A400M - fofo Wikipedia - source 'MilborneOne'
The Airbus A400M transport plane has finally achieved an ‘all-systems-go’ status after an official signing ceremony confirming first deliveries for 2012.
The signing finalized an earlier agreement in which 7 European countries agreed to assist Airbus in covering the cost overruns of the project, which was both overdue and over budget.
Presently there are a total of 174 aircraft orders from eight nations, however this will increase as aging C130 Hercules aircraft in many of the worlds airforces will have to be renewed over the next decade.
The A400M is an extra-ordinary aircraft with great overall potential – a veritable ‘do-it’all’ type of plane. It can lift up to 37 tons and it can fly 8,700 km without having to refuel, and then can land on rough, gravel landing strips and then take off again.
The aircraft has been dubbed the ‘Grizzly’ by some at Airbus, but the RAF, a prime user and English speaking airforce has rightfully rejected this incongruous name and came up with something a lot better – ATLAS – which we hope Airbus also later adopts.
Previous articles on this blog about this aircraft -
http://www.ota-berlin.de/blog/tag/a400m/
http://www.ota-berlin.de/blog/03/07/after-berlin-meeting-a400m-program-gets-green-light/
http://www.ota-berlin.de/blog/12/16/a400m-military-transport-makes-its-first-flight/
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‘OTA-Berlin Constituency Blog’ is part of OTA-Berlin – the economical ‘Apartment-Alternative to Hotels’ in Berlin.
The Blog provides OTA-Berlin guests a quick overview of the cultural, sports, social and other related activities taking place in Berlin during their stay.
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A400M transport plane overflies last hurdle – deliveries to start next year from OTA Berlin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Germany License. If you use this article or parts of it, please refer to http://www.ota-berlin.de.
Tags: a400m, a400m Atlas not grizzly
