A400m

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
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  • #181
In at least one case a purchase was missed through sheer incompetence. Having been warned about the deadline, India dawdled & delayed until it was too late, then submitted a request for more. IIRC that's not the case where India has tried to buy, or asked for a quote for, something which is no longer available, because the bureaucrats took too long to process a request from the armed forces. The really odd thing is that they submit the requests anyway. It seems that once the process has begun it's unstoppable. And as in the case of the C-17, there's a marked reluctance to scale down the request if it can be partially fulfilled.

When our military procurement cock-ups make me depressed, I think of India, to remind me that it could be worse.
From a Canadian POV, India’s procurement C-Fs aren’t that much worse than ours.:(
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
As a note, the C-17A cargo compartment dimensions will likely not be the relevant upscale for SATOC.

SATOC would have to replace transport by An-124-100.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
If they did that they need to increase the cargo hold height of the A400M derivative to the C-17A cargo compartment height and widen the cargo compartment as well. The KHI C-2 has the same cargo compartment height as the C-17A. So basically it would be upsizing the A400M and adding a plug. The wing would have to be redesigned as well. The euros have civilian turbofans that would meet the requirements so, they definitely don't need to go and design a bespoke engine.
That makes it a new aircraft.
 

KiwiRob

Well-Known Member
Well, NZ certainly missed the chance. Many non US users ended up increasing their fleets. Several would likely add jets now after realizing how useful they turned out to be. Canada’s fleet is heavily used and we were fortunate to get the fifth jet(should have doubled our fleet to 8).
Was NZ really going to buy them? I don’t think so, they had plenty of opportunity and didnt. Canada also has lots of time to buy more, they bought 1 extra. As I said Boeing gave its current and potential customers plenty of notice that if they wanted To order more they should do it now.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #187
Was NZ really going to buy them? I don’t think so, they had plenty of opportunity and didnt. Canada also has lots of time to buy more, they bought 1 extra. As I said Boeing gave its current and potential customers plenty of notice that if they wanted To order more they should do it now.
Can’t really comment on NZ, I think there was a intention to buy but the government just couldn’t move forward on the acquisition for what ever reason. In Canada’s case, the RCAF fully understood the need for more and some in the bureaucracy did as well. Junior dragged the acquisition for additional jets out as long as possible then only authorized one more. Perhaps he thought Boeing was only kidding about closing down the line and could buy more later. Best guess, he had no intention of buying more.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
The German Air Force has begun preparations for deploying a A400M on MEDEVAC flights both domestically and to nearby other countries to evacuate Covid patients from South and Southeast Germany.

To my knowledge there have been only two such flights by German A400M Medevac before, one from Afghanistan and one from Strasbourg. Other military and civilian Covid Medevac flights - e.g. from Italy or Lithuania - were handled by either a A310 MRTT in Medevac config or by "white fleet" A310 Medevac.

France and the UK have been the main users of modified A400M in Covid-related intensive care Medevac flights so far, the latter to evacuate patients from various Scottish islands. Spain also has a single A400M now specifically converted for such intensive care flights since ca May this year, although to my knowledge it hasn't used it yet (a Spanish flight from Djibouti returning 23 infected from EUNAVFOR Atalanta, like most similar flights of other user countries, was done with a "standard" A400M).
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Was NZ really going to buy them? I don’t think so, they had plenty of opportunity and didnt. Canada also has lots of time to buy more, they bought 1 extra. As I said Boeing gave its current and potential customers plenty of notice that if they wanted To order more they should do it now.
It got to Cabinet for final approval, but the decision was made not too for purely political purposes because the then PM (John Key) wasn't willing to spend the political capital. The then Minister of Defence (Gerry Brownlie) pushed hard for the acquisition and he was in the Kitchen Cabinet. It was Big Gerry's idea to go after the C-17A in the first place.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
No need to rely on 3rd party reports: get it straight from the horse's mouth. The Defence Connect article isn't quite a straight cut & paste of part of the press release but it's damned close. Just a few minor tweaks, & omitting the marketing stuff -
Indonesia Ministry of Defence orders two Airbus A400Ms | Airbus

2 on order plus a letter of intent for 4 more. I expect Airbus will try hard to make sure everything goes smoothly with the first pair to get that LOI turned into an order. The A400M could do with more orders. It's a long time since the last one.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #192
It seems most of the promised features are now available and apparently the turboprop issues are resolved. For nations that should have ordered more C-17s ( think Canada), A400Ms could pickup some of the lift missions that fall between our C-130Js and C-17s. The A400M is now a reasonable alternative to the Hercules for many Air Forces that need some extra lift capability.
 

KiwiRob

Well-Known Member
No need to rely on 3rd party reports: get it straight from the horse's mouth. The Defence Connect article isn't quite a straight cut & paste of part of the press release but it's damned close. Just a few minor tweaks, & omitting the marketing stuff -
Indonesia Ministry of Defence orders two Airbus A400Ms | Airbus

2 on order plus a letter of intent for 4 more. I expect Airbus will try hard to make sure everything goes smoothly with the first pair to get that LOI turned into an order. The A400M could do with more orders. It's a long time since the last one.
The last order was in September, 2 for Kazakhstan.
 

Sandhi Yudha

Well-Known Member
The last order was in September, 2 for Kazakhstan.
It is actually more surprising that Kazakhstan became an A400M customer, than Indonesia.
I had expected they will order some Il-76MD-90A. And didn't they ordered also eight Shaanxi Y-8?
On the other hand, they already use the CASA C295, and probably the Kazakhstan Air Force is satisfied about it.
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
The A400M could do with more orders. It's a long time since the last one.
Since they cut production gradually in 2018-2020 there's currently sufficient orders on the table to keep the line going at its current rate until about 2031. Even if they turned it back up to full production rate they'd be producing until about 2026. The options in various contracts would be another 1-2 years of production.

(The current lowered production rate of 8/year was reasoned for due to running out of parking space for finished aircraft during those gearbox problems, which technically has been solved since).
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Since they cut production gradually in 2018-2020 there's currently sufficient orders on the table to keep the line going at its current rate until about 2031. Even if they turned it back up to full production rate they'd be producing until about 2026. The options in various contracts would be another 1-2 years of production.

(The current lowered production rate of 8/year was reasoned for due to running out of parking space for finished aircraft during those gearbox problems, which technically has been solved since).
So have they fixed the outstanding problems with the aircraft now? Are the aircraft coming off the production line fully up to specification?
 

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
So have they fixed the outstanding problems with the aircraft now?
To my knowledge there was a fix for the gearbox problems available by late 2017. It took about a year to get approved though and a bit longer to be integrated. In the meantime they negotiated with customers to gradually reduce production rate beginning in 2018 (from 19 to 15, then to 12, then to 8 now) since they basically had a tarmac full of A400M that needed the fix applied before delivery.

A permanent fix - changes to the engine - was developed and has been agreed to become standard on all aircraft coming off the line beginning July 2022 (according to the German Air Force). Older aircraft will be refitted in parallel over the next couple years, for Germany this is planned to conclude April 2027 (after last deliveries from the line in 2026).
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
To my knowledge there was a fix for the gearbox problems available by late 2017. It took about a year to get approved though and a bit longer to be integrated. In the meantime they negotiated with customers to gradually reduce production rate beginning in 2018 (from 19 to 15, then to 12, then to 8 now) since they basically had a tarmac full of A400M that needed the fix applied before delivery.

A permanent fix - changes to the engine - was developed and has been agreed to become standard on all aircraft coming off the line beginning July 2022 (according to the German Air Force). Older aircraft will be refitted in parallel over the next couple years, for Germany this is planned to conclude April 2027 (after last deliveries from the line in 2026).
Thanks kato.
 

Sandhi Yudha

Well-Known Member
To my knowledge there was a fix for the gearbox problems available by late 2017. It took about a year to get approved though and a bit longer to be integrated. In the meantime they negotiated with customers to gradually reduce production rate beginning in 2018 (from 19 to 15, then to 12, then to 8 now) since they basically had a tarmac full of A400M that needed the fix applied before delivery.

A permanent fix - changes to the engine - was developed and has been agreed to become standard on all aircraft coming off the line beginning July 2022 (according to the German Air Force). Older aircraft will be refitted in parallel over the next couple years, for Germany this is planned to conclude April 2027 (after last deliveries from the line in 2026).
Germany and the UK have reduced their orders, do you think that that also influenced the production rate? Or will the cancelled A400M just constructed and then later stored, while searching for export customers?
 
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