A400M Atlas: News

Airbus A400M transporter began testing the fatigue

The European aircraft manufacturing consortium Airbus has started testing a promising military transport plane A400M Grizzly fatigue, according to Defense Aerospace. The trials involved aircraft with tail number MSN5001, which will take place very long flight simulator loads 24 hours a day for four weeks. This mode is equivalent to 160 sorties a day.

Total to 1665 simulated flight to A400M was able to get the security certificate of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In total, Airbus intends to conduct a simulation of 25,000 flight hours over 18 months, which exceeds the current resource transporter in 2,5 times. In September 2010, culminated in the static test aircraft, tail number MSN5000.

MSN5000 prior to 2012 will be tested on the fatigue of components made of composite materials.

A400M, made its first flight on Dec. 11, 2009, is currently undergoing intensive testing program. In particular, in November 2010 engines transporter were tested at casting poultry at the same time were performed first jump paratroopers from the aircraft. In August 2010 A400M engines are tested for the ability to work under harsh field conditions - during the test transport worker jogging, and then take off and land on a runway strewn pieces of chalk.

A400M can reach speeds of up to 790 kilometers per hour and to make flights at a distance of 9.3 thousand kilometers. Transport worker is designed to transport 37 tons of cargo. A400M can be used to transport 116 soldiers in full regalia. Work to create transporter behind the original schedule for almost three years.

Wow, I have been bad at keeping up with this.

Nice video of 5 flight formation

France takes delivery of third A400M

France has received the third Airbus A400M Atlas tactical transport from its 50-unit order – the fourth delivery for the programme overall.

Handed over on 25 July, MSN10 will be operated by the French air force from its Orléans air base.

The service says the new arrival shows an increase in performance over the two examples it received last year, with the A400M now able to reach its contractual ceiling of 39,400ft (12,000m), and boasting additional capacity thanks to its ability to carry two pallets on the cargo ramp.

Currently Turkey is the only other nation to take delivery of an A400M, having received its initial aircraft from a 10-strong order in April this year.

Airbus has so far booked 174 commitments from eight customers for the Europrop International TP400-D6-powered type.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11594755/Spain-plane-crash-emergency-crews-find-wreckage.html

Brand new A400M crashes. No smug comments from NATO citizens about garbage western technology.

i'd be the first in line to bash NATO's stuff with an baseball bat with nails if it sucks, but i have to admit i only heard good things about Airbus A400M's. what i read tough is an in flight failure of an certain system. pretty serious failure tough if it sends it crashing down.

small Detail tough, Airbus is an European based aircraft manufacturer of both military and Civilian. they are rather defending their industry heavily against the NSA spying and competing heavily against the U.S millitary-industrial complex.

i know of one incident with an A380 of Qantas airlines that suffered an uncontained engine explosion in flight because Rolls-royce fucked up its engine cooling system and caused an engine to explode. sending fragments trough most of its wing and into the main fuselage. it cut right trough several aircraft's flight systems cable's. miraculously, the A380 kept flying while it pretty much was crippled from the entire left side. flaps, earilons, engines, etc. while calculating emergency landing the A380's computer kept trying to adjust the aircraft's systems on the right side to correct for its major damage on the left side. even when pilots "asked" the computer if the emergency descent and landing was possible it kept replying it was impossible because of loss of systems that should aid in the breaking process and recalculated the necessary runway length for an safe landing. meanwhile, its software kept sending in databursts to the Quantas HQ in australia of catastrophic system failures.

that A380's wing should have ignited, entered an uncontrollable roll to the Left and crashed. instead it kept flying after suffering more damage than being hit by an medium sized AA missile. its just amazing engineering. that Airbus A380 landed safely and no one died.

its an pretty bad fault this A400 came from the sky, but personally i feel Airbus does indeed deliver quality engineering in general. i personally would not call Airbus garbage.

Agreed... My only gripe about it is the cost, which is simply too high.

I wish that Russian equipment got objective treatment. Instead in every case, from the Sukhoi SuperJet crash in Indonesia to the
T-14 I see herds of lemmings acting all self-confirmed in their anti-Russian "wisdom".

I am quite sure a crash of a Russian analogue of the A400M would be covered in the NATO media as proof of Russian
intellectual inferiority. Little facts, like such incidents always happen and always will, never get in the way of hate
propaganda.

ALSO... Rest in peace to those that died.

Kvs our media is wrong, and as such should be ignored.

Mike E wrote:ALSO... Rest in peace to those that died.

Kvs our media is wrong, and as such should be ignored.

But it is too powerful and steers world events.

RIP to the crew members that died. My post meant not disrespect.

kvs wrote:

Mike E wrote:ALSO... Rest in peace to those that died.

Kvs our media is wrong, and as such should be ignored.

But it is too powerful and steers world events.

And that's the problem...we can not do anything to help that outside of spreading alternate media. Most of those here in the states only accept what they want to except. - ala "Russia is bad" or "Iran wants to exterminate us" etc etc... Almost like we have a need for attention, and power.

 - That being said I did my thing on Yahoo's comment section 

The Grizzly is such a highly automated plane... too much can go wrong without manual inputs. An-70 crashed most of its prototypes but that is obviously dead.

The A400 is a nightmare of bureaucratic complexity.

What worked for the civilian market doesn't work with the military. You need a clear direction. The plane ultimately was to be built in Sevilla, but most of the "gauging" was to be done else. You have thus inherent delays and overspending.

Europe...stronk/

kvs wrote:

Mike E wrote:ALSO... Rest in peace to those that died.

Kvs our media is wrong, and as such should be ignored.

But it is too powerful and steers world events.

RIP to the crew members that died.   My post meant not disrespect.

i did not take any offense Kvs, i'd appreciate if you just continue to state your toughs like you did so i can reply in an honest way myself to it with my own view on the matter.

as far as misjudgment of mass media. of course, the west does it on an massive scale towards Russian equipment. but its not an popularity contest, the ones that have knowledge of the equipment in question know the truth. it really does not matter if the general pro U.S media sells it like "inferior equipment". they are literally living in some fantasy world.

Report: Safety Protocol Breaches May Be Behind A400M Crash

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2015/06/02/report-safety-protocol-breaches-may-be-behind-a400m-crash/28352321/

If willful negligence is indeed the case and proved I can only hope those guilty will face jail time.

AirCargo wrote:Report: Safety Protocol Breaches May Be Behind A400M Crash

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2015/06/02/report-safety-protocol-breaches-may-be-behind-a400m-crash/28352321/

If willful negligence is indeed the case and proved I can only hope those guilty will face jail time.

There was some kind of software problem that brought it down...nothing to do with negligence.

Mike E wrote:There was some kind of software problem that brought it down...nothing to do with negligence

The computer system that controls the plane's engines, the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), "should have been tested before, in a simulator, to check if everything worked," it added.  The sources claimed the protocols were skipped because Airbus was in a hurry to make up for delays in the development and delivery of the A400M military cargo and troop transport plane which is assembled in Seville.


Sounds like Airbus purposely skipped testing to make up for delays Mike, management would have had to make those decisions.  Very sad if true.

Airbus Defence and Space has successfully completed certification testing of the A400M new generation airlifter on a grass runway. Tests took place over a three week period at the airfield of Écury-sur-Coole in France in September and examined the aircraft’s behaviour on grass and natural soil runways. Next A400M rough runway take-off-landing tests will be in Q1 2016 on sand says Airbus.

"The Spanish air force has agreed with Airbus Defence & Space to acquire an initially reduced fleet of 14 A400M tactical transports until a funding solution can be found for the remaining 13 of the type Madrid has committed to buy. Speaking at SMi’s Military Airlift and Rapid Reaction Operations conference in Seville on 1 December, Maj Gen Pablo Jose Castillo of the air force’s air mobility command, said 14 A400Ms will be delivered to Spain by 2022 after which a decision will have to be made on how to proceed with the remainder of the acquisition – postponed until 2024.

The air force is struggling to fund the full acquisition and is in discussions with Airbus regarding its plans. Spain is contractually obliged to proceed with the full fleet, and a decision to reduce the buy or sell the remaining 13 aircraft to other customers would have to be agreed by the manufacturer and the Spanish government. Despite this, Airbus says it “greatly welcomes” Spain’s decision to restructure the delivery schedule. “This agreement brings clarity to the A400M production schedule into the next decade and ensures that the transformation of Spain’s air mobility fleet through the introduction of the A400M is conducted in a measured and sustainable way,” notes Airbus.



The first aircraft destined for Spain is due to be delivered in 2016, with its wings having arrived at the final assembly line in Seville in October, and under the new plans nine roll-on mission kits for the type will be provided that can be used on any of its 14 examples. That will include a defensive aids suite, satellite communications and in-flight refuelling pods.

“We expect to have at least nine fully operational aircraft,” Castillo says. “Nine is the magic number for us.” The total number of A400Ms on order for all countries is 174, but Castillo notes that several nations are reassessing their acquisition to try and work out the ideal fleet size."

Source: http://defence-blog.com/news/spain-and-airbus-agree-temporary-reduction-in-a400m-acquisition.html

Airbus Identifies «Cracking Behavior» in A400M Military Aircraft



Airbus Group SE disclosed a cracking issue in its A400M military transport aircraft Friday and said its government customers must inspect the planes and make fixes if necessary. The issue doesn’t impact flight safety, the European planemaker said.

The issue was first identified in 2011 in tests before the plane went into service, Airbus said in an e-mailed statement. The company has agreed with the European Air Safety Agency and A400M customers on solutions that are currently being implemented.

“As part of the normal quality control processes in the A400M fleet we have identified a material issue,” Airbus said in a statement late Friday. “It concerns a previously unknown cracking behavior of an aluminum alloys material. The issue is not impacting flight safety and does not require any immediate measures beyond a program of inspections and repairs that can be incorporated into the normal maintenance and upgrades schedules.”

The cracking issue adds to a chain of woes that have emerged since Airbus began developing the plane for seven European customers and Turkey more than a decade ago. It also raises questions about how much more money must be spent getting the plane into shape in order to satisfy customers.

http://defence-blog.com/news/airbus-identifies-cracking-behavior-in-a400m-military-aircraft.html

Partner countries must be really glad they made the stipulation Airbus must fix the problems out of their own budget. This thing is a money pit.

France to Receive First Fully-Capable A400M

The French air force will soon receive the first A400M military transport aircraft fully equipped with self-protection and air-drop capabilities, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced today.

The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) – which manages equipment for the French military – will take "delivery of the first A400M aircraft with tactical capabilities," he said while visiting the Eurosatory defense exhibition in a Paris suburb.

"When the news is good, one must talk about it. The ninth French [A400M] aircraft has self-protection and paradropping capabilities that will be decisive (...) in external theaters," Agence France Presse reported him as saying later.

Separately, the Paris news website La Tribune reported June 14 that the consortium that supplies the A400M’s turboprop engines had found an interim fix for the fault in the propeller gear box (PGB) that has limited the aircraft’s operations by requiring inspections every 20 flight hours.


La Tribune reported that the Europrop consortium, which comprises France’s Safran, Germany’s MTU, Spain’s ITP and the UK’s Rolls-Royce, has promised Airbus and the customer countries that it will begin implementing the interim fix by September, which should allow a significant relaxation of the inspection intervals once it is approved by the European EASA airworthiness authority, possibly by July.

A spokeswoman for Airbus Defence and Space confirmed the report, saying that “an adapted part of the PGB is being tested,” and will be submitted to EASA for certification as soon as possible.

The A400M has suffered multiple delays and capability shortfalls which has limited its operational capabilities to straightforward transport missions, excluding more complex, low-level tactical missions that are required for operational use.

The French call tactical missions those that involve landing on unpaved strips, low-level cargo extraction of heavy through the back ramp, paratroop dropping through the side fuselage doors, which also require the aircraft be equipped with a self-protection suite against short-range surface-to-air missiles.

"The A400M will be, in my opinion, an exceptional aircraft, but it has had a difficult start (..) it has had its share of teething problems," Le Drian noted.

"But recent developments that I have seen really reflect the mobilization of the whole industry behind this program," he added.

"By the end of the year, my department will have a fleet of fully operational tactical aircraft. In any case that is what I have been promised, and I am confident that it will happen," Le Drian concluded.

The German government has called for the Airbus group to produce a specific plan to solve the problems of the A400M, after the recent appearance of new faults in the engines as well as cracks in the fuselage.

Airbus Looks To the US in Search of A400M Buyers


Airbus expects two planes to have flown 100 hours by June 24 to test an interim Avio propeller gearbox replacing the present system.

“Cracking is not a safety issue,” Alonso said. “Safety is guaranteed by inspection intervals.”

Problems with the German Air Force aircraft A400M

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1998531.html

The first flight of military transport aircraft A400M with armored vehicle VPC from the family VBCI



http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2538670.html

The program for modifying the A400M aircraft shifts for a period of 12 to 18 months

Α400Μ still has problems to solve.
Airbus may need another 12 to 18 months to resolve technical issues, for example, to provide the possibility of dropping paratroopers.
Also, taking into account the under-funding of the program and the expected requests for penalties for the delay, Airbus will not make the necessary investments to make the necessary improvements.
Airbus has already reserved 2.3 billion euros in its accounts to cover losses under the A400M program, and at the same time requires a review of the schedule of deliveries, the issue of fines, deferred payment and terms of reference. The countries participating in the program, which already exceeded the expenditures envisaged in 2010 by 3.5 billion euros, may decide to suspend the next bloodletting under the program, which, instead of the originally planned 20 billion euros, costs 30 billion euros already.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2608984.html