market the A400M would be perfect,” he says.
Barberan expects that interest in the A400M “will rocket with the first delivery to the French air force in early 2013.” Should a country express interest before then, “we might be able to consider delivery dates for new customers in or around 2015.”
Barberan believes the A400M “will be an extremely profitable program.” He says there are about 2,450 heavy transport aircraft globally that are on average 26 years old. Of these, most—1,015—are in North America, followed by Russia with 475. Russia is likely closed to the A400M, but Barberan is optimistic that U.S. and Canadian air forces will eventually buy the aircraft.
In addition, missions are changing. “We have moved from a Cold War, bipolar world in which transport aircraft were mainly for military missions to one where there are huge humanitarian needs, asymmetric threats and a requirement for rapid response. More and more these planes are supporting society,” Barberan explains. “This means the A400M will be sold for the next 40 years.” There is, as well, a “huge market for the A400M among civilian operators,” whose inquiries about procuring the aircraft “we’ve had to decline for the time being.”
Armed forces have performed more military operations in recent years, generally far from home, so there is a need for global reach and an ability to deploy in hostile areas, land on unprepared terrain and provide front-line support. The A400M with its ability to carry 30 metric tons (33 tons) for 4,535 km (2,820 mi.), or 20 metric tons for 6,390 km, drop paratroopers and loads from high and low altitudes, land and take off from short and soft unprepared airfields, and low detectability meets relevant requirements.
So, is the aircraft over its development problems? Cedric Gautier, head of the A400M program, says, “We are on track and in many areas have over-achieved our expectations.” Four test aircraft are flying and more than 1,600 test flights totaling 500 hr. had been flown by mid-May. The fifth test aircraft will make its first flight in the first quarter next year, while the sixth aircraft, which is also the first production aircraft (and the first delivered to the French air force), will make its initial flight in the third quarter of 2012.
Flight testing is making “good progress,” says chief test pilot Ed Strongman, and is on track to be completed by the end of the year. Testing of military systems and military operations has also begun.

New-look A400M readied for icing trials

Airbus Military is set to launch a new campaign of icing trials using [url=http://www.flightglobal.com/landingpage/airbus military a400m.html]A400M[/url] "Grizzly One", with the activity to come as its development fleet has also cleared its first 1,000 take-offs and landings.
Photographed in Toulouse, France by AirSpace user [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the aircraft has recently been equipped with a distinctive orange housing on its upper fuselage. This contains a camera that will observe the leading edge of its all-composite wing during natural icing trials.

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One of the images also shows the aircraft with red and yellow "chequerboard" markings on the wing, which Airbus Military says will assist it in assessing the degree of icing experienced.

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The forthcoming trials will build on earlier work performed with artificial ice shapes installed on another Grizzly. "Handling qualities remain outstanding despite the severe ice shapes in normal and failure conditions," Airbus Military said of the previous tests, which revealed that less of the wing required de-icing than had previously been forecast.
Grizzly One is also shown sporting a new-style A400M marking on its fuselage aft of the cockpit. This will be added to all development aircraft "in the very near future", Airbus Military said.
The company's current four development aircraft had flown a combined 535 sorties totalling 1,710h by 7 June. The company had by the same date performed a total of 1,040 take-offs and landings, with several having been conducted during single sorties since the type's flight debut in December 2009.

Engine problems prevent A400M flying at show

Engine gearbox problems mean the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Military [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] will not take part in the flying display during its Paris debut. Instead, the European military transport - billed as one of the stars of the show - will appear in a brief fly-past and remain on static display.
Confirming the news at an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] media seminar on Saturday, Domingo Urena, chief executive of Airbus Military, said the issue with the gearbox of the Europrop International TP400-D6 was not serious but the company did not want to be distracted from the four-aircraft flight-test programme taking place in Seville and Toulouse.
"We have problems with the gearbox, but the test aircraft keep flying. We have very demanding flight-test requirements at the moment," said Urena.
The A400M made its maiden air show flying display at the ILA air show in Berlin last June, followed by a stint at Farnborough. This was to have been the type's first flying appearance at Paris ahead of its delivery to the French air force by March 2013.
Seville-based Airbus Military predicts a market over the next 30 years for 800 "heavy airlifters" - a segment in which it competes with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s C-17 and the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] C-130J. With 174 orders, the European company claims a current 34% market share.
One of Airbus Military's key objectives is to grow A400M exports beyond its sole overseas customer, Malaysia. South Africa - which cancelled its commitment for eight A400Ms in 2009, but whose manufacturers Aerosud and Denel are suppliers to the programme - remains a potential buyer, said Urena. "We continue to work with them and have open dialogue with the government about how we can maybe come back, even if it is for fewer aircraft."
He said he expected Germany and the UK - which axed seven and three aircraft respectively from their original A400M orders in an agreement that followed the programme's delay and price increase - to sacrifice workshare as part of any offset package offered to a new customer.

SALON-L'A400M victime d'un défaut de fabrication d'un élément

Une boîte de transmission défectueuse qui cloue au sol l'A400M durant le Salon du Bourget trouve sans doute sa source dans un défaut de fabrication, a déclaré mardi l'un des responsables du programme.
Airbus et ses motoristes étudient cette boîte, qui s'est brisée quelques jours avant les débuts de l'avion de transport de troupes dans le ciel du Bourget, obligeant l'avionneur à annuler ses vols de démonstration.
"Pour l'heure, il semble que ce soit un problème de fabrication lié à des composants plutôt qu'un problème de conception", a déclaré ce responsable, qui a voulu rester anonyme.
La boîte est fabriquée par l'italien Avio, pour le consortium de motoristes Europrop emmené par Rolls-Royce . Elle a été envoyée chez Rolls-Royce en Grande-Bretagne aux fins d'analyse.
Un porte-parole d'Europrop a jugé prématuré de s'exprimer sur l'enquête en cours.
Une série de problèmes sur les turbopropulseurs se sont traduits pas un retard et des surcoûts du plus important programme militaire européen.
Les industriels seront soulagés s'il se confirme qu'il n'y a pas de défaut de conception dans la boîte de transmission.
Toutefois, selon plusieurs sources participant au programme A400M, ce n'est pas la première fois que des problèmes ont été imputés à cette boîte.
Durant le programme de développement, on avait décelé des fissures sur l'une des boîtes mais le problème avait été résolu, ont expliqué ces sources.
L'A400M doit équiper les forces armées françaises, britanniques, allemandes, belges, luxembourgeoises, espagnoles et turques.
Le premier exemplaire doit être livré en 2013.

Will A400M make it to LIMA?

Southeast Asia is entering air show season. In December there is the L[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and in February 2012 the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

The big question visitors will be asking is will Airbus bring the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. Malaysia is the first international buyer of the giant turboprop airlifter, with plans to acquire four. For my part I don't see it coming: the project is years behind schedule, and Airbus is no doubt focused on getting the first example of the aircraft to French Air Force by 2013 - likely before the 2013 Paris air show.

If the A400M is not at LIMA, then forget about it showing up at Singapore. LIMA is a source of immense pride (and dollars) for Malaysia. It would be a slap were the aircraft to appear in Singapore first.

Other types that would be cool to see at either show are the F-35 and V-22 Osprey. The F-35 isn't involved in Malaysia's current fighter competition, so don't expect it at LIMA. Lockheed Martin still probably wants to sell this aircraft to Singapore as an F-16 replacement, although Singapore may well prefer to upgrade its F-16s rather than replace them. And, of course, the F-35 has a grueling test schedule.

As for the V-22, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. Since Singapore's defence doctrine more or less mirrors that of Tel Aviv, Boeing could well send one of the tilt rotors, which have started deploying to the Pacific. Aside from the V-22, which isn't really that new, don't expect much in the way of cool, new kit at either show.

The big question visitors will be asking is will Airbus bring the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. Malaysia is the first international buyer of the giant turboprop airlifter, with plans to acquire four. For my part I don't see it coming: the project is years behind schedule, and Airbus is no doubt focused on getting the first example of the aircraft to French Air Force by 2013 - likely before the 2013 Paris air show.

If the A400M is not at LIMA, then forget about it showing up at Singapore. LIMA is a source of immense pride (and dollars) for Malaysia. It would be a slap were the aircraft to appear in Singapore first.