Airbus Military Begins Final Assembly of the First A400M for Turkey

The Airbus Military A400M final assembly line (FAL) in Seville (Spain) has begun working on the first A400M for the Turkish Air Force. The integration of the wings and central wing-box for this aircraft, known as MSN9, began in mid-May while the integration of the nose and the fuselage started by the end of June.

With the arrival of the vertical tailplane (VTP) and the horizontal tailplane (HTP) yesterday all the components for this third serial production A400M are already being integrated in the FAL.

Turkey will take delivery of its first A400M military airlifter in 2013.

The photograph shows the nose and fuselage join up process underway.

THE A400M

The A400M is an all-new military airlifter designed to meet the needs of the world's Armed Forces in the 21st Century. Thanks to its most advanced technologies, it is able to fly higher, faster and further, while retaining high manoeuvrability, low speed, and short, soft and rough airfield capabilities. It combines both tactical and strategic/logistic missions. With its cargo hold specifically designed to carry the outsize equipment needed today for both military and humanitarian disaster relief missions, it can bring this material quickly and directly to where it is most needed. Conceived to be highly reliable, dependable, and with a great survivability, the multipurpose A400M can do more with less, implying smaller fleets and less investment from the operator. The A400M is the most cost efficient and versatile airlifter ever conceived and absolutely unique in its capabilities.

Avatar Airbus Military Company or Organisation Portrait:

Airbus Military is the only military and civic/humanitarian transport aircraft manufacturer to develop, produce, sell and provide support and services for a comprehensive family of airlifters with a payload range of three to 45 tonnes. An Airbus subsidiary, Airbus Military is responsible for the A400M programme, the A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and further military derivatives based on Airbus civil aircraft. These, together with the smaller 'Light & Medium' C295, CN235 and C212, make Airbus Military the global leader in the market for military transport, tanker and surveillance aircraft capable of performing the most varied types of missions. Altogether, Airbus Military has sold more than 1,000 aircraft to some 130 military, civil and governmental customers. More than 800 of these aircraft have been delivered. Airbus is an EADS company.

Source: By Rob Vogelaar (USS HARRY S. TRUMAN, At Sea., Boeing Company) - 12 July 2012 - aviationnews.eu News

Photo: The Turkish Air Force Airbus Military A400M Final Assembly (airbusmilitary.com)

(13.07.2012)